Nice to be included in this Who's Who of Health Inequalities Research. Placement in Cluster 4: Policy-Focused & Critical Health Inequalities Research with many UK colleagues and friends is a real compliment!
An atlas of health inequalities and health disparities research: “How is this all getting done in silos, and why?”
Social Science & Medicine [open access]
Taya Collyer and Katherine Smith
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953620305499
Abstract
Research on health inequalities and health disparities has grown exponentially since the 1960s, but this expansion has not been matched by an associated sense of progress. Criticisms include claims that too much research addresses well-trodden
questions and that the field has failed to gain public and policy traction. Qualitative studies have found researchers partly attribute these challenges to fragmentation resulting from disciplinary and methodological differences. Yet, empirical investigation
(‘research on research’) is limited. This study addresses this gap, employing mixed-methods to examine, at scale, how and why this field is defined by insular research clusters. First, bibliometric analysis identifies and visualizes the 250 most-connected
authors. Next, an algorithm was used to identify clustering via citation links between authors. We used researcher profiling to ascertain authors' geographical and institutional locations and disciplinary training, examining how this mapped onto clusters.
Finally, causes of siloing were investigated via semi-structured interviews with 45 researchers. The resulting ‘atlas’ of health inequalities and health disparities research identifies eight clusters of authors with varying degrees of connectedness. No single
factor neatly describes observed fragmentation, health equity scholars exhibit a diverse disciplinary backgrounds, and geographical, institutional, and historical factors appear to intersect to explain siloed citation patterns. While the configuration of research
activity within clusters potentially helps render questions scientifically manageable, it affirms perceptions of the field as fragmented. We draw on Thomas Kuhn and Sheila Jasanoff to position results within theoretical pictures of scientific progress. Newcomers
to the field can use our findings to orient themselves within the many streams of health equity scholarship, and existing health equity scholars can use the atlas to move beyond existing geo-disciplinary networks. However, although stronger cross-cluster engagement
would be likely to improve insights, the complex nexus of factors underlying the field's structure will likely make this challenging in practice.
dr
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Dennis Raphael, PhD
Professor of Health Policy and Management
York University
4700 Keele Street
Strong College, Room 334
Toronto, Ontario M3J 1P3
416-736-2100, ext. 22054
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Website:
http://health.info.yorku.ca/health-profiles/index.php?mid=162284
Of interest:
The Politics of Health in the Canadian Welfare State
https://www.canadianscholars.ca/books/the-politics-of-health-in-the-canadian-welfare-state
Poverty in Canada, 3rd edition,
Forewords by Cathy Crowe, Rob Ranier and Jack Layton
https://www.canadianscholars.ca/books/poverty-in-canada-d3408482-0caa-489a-8a76-7faf7587d00a
Staying Alive: Critical Perspectives on Health, Illness, and Health Care, 3rd edition
Foreword by Gary Teeple
https://www.canadianscholars.ca/books/staying-alive
Social Determinants of Health: Canadian Perspectives, 3rd edition
Forewords by Michael Butler and Maude Barlow, Carolyn Bennett and Roy Romanow
http://tinyurl.com/hm5l4hn
Immigration, Public Policy, and Health: Newcomer Experiences in Developed Nations
http://www.cspi.org/books/immigration-public-policy-and-health
About Canada: Health and Illness, 2nd edition
https://fernwoodpublishing.ca/book/about-canada-health-and-illness
Tackling Health Inequalities: Lessons from International Experiences
Foreword by Alex Scott-Samuel
http://www.cspi.org/books/tackling_health_inequalities
Health Promotion and Quality of Life in Canada: Essential Readings
http://tinyurl.com/3C8zteu
See a presentation! The Political Economy of Health Inequalities.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NCTYqAub8g
Also, presentation at the University of Toronto on how Canada stacks up again other nations in providing citizens with economic and social security.
http://vimeo.com/33346501
See what Jack Layton had to say about my books!
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2011/04/10/cv-election-ndp-layton-platform.html
at 27:20