Advances and Challenges of Social Epidemiology – the social determinants of health revisited (literature review)
Advances and Challenges of Social Epidemiology – the social determinants of health revisited (literature review)

Summary/Abstract: This literature review revisits the concept of “social determinants of health” in light of new scientific findings and points to key research directions in modern social epidemiology. Recent evidence suggests that not only poverty but also inequality and perceived inferiority exert a detrimental influence on one’s health. It is also now clear that socioeconomic position influences health via various pathways, such as health behaviors, access to health care, environmental exposure, and psychosocial processes. At the same time, there is no definite conclusion as to the leading mecha-nism that would translate social position into morbidity and mortality. The need for causal explanations has opened up an important field for sociological investigation. Given its increasing international currency and the need to broadly address social inequalities in policy actions, it is time to bring this highly meaningful topic also to our research agenda.

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