'Opportunity structures': urban landscape,social capital and health promotion in Australia

This paper presents data from 40 in-depth interviews that were conducted as part of a study of social capital and health in relation to people's perceptions of the influence of 'place' on their participation levels and health. These data were used to examine features of the western suburbs of Adelaide that were perceived as health damaging and health promoting. The paper demonstrates that our Australian suburban respondents expressed a considerable concern about these features and the impact they have on their perception of community and their ability to participate in it. Safety, connectedness to the area, the reputation of an area and the extent and nature of community facilities are all seen as important to a healthy community. The research found that in the more deprived socioeconomic areas within the study area, there was a significant degree of dissatisfaction with features of the urban environment, such as availability of amenities, provision of public transport, and proximity of industry to private dwellings. The paper concludes by considering certain features of urban environments that might make them more supportive of health through encouraging contact between people. We conclude that these environments could be improved using the following measures: a subsidy scheme to support the viability of local shops and cafés (thereby providing meeting places and employment); parks with facilitators (who could play a role in increasing safety in the park but also encouraging community development); attractive places to walk; and a general environmental improvement program.     

Harnessing the social capital of rural communities for youth mental health: an asset-based community development framework

In Australia, we are facing a period of mental health reform with the establishment of federally funded community youth services in rural areas of the country. These new services have great potential to improve the mental health of rural adolescents. In the context of this new initiative, we have four main objectives with this article. First, we consider the notion of social capital in relation to mental health and reflect on the collective characteristics of rural communities. Second, we review lessons learned from two large community development projects targeting youth mental health. Third, we suggest ways in which the social capital of rural communities might be harnessed for the benefit of youth mental health by using asset-based community development strategies and fourth, we consider the role that rural clinicians might play in this process.     

Social capital and self‐rated health: A cross‐sectional study of the general social survey data comparing rural and urban adults in Ontario

The concept of social capital shows great promise for its potential to influence individual and population health. Yet challenges persist in defining and measuring social capital, and little is known about the mechanisms that link social capital and health. This paper reports on the quantitative phase of a sequential explanatory mixed methods study using data from Canada's 2013 General Social Survey (data collected 2013–14). An exploratory factor analysis revealed six underlying dimensions of social capital for 7,187 adults living in Ontario, Canada. These factors included trust in people, neighbourhood social capital, trust in institutions, sense of belonging, civic engagement, and social network size. A logistic regression indicated that having high Trust in People and Trust in Institutions were associated with better mental health while high Trust in Institutions, Sense of Belonging, and Civic Engagement were associated with better physical health. When comparing rural and urban residents, there were no differences in their self‐reported health, nor did social capital influence their health any differently, despite rural residents having higher social capital scores. The study findings are important for understanding the nature of social capital and how it influences health, and provide direction for targeted health promotion strategies.     

Social capital and self-rated health in Argentina

The potential link between social capital and health suggests important pathways by which health may be improved. We examine this relationship using a unique data set from Argentina. This national survey allows us to determine whether the relationships between social capital and health that have been found in the US and Europe also apply to countries in South America (Argentina is the second-largest country in South America with a population of approximately 40 million). We estimate a causal effect of individual-level social capital on health using a measure of informal social interactions as our measure of social capital. Using information about access to public transportation as instrumental variables, we find that both men and women with higher levels of social capital report better health.     

Cultural capital theory: a study of children enrolled in rural and urban Head Start programmes

Children from different backgrounds have disparate access to cultural capital, which may influence their academic success. The purpose of this study was to examine the links between family background, home literacy experiences, and emergent literacy skills among preschoolers enrolled in Head Start programmes. The background characteristics studied included urbanicity, maternal education, ethnicity, and family size among 112 preschool children (59 rural and 53 urban, M age?=?56.78 months). Findings showed that rural and urban preschoolers may have similar literacy abilities. However, when maternal education was controlled for, family background variables and components of the home literacy environment predicted emergent literacy skills differently for the two groups. Moreover, mother's active involvement and the child's own engagement in literacy seemed to play a salient role in early literacy development across groups.     

