Culture: The missing link in health research

M. Kagawa Singer; W. Dressler; S. George; Claudia R. Baquet; Ronny A. Bell; Linda Burhansstipanov; Nancy J. Burke; Suzanne Dibble; William Elwood; Linda Garro; Clarence C. Gravlee; Peter Guarnaccia; Michael L. Hecht; Jeffrey Henderson; Daniel Hruschka; Roberto Lewis-Fernández; Robert Like; Charles Mouton; Hector F. Myers; J. Bryan Page; Rena Pasick; Bernice Pescosolido; Nancy Schoenberg; Bradley Stoner; Gregory Strayhorn; Laura Szalacha; Joseph Trimble; Thomas S. Weisner; David Williams

doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.07.015

Culture: The missing link in health research

M. Kagawa Singer, W. Dressler, S. George, Claudia R. Baquet, Ronny A. Bell, Linda Burhansstipanov, Nancy J. Burke, Suzanne Dibble, William Elwood, Linda Garro, Clarence C. Gravlee, Peter Guarnaccia, Michael L. Hecht, Jeffrey Henderson, Daniel Hruschka, Roberto Lewis-Fernández, Robert Like, Charles Mouton, Hector F. Myers, J. Bryan PageRena Pasick, Bernice Pescosolido, Nancy Schoenberg, Bradley Stoner, Gregory Strayhorn, Laura Szalacha, Joseph Trimble, Thomas S. Weisner, David Williams

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

135 Scopus citations

Abstract

Culture is essential for humans to exist. Yet surprisingly little attention has been paid to identifying how culture works or developing standards to guide the application of this concept in health research. This paper describes a multidisciplinary effort to find consensus on essential elements of a definition of culture to guide researchers in studying how cultural processes influence health and health behaviors. We first highlight the lack of progress made in the health sciences to explain differences between population groups, and then identify 10 key barriers in research impeding progress in more effectively and rapidly realizing equity in health outcomes. Second, we highlight the primarily mono-cultural lens through which health behavior is currently conceptualized, third, we present a consensus definition of culture as an integrating framework, and last, we provide guidelines to more effectively operationalize the concept of culture for health research. We hope this effort will be useful to researchers, reviewers, and funders alike.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	237-246
Number of pages	10
Journal	Social Science and Medicine
Volume	170
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.07.015
State	Published - Dec 1 2016

Keywords

Cross-cultural health
Culture
Culture and health
Culture defined
Culture of science
Culture, race, and ethnicity
Health disparities

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Health(social science)
History and Philosophy of Science

Access to Document

10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.07.015

Cite this

Kagawa Singer, M., Dressler, W., George, S., Baquet, C. R., Bell, R. A., Burhansstipanov, L., Burke, N. J., Dibble, S., Elwood, W., Garro, L., Gravlee, C. C., Guarnaccia, P., Hecht, M. L., Henderson, J., Hruschka, D., Lewis-Fernández, R., Like, R., Mouton, C., Myers, H. F., ... Williams, D. (2016). Culture: The missing link in health research. Social Science and Medicine, 170, 237-246. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.07.015

Kagawa Singer, M, Dressler, W, George, S, Baquet, CR, Bell, RA, Burhansstipanov, L, Burke, NJ, Dibble, S, Elwood, W, Garro, L, Gravlee, CC, Guarnaccia, P, Hecht, ML, Henderson, J, Hruschka, D, Lewis-Fernández, R, Like, R, Mouton, C, Myers, HF, Page, JB, Pasick, R, Pescosolido, B, Schoenberg, N, Stoner, B, Strayhorn, G, Szalacha, L, Trimble, J, Weisner, TS & Williams, D 2016, 'Culture: The missing link in health research', Social Science and Medicine, vol. 170, pp. 237-246. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.07.015

