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Social Networks and Inequalities in Health

Tuesday, 17 July 2018: 17:30-19:20
Location: 714B (MTCC SOUTH BUILDING)
RC15 Sociology of Health (host committee)

Language: English

Social relationships  have been widely recognized for their powerful effects on physical and mental health, as they have been associated with a broad variety of health outcomes, such as depression, heart disease, disability, cognitive functioning, longevity and survival. An explanation is that individuals access and capitalize a wide array of material and immaterial resources through their set of social relationships, called social network.

Previous research on health inequalities has shown that variations in health often base on differences in access to social capital from social networks. While much of this research has focused on the country and the neighborhood level, less is known about how differences in social networks emerge at the individual level. For example, socio-demographic factors including employment status, income, education, gender and ethnicity may partially drive individual inequalities in social capital and health.

More complicatedly, the individuals’ ability to foster and maintain a resourceful network also depends on their physical and mental health, which in turn is linked to socio-demographic characteristics, so that inequality, social networks and health are strongly interwoven.

This session takes a closer look at social networks as drivers, modifiers and outcomes of health inequalities. There is no a priori focus on qualitative, quantitative contributions or theoretical concepts.

  • There are the links between social networks and physical, mental health and risk behavior?
  • What do we know about social netwoks with different social or socio-economic status (e.g., migrants, jobless persons, persons of older age).  Do differences in their social networks relate to inequalities in health?
Session Organizers:
Markus GAMPER, Univeristy of Cologne, Germany, Lea ELLWARDT, University of Cologne, Germany, Peter KRIWY, Chemnitz University of Technology, Germany and Andreas KLÄRNER, Thünen Institute for Rural Studies, Germany
Chair:
Lea ELLWARDT, University of Cologne, Germany
Co-Chair:
Philip ADEBAHR, University of Technologie Chemnitz, Germany
Oral Presentations
Changes in Social Networks and Changes in Health: What Drives What?
Martina BRANDT, TU Dortmund, Germany; Christian DEINDL, TU Dortmund, Germany
Distance Caregiving (DiCa): Care Potential across National Distances and International Boundaries
Annette FRANKE, EH Ludwigsburg, Germany; Birgit KRAMER, EH Ludwigsburg, Germany; Pirkko Marit JANN, EH Ludwigsburg, Germany; Ulrich OTTO, Careum Forschung, Switzerland; Iren BISCHOFBERGER, Careum Forschung, Switzerland; Karin VAN HOLTEN, Careum Forschung, Switzerland
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