June 2001 Health Promotion Conference

Release date: 20 June, 2001

The Department of Health Promotion, National University of Ireland, Galway in association with the Western, North Western and Mid-Western Health Boards will host a Conference on Health Promotion and Social Capital, on Thursday and Friday, 28 and 29 June, 2001 at the National University of Ireland, Galway.

One of the current concepts creating interest among health promoters is social capital. The concept of social capital is based on the assumption that communities with good communication networks and supports, as well as a positive cultural identity, will enhance both individual and community well-being and hence promote health. However, like all new concepts there remains questions and paradoxes to be explored.

The Conference programme will include Plenary Sessions which will feature keynote speakers from Ireland, United States and Germany looking at accounts of social capital: the mixed health effects of personal communities and voluntary groups, health and inequalities, social exchange and health, and a proposed sociological framework. Tom Healy, Department of Education and Science, Ireland will open the forum with an exploration of the concept of social capital and related concepts. He will go on to consider the findings, focusing on health and personal well being impacts of a recently completed international survey on social capital which he undertook at the OECD.

The second keynote speaker is Professor Stephen Kunitz from the Department of Community and Preventive Medicine, University of Rochester, New York. His paper will focus on the use of the concept of social capital in the fields of public health and health promotion. He will argue that empirical data suggests that social capital has mixed effects, sometimes associated with improvements in health and at other times with diminished health.

Professor Brian Nolan and Dr. Richard Layte, ESRI (Economic and Social Research Institute), will present a joint paper on Health Inequalities in Ireland. They will summarise what is known about the overall extent of health inequalities in Ireland, highlight the serious gaps in our knowledge, set out the agenda for research to fill those gaps and discuss key issues in framing a policy response.

Professor Johannes Siegrist, Department of Medical Sociology, University of Dusseldorf, Germany will deliver a paper on "Social differentials of adult morbidity: the role of effort-reward imbalances at work", which will focus on exposure to a stressful psychosocial environment as one of several explanations of social differentials of morbidity in adult life. He will look at place, social exchange and health and discuss the health policy implications and scientific challenges from demonstrated results. The Symposium will present progress of work undertaken to-date by The HRB Research Unit on Health Status and Health Gain, which was established at the Centre for Health Promotion Studies in NUI, Galway. Professor Cecily Kelleher will present an overview of Health and Social Gain in Ireland, while Professor Andrew Murphy, Department of General Practice, NUI, Galway will focus on Primary Care: Urban and Rural comparisons.

Information from: Máire Mhic Uidhir, Press Officer, NUI, Galway.

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