社会资本对农村户籍老年人健康的影响与性别差异研究

[目的]了解不同类别社会资本(人际信任、社会支持、社会参与)对我国农村户籍老年人健康的影响及性别差异.[方法]基于2017-2018年中国老年健康影响因素跟踪调查(CLHLS)数据对9068名60岁以上农村户籍老年人进行分析.[结果]社会参与(正式和非正式)和人际信任对农村户籍老年人健康状况的积极影响显著,有社会参与的...     

New South Wales trends in mortality differentials between small rural and urban communities over a 25-year period, 1970-1994

OBJECTIVE: To identify trends in premature mortality differences between urban and small rural communities in NSW over a 25-years period. DESIGN: A longitudinal population-based study. ABS population and death data by local government area, sex and age for the period 1970 to 1994, were used to derive mortality measures for urban and small rural communities in NSW. Setting: NSW local government areas categorised by the Rural and Remote Metropolitan Area Classification system as 'capital city' (the Sydney Statistical Division) and 'other rural area' and 'other remote area'. SUBJECTS: All persons aged 0-74 years resident in the aforementioned NSW local government areas between 1970 and 1994 inclusive. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Whether premature mortality differentials have widened, narrowed or remained the same over the study period and the magnitude of any identified changes. RESULT: There was a decrease in premature mortality rates for men and women in both urban and small rural communities. However, the decline was less in small rural communities, with the differential between small rural and urban areas increasing 2-3% every 5 years. CONCLUSIONS: Differences in age structure, proportion of indigenous and migrant populations between small rural communities and urban NSW can not fully account for the increasing differential. Other possible explanatory factors include socioeconomic status and different exposures and practices in rural areas.     

Changes in depression‐related mental health literacy in young men from rural and urban South Australia

Objective: To examine rural and urban differences in depression‐related mental health literacy, experience of depression and help‐seeking. Design: Cross‐sectional population‐based survey stratified by rural and urban area. Setting: A random and representative sample of South Australian rural and urban young men aged between 15 and 30 years. Outcome measures: Mental health literacy as determined by recognition and exposure to classical symptoms of depression; perceived helpfulness of various interventions and treatment‐seeking behaviour. Results: Recognition of depression increased significantly in rural and urban young men between 1998 and 2008. More rural young men than urban men identified symptoms of depression in 1998 (odds ratio (OR): 1.53, 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.01–2.40, P < 0.05), but that was not evident in 2008 (OR: 1.32, 95% CI, 0.80–2.25, P = 0.30). Both groups were more likely to have a close friend experience symptoms of depression and to use antidepressant medications in 2008 compared with 1998. Rural young men experienced a significant increase in recognition of personal depressive symptoms (OR: 3.73, 95% CI, 1.72–8.40) and levels of confidence in psychiatrists and psychologists (OR: 2.40, 95% CI, 1.34–4.31) in 2008 compared with 1998. Both rural and urban young men were significantly less likely to rate dealing with problems on their own as helpful in 2008 as in 1998. Conclusions: There has been an increase in both rural and urban young male mental health literacy between 1998 and 2008, especially in rural young men. Whether this will translate into a reduction of depression and associated suicide, with a reversal of the rural/urban suicide differential, remains to be seen.     

Social inequality and health: the role of social capital

The aim of the article is to examine whether and to what degree the unequal distribution of social capital in the population explains the relationship between socioeconomic position and health in Norway. Theoretical insight and empirical evidence seem to suggest that social capital mediates the effect of socioeconomic position on health outcomes. However, only a few studies have addressed this question and those that have done so have used few and simple indicators of social capital. This study is based on a nationwide cross-sectional survey (N = 3190) commissioned by Statistics Norway. The survey was designed to cover a comprehensive set of variables measuring different aspects of the theoretical construct of social capital. Two health outcomes, self-perceived health and longstanding illness, were analysed. The results showed that the mediating role of social capital between socioeconomic position and health was negligible for both health outcomes. After controlling for socio-demographic variables and socioeconomic position, only neighbourhood satisfaction and generalised trust showed a significant association with self-perceived health, whereas none of the social capital variables had any significant association with longstanding illness. Some theoretical and methodological implications of the results are discussed.     

