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ReportWatch: People & places

Urban location, Social Capital and Health

Professor Fran Baum of Flinders University, is a member of the WHO Commission on the Social Determinants of Health chaired by Sir Michael Marmot. Fran is the first author of a major new report of an NHMRC funded project People and Places: Urban location, Social Capital and Health. Comparison between four Adelaide post code areas showed that as expected physical and mental health of respondents in better off suburbs – Burnside and Prospect – was better that that of the two less well-off suburbs – Onkaparinga and Playford. The study found that social capital was also differentially distributed between the suburbs. The most affluent area was perceived by its residents to be a better place to live in terms of safety, cohesion, levels of reciprocity and the quality of the neighbourhood environment. The residents also had higher levels of education, housing tenure and income and of the factors in life that add up to social capital.

The research team discussed their findings with policy people to identify the main policy lessons from the research. Fran says in her foreword: “Overwhelmingly, they told us that any attempt to promote health must address broader social and economic influences”. The research team and policy people see the South Australian Strategic Plan as an opportunity to harness all the relevant actions of government in an holistic approach to health and wellbeing. This requires coordination of planning across government agencies as well as ensuring genuine involvement from local people, which happens better in some places than others.

Details of the report are available at http://som.flinders.edu.au/FUSA/PublicHealth/locationhealth.htm

Reference
Baum, F., Ziersch, A., Zhang, G., Putland, C., Palmer, C., MacDougall, C., O'Dwyer, L., Covene, J. (2007). People and Places: Urban location, Social Capital and Health . Adelaide: Flinders University.