Pridmore Pat, Thomas Liz, Havemann Kirsten, Sapag Jaime, Wood Lisa
Institute of Education, University of London, London, England.
J Urban Health. 2007 May;84(3 Suppl):i130-43. doi: 10.1007/s11524-007-9172-8.
This paper critically reviews the extent in which social capital can be a resource to promote health equity in urban contexts. It analyzes the concept of social capital and reviews evidence to link social capital to health outcomes and health equity, drawing on evidence from epidemiological studies and descriptive case studies from both developed and developing countries. The findings show that in certain environments social capital can be a key factor influencing health outcomes of technical interventions. Social capital can generate both the conditions necessary for mutual support and care and the mechanisms required for communities and groups to exert effective pressure to influence policy. The link between social capital and health is shown to operate through different pathways at different societal levels, but initiatives to strengthen social capital for health need to be part of a broader, holistic, social development process that also addresses upstream structural determinants of health. A clearer understanding is also needed of the complexity and dynamics of the social processes involved and their contribution to health equity and better health. The paper concludes with recommendations for policy and programming and identifies ten key elements needed to build social capital.
本文批判性地审视了社会资本在多大程度上能够成为促进城市环境中健康公平的一种资源。它分析了社会资本的概念，并借鉴发达国家和发展中国家的流行病学研究及描述性案例研究证据，回顾了将社会资本与健康结果及健康公平联系起来的证据。研究结果表明，在某些环境中，社会资本可能是影响技术干预健康结果的关键因素。社会资本既能产生相互支持与关怀所需的条件，也能形成社区和群体施加有效压力以影响政策所需的机制。社会资本与健康之间的联系在不同社会层面通过不同途径发挥作用，但为促进健康而加强社会资本的举措需要成为更广泛、全面的社会发展进程的一部分，该进程还需解决健康的上游结构性决定因素。我们还需要更清楚地了解所涉及社会过程的复杂性和动态性及其对健康公平和更健康状况的贡献。本文最后提出了政策和规划建议，并确定了构建社会资本所需的十个关键要素。