Breast and bottle feeding in rural and urban South African children

We studied breast and bottle feeding in 1264 children aged 1–4 years from five South African communities using a questionnaire on feeding habits completed by trained interviewers. The proportion of infants breast feeding ranged from 73% to 94% for mean periods of 9–16 months. The group with the most consistent and prolonged breast feeding habits were rural black children. Different bottle feeding practices were used within the various communities. At the ages studied the types of infant feeding practice varied little within the groups although each group differed significantly from the others for the preferred feeding method.     

Bonding versus bridging social capital and their associations with self rated health: a multilevel analysis of 40 US communities

STUDY OBJECTIVE: Few studies have distinguished between the effects of different forms of social capital on health. This study distinguished between the health effects of summary measures tapping into the constructs of community bonding and community bridging social capital. DESIGN: A multilevel logistic regression analysis of community bonding and community bridging social capital in relation to individual self rated fair/poor health. SETTING: 40 US communities. PARTICIPANTS: Within community samples of adults (n = 24 835), surveyed by telephone in 2000-2001. MAIN RESULTS: Adjusting for community sociodemographic and socioeconomic composition and community level income and age, the odds ratio of reporting fair or poor health was lower for each 1-standard deviation (SD) higher community bonding social capital (OR = 0.86; 95% = 0.80 to 0.92) and each 1-SD higher community bridging social capital (OR = 0.95; 95% CI = 0.88 to 1.02). The addition of indicators for individual level bonding and bridging social capital and social trust slightly attenuated the associations for community bonding social capital (OR = 0.90, 95% CI = 0.84 to 0.97) and community bridging social capital (OR = 0.96, 95% CI = 0.89 to 1.03). Individual level high formal bonding social capital, trust in members of one's race/ethnicity, and generalised social trust were each significantly and inversely related to fair/poor health. Furthermore, significant cross level interactions of community social capital with individual race/ethnicity were seen, including weaker inverse associations between community bonding social capital and fair/poor health among black persons compared with white persons. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest modest protective effects of community bonding and community bridging social capital on health. Interventions and policies that leverage community bonding and bridging social capital might serve as means of population health improvement.     

Social capital and self-rated health in Colombia: the good, the bad and the ugly

Although there is increasing evidence supporting the associations between social capital and health, less is known of potential effects in Latin American countries. Our objective was to examine associations of different components of social capital with self-rated health in Colombia. The study had a cross-sectional design, using data of a survey applied to a nationally representative sample of 3025 respondents, conducted in 2004-2005. Stratified random sampling was performed, based on town size, urban/rural origin, age, and sex. Examined indicators of social capital were interpersonal trust, reciprocity, associational membership, non-electoral political participation, civic activities and volunteering. Principal components analysis including different indicators of social capital distinguished three components: structural-formal (associational membership and non-electoral political participation), structural-informal (civic activities and volunteering) and cognitive (interpersonal trust and reciprocity). Multilevel analyses showed no significant variations of self-rated health at the regional level. After adjusting for sociodemographic covariates, interpersonal trust was statistically significantly associated with lower odds of poor/fair health, as well as the cognitive social capital component. Members of farmers/agricultural or gender-related groups had higher odds of poor/fair health, respectively. Excluding these groups, however, associational membership was associated with lower odds of poor/fair health. Likewise, in Colombians with educational attainment higher than high school, reciprocity was associated with lower odds of fair/poor health. Nevertheless, among rural respondents non-electoral political participation was associated with worse health. In conclusion, cognitive social capital and associational membership were related to better health, and could represent important notions for health promotion. Human rights violations related to political violence and gender based discrimination may explain adverse associations with health.     

