Social Determinants Of Health (Anthropology)
Compte-rendu du colloque: "Contributions des approches anthroposociales au champ transdisciplinaire et intersectoriel de la recherche en santé mondiale"
Rapport sous la direction de Suárez-Herrera, JC. et MJ Blain. Rapporteurs J. Simard et L. Doyon - (2011). Compte-rendu du colloque « Contributions des approches anthroposociales au champ transdisciplinaire et intersectoriel de la recherche en santé mondiale », ayant eu lieu le 10 mai 2011 dans le cadre du congrès de l’ACFAS, Sherbrooke, 46 pages.
INTRODUCTION. Socio-anthropologie de la recherche en santé mondiale : discours, méthodes et pratiques
par... more
INTRODUCTION. Socio-anthropologie de la recherche en santé mondiale : discours, méthodes et pratiques
par José Carlos SUÁREZ-HERRERA, Université de Montréal
La nature transdisciplinaire et intersectorielle de la recherche en santé mondiale fait appel à des théories, des méthodes et des pratiques procédant de plusieurs courants de pensée contemporains fort éloignés du point vue épistémologique, mais potentiellement complémentaires. Cette confluence d’approches favorise l’émergence d’interactions dynamiques entre de nombreux acteurs concernés par la recherche tout en permettant de mettre en oeuvre une démarche dialectique entre, d’une part, des perspectives plus universalistes, qui prônent l’unicité des critères et l’équivalence du sens, et d’autre part, des approches nettement culturalistes, qui préconisent la cohérence interne et la différenciation identitaire.
Afin de rendre compte de cette complexité et des enjeux qui lui sont attribués, nous avons organisé, dans le cadre du 79e congrès de l’Acfas, un colloque visant l’alignement d’un ensemble de considérations conceptuelles, de choix méthodologiques et de stratégies opérationnelles essentiels au développement de compétences clés pour les chercheurs, praticiens, étudiants et gestionnaires en santé mondiale. Pour ce faire, nous avons compté sur la participation de chercheurs et d’étudiants post-gradués reconnus dans le domaine de la santé par la qualité et les retombées de leur production scientifique. La diversité transdisciplinaire de ces participants, provenant de plusieurs milieux académiques du Québec, offre un regard original sur la recherche en santé mondiale, se caractérisant surtout par l’étendue globale de sa perspective épistémologique ainsi que par sa sensibilité aux particularités locales de la santé des populations. Tout en suivant la structure proposée au sein du colloque, les sections de ce compte-rendu illustrent les contenus qu’on a touchés au sein des trois sessions et de la table ronde de cet événement. Les deux premières sections sont consacrées respectivement aux considérations conceptuelles et aux choix méthodologiques associés à la recherche en santé mondiale. La troisième section est dédiée aux stratégies opérationnelles relatives à la pratique du chercheur en santé mondiale. Le compte-rendu se clôture par une dernière section axée sur les enjeux, les défis et les pistes de recherche et d’action pour la santé mondiale contemporaine.
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Seen by:It's not just about the park, it's about integration too: why people choose to use or not use urban greenspaces
by Pete Seaman
Peter Seaman, Russell Jones and Anne Ellaway
Background
Greenspace has the potential to be a vital resource for promoting healthy living for people in... more
Background
Greenspace has the potential to be a vital resource for promoting healthy living for people in urban areas, offering both opportunities for physical activity and wellbeing. Much research has explored the objectively measurable factors within areas to the end of explaining the role of greenspace access in continuing health inequalities. This paper explores the subjective reasons why people in urban areas choose to use, or not use, local public greenspace.
Methods
In-depth interviews with 24 people living in two areas of Glasgow, United Kingdom were conducted, supplemented with participant photography and participatory methods. Data was thematically categorised to explore subjectively experienced facilitators and barriers to greenspace use in urban areas.
Results
From the perspective of current and potential urban greenspace users, access is revealed to be about more than the physical characteristics of neighbourhoods, greenspace resources or objectively measurable features of walkability and connectivity. Subjectively, the idea of walkability includes perceptions of social cohesion at a community level and the level of felt integration and inclusion by individuals in their communities. Individual's feelings of integration and inclusion potentially mitigate the effects of experiential barriers to urban greenspace access, such as evidence of anti-social behaviour.
Conclusions
We conclude that improving access to greenspace for all in urban communities will require more than providing high quality resources such as parks, footpaths, activities and lighting. Physical availability interacts with community contexts already established and a holistic understanding of access is required. A key cultural component of areas and neighbourhoods is the level of social cohesion, a factor that has the potential to reinforce existing health inequalities through shaping differentiated greenspace access between subgroups of the local population.
Social determinants of health among African–American men
published in 'Journal of Men's Health, 2010, co-authored with Henrie M Treadwell and Kisha Braithwaite Holden
The health disparities among African–American men are staggering when compared to other racial, ethnic, and gender... more The health disparities among African–American men are staggering when compared to other racial, ethnic, and gender groups in the United States. While there have been considerable efforts to eliminate health disparities in recent years, disparity elimination efforts have often focused on changing health behavior with regard to African–American men, and grave health disparities continue to exist among this population. This article argues that a consideration of the social determinants of health among African–American men is long overdue. It highlights the serious health disparities among this population, and considers the social determinants of health of African–American men in relation to health status, health behavior, and health care. Finally, suggestions are offered for addressing the social determinants of health among African–American men.
Take a Stand Commentary: How Can Medical Anthropologists Contribute to Contemporary Conversations on "Illegal" Im/migration and Health?
by Sarah Willen
Co-authored with Jessica Mulligan and Heide Castañeda. 2011 in Medical Anthropology Quarterly 25(3): 331-356.
Produced as part of the Take a Stand Initiative on Unauthorized Im/migration and Health, Critical Anthropology of Global Health Special Interest Group, Society for Medical Anthropology.
Of the estimated 214 million people who have migrated from poorer to richer regions in search of a better life,... more
Of the estimated 214 million people who have migrated from poorer to richer regions in search of a better life, between 20 and 30 million have migrated on an unauthorized, or “illegal,” basis. All have health needs, or will in the future, yet all are excluded either in part or in full from the systems of health care promotion, protection, and provision that apply to citizens and authorized residents. To many, unauthorized im/migrants’ exclusion intuitively “makes sense.” As scholars of health, social justice, and human rights, we find this logic deeply flawed, and we are among a growing group of medical anthropologists committed to advancing a constructive program of engaged critique.
In this commentary, we call upon medical anthropologists to claim an active role in reframing both scholarly and public debate about this pressing global health issue. To this end, we outline four key issues of theoretical concern and five action steps that will help sharpen a medical anthropological research agenda on unauthorized im/migration and health and help us translate ourselves for our colleagues in partner disciplines and for broader audiences engaged in policymaking, politics, and both public health and clinical practice.
KEYWORDS: unauthorized im/migration – “illegality” – social determinants of health – “deservingness” – public anthropology

