Journal article
Understanding and representing ‘place’ in health research: A relational approach
Social science & medicine (1982), v 65(9), pp 1825-1838
Nov 2007
PMID: 17706331
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
Epidemiology, sociology, and geography have been successful in re-establishing interest in the role of place in shaping health and health inequalities. However, some of the relevant empirical research has relied on rather conventional conceptions of space and place and focused on isolating the “independent” contribution of place-level and individual-level factors. This approach may have resulted in an underestimate of the contribution of ‘place’ to disease risk. In this paper we argue the case for extensive (quantitative) as well as intensive (qualitative) empirical, as well as theoretical, research on health variation that incorporates ‘relational’, views of space and place. Specifically, we argue that research in place and health should avoid the false dualism of context and composition by recognising that there is a mutually reinforcing and reciprocal relationship between people and place. We explore in the discussion how these theoretical perspectives are beginning to influence empirical research. We argue that these approaches to understanding how place relates to health are important in order to deliver effective, ‘contextually sensitive’ policy interventions.
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Details
- Title
- Understanding and representing ‘place’ in health research: A relational approach
- Creators
- Steven Cummins - Queen Mary University of LondonSarah Curtis - Durham UniversityAna V. Diez-Roux - University of MichiganSally Macintyre - MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit
- Publication Details
- Social science & medicine (1982), v 65(9), pp 1825-1838
- Publisher
- Elsevier
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Urban Health Collaborative; Epidemiology and Biostatistics
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000250640900002
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-34848873111
- Other Identifier
- 991020112253204721
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- International collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
- Social Sciences, Biomedical