湖州市城乡地区卫生系统反应性调查

分别对湖州市城镇与农村地区的卫生系统反应性进行评估,结果显示：湖州市卫生系统反应性水平较高,其中农村地区略高于城镇地区。因此,应结合农村地区的客观条件,进一步深化农村卫生改革,由农村地区拉动城镇地区,从而提高整个城市的卫生反应性水平。     

Social capital and change in psychological health over time

The positive association between social capital and general health outcomes has been extensively researched over the past decade; however, studies investigating social capital and psychological health show less consistent results. Despite this, policy-makers worldwide still employ elements of social capital to promote and improve psychological health. This United Kingdom study investigates the association between changes in psychological health over time and three different individual-level proxies of social capital, measures of socio-economic status, social support and the confounders age and gender. All data are derived from the British Household Panel Survey data, with the same individuals (N = 7994) providing responses from 2000–2007.     

2019年我国艾滋病防治工作取得新进展

  目的  从中观社会资本的视角,分析艾滋病防治（以下简称艾防）领域社会组织内部社会资本要素、探讨组织内部社会资本的开发。  方法  2015年8 — 10月,采用多阶段整群抽样方法,根据国家疫情报告选取8个样本省,每个省1～3个地市作为调查点,再整群抽取该地市范围内所有的社会组织作为研究对象,最终纳入的有效样本为212个。数据分析使用SPSS 18.0进行。  结果  信任因子的影响因素为组织成立时间和服务对象种类数量;共同语言和愿景因子的影响因素为内部成员数量变化情况等;非正式网络因子的影响因素为组织工作领域种类等;正式网络因子的影响因素为组织成立时间等;支持因子的影响因素为服务对象数量、组织筹资渠道等。  结论  当前我国艾防领域的社会组织内部存在一定的社会资本,但是高低流行区之间、社会资本因子之间、因子的具体条目之间存在差异。     

Social capital and health in Australia: An overview from the household,income and labour dynamics in Australia survey

Social capital is associated with better health, but components of social capital and their associations with different types of health are rarely explored together. The aim of this study was to use nationally representative data to develop population norms of community participation and explore the relationships between structural and cognitive components of social capital with three forms of health – general health, mental health and physical functioning. Data were taken from Wave 6 (2006) of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey. Using individual-level data, the structural component of social capital (community participation) was measured using a twelve-item short-form of the Australian Community Participation Questionnaire, and the cognitive component (social cohesion) by sense of belonging, tangible support, trust and reciprocity. Three subscales of the SF-36 provided measures of health. Multiple hierarchical regression modelling was used to investigate multivariate relationships among these factors. Higher levels of participation were related to higher levels of social cohesion and to all three forms of (better) health, particularly strongly to mental health. These findings could not be accounted for by sex, age, Indigenous status, education, responsibility for dependents, paid work, living alone or poverty. Controlling for these and physical health, structural and cognitive components of social capital were each related to mental health, with support for a possible mediated relationship between the structural component and mental health. Social capital was related to three forms of health, especially to mental health. Notable gender differences in this relationship were evident, with women reporting greater community participation and social cohesion than men, yet worse mental health. Understanding the mechanisms underlying this apparent anomaly needs further exploration. Because community participation is amenable to intervention, subject to causal testing, our findings may assist in the development of programs which are effective in promoting social cohesion and, thereby, mental health.     

Improving mental health capacity in rural communities: mental health first aid delivery in drought-affected rural New South Wales

Objective: To assess the effectiveness of mental health first aid (MHFA) training in drought‐affected rural and remote Australia, as part of a strategy to improve capacity among farming communities to provide early intervention for mental health problems. Methods: Data were obtained from 99 participants recruited across 12 New South Wales towns, before and after delivery of MHFA seminars emphasising the role of front‐line workers from agricultural‐related services. Surveys assessed knowledge of, confidence in dealing with, and attitude towards people experiencing mental illness, along with the impact of training on response to mental health problems among target population of farmers and farming families. Results: Rural support workers and community volunteers attended MHFA seminars because of perceived mental health needs in the workplace. A majority of responses reflect a concern with giving appropriate advice and support well outside narrow job definitions. Participants' ability to identify high prevalence disorders and endorse evidence‐based interventions for both high and low prevalence disorders increased following MHFA training, as did their confidence in their ability to provide appropriate help. Conclusions: MHFA training can form an effective part of a strategy to improve systems of care and pathways to early intervention in rural communities by using local networks to provide mental health support.