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Social Capital and Physical Health

A Systematic Review of the Literature

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Social Capital and Health

Abstract

In this chapter, we describe the key findings from a systematic review of empirical studies linking social capital to physical health outcomes. As noted in the Introduction, as well as the chapters by van der Gaag and Webber (chapter 2), and Lakon and colleagues (chapter 4), much of the public health literature has focused on the health effects of social cohesion. That is, both ecological and multilevel studies have sought to examine the health impacts of group cohesion measured at different scales (e.g., neighborhoods, states, nations). In turn, a number of individual-level studies have sought to test the relationships between individual perceptions of social cohesion (e.g., trust of others) and health outcomes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA

    Daniel Kim MD, MPH, MSc, S.V. Subramanian PhD & Ichiro Kawachi MD, PhD

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  1. Daniel Kim MD, MPH, MSc
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  2. S.V. Subramanian PhD
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  3. Ichiro Kawachi MD, PhD
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Society, Human Development and Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Kresge Buliding, 7th Floor 677 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA

    Ichiro Kawachi , S.V. Subramanian  & Daniel Kim ,  & 

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Kim, D., Subramanian, S., Kawachi, I. (2008). Social Capital and Physical Health. In: Kawachi, I., Subramanian, S., Kim, D. (eds) Social Capital and Health. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-71311-3_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-71311-3_8

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