@article{3453bb415a0143abb096ff0f405733e9,

title = "Culture: The missing link in health research",

abstract = "Culture is essential for humans to exist. Yet surprisingly little attention has been paid to identifying how culture works or developing standards to guide the application of this concept in health research. This paper describes a multidisciplinary effort to find consensus on essential elements of a definition of culture to guide researchers in studying how cultural processes influence health and health behaviors. We first highlight the lack of progress made in the health sciences to explain differences between population groups, and then identify 10 key barriers in research impeding progress in more effectively and rapidly realizing equity in health outcomes. Second, we highlight the primarily mono-cultural lens through which health behavior is currently conceptualized, third, we present a consensus definition of culture as an integrating framework, and last, we provide guidelines to more effectively operationalize the concept of culture for health research. We hope this effort will be useful to researchers, reviewers, and funders alike.",

keywords = "Cross-cultural health, Culture, Culture and health, Culture defined, Culture of science, Culture, race, and ethnicity, Health disparities",

author = "{Kagawa Singer}, M. and W. Dressler and S. George and Baquet, {Claudia R.} and Bell, {Ronny A.} and Linda Burhansstipanov and Burke, {Nancy J.} and Suzanne Dibble and William Elwood and Linda Garro and Gravlee, {Clarence C.} and Peter Guarnaccia and Hecht, {Michael L.} and Jeffrey Henderson and Daniel Hruschka and Roberto Lewis-Fern{\'a}ndez and Robert Like and Charles Mouton and Myers, {Hector F.} and Page, {J. Bryan} and Rena Pasick and Bernice Pescosolido and Nancy Schoenberg and Bradley Stoner and Gregory Strayhorn and Laura Szalacha and Joseph Trimble and Weisner, {Thomas S.} and David Williams",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2016 Elsevier Ltd",

year = "2016",

month = dec,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.07.015",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "170",

pages = "237--246",

journal = "Social Science and Medicine",

issn = "0277-9536",

publisher = "Elsevier Limited",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Culture

T2 - The missing link in health research

AU - Kagawa Singer, M.

AU - Dressler, W.

AU - George, S.

AU - Baquet, Claudia R.

AU - Bell, Ronny A.

AU - Burhansstipanov, Linda

AU - Burke, Nancy J.

AU - Dibble, Suzanne

AU - Elwood, William

AU - Garro, Linda

AU - Gravlee, Clarence C.

AU - Guarnaccia, Peter

AU - Hecht, Michael L.

AU - Henderson, Jeffrey

AU - Hruschka, Daniel

AU - Lewis-Fernández, Roberto

AU - Like, Robert

AU - Mouton, Charles

AU - Myers, Hector F.

AU - Page, J. Bryan

AU - Pasick, Rena

AU - Pescosolido, Bernice

AU - Schoenberg, Nancy

AU - Stoner, Bradley

AU - Strayhorn, Gregory

AU - Szalacha, Laura

AU - Trimble, Joseph

AU - Weisner, Thomas S.

AU - Williams, David

PY - 2016/12/1

Y1 - 2016/12/1

N2 - Culture is essential for humans to exist. Yet surprisingly little attention has been paid to identifying how culture works or developing standards to guide the application of this concept in health research. This paper describes a multidisciplinary effort to find consensus on essential elements of a definition of culture to guide researchers in studying how cultural processes influence health and health behaviors. We first highlight the lack of progress made in the health sciences to explain differences between population groups, and then identify 10 key barriers in research impeding progress in more effectively and rapidly realizing equity in health outcomes. Second, we highlight the primarily mono-cultural lens through which health behavior is currently conceptualized, third, we present a consensus definition of culture as an integrating framework, and last, we provide guidelines to more effectively operationalize the concept of culture for health research. We hope this effort will be useful to researchers, reviewers, and funders alike.

AB - Culture is essential for humans to exist. Yet surprisingly little attention has been paid to identifying how culture works or developing standards to guide the application of this concept in health research. This paper describes a multidisciplinary effort to find consensus on essential elements of a definition of culture to guide researchers in studying how cultural processes influence health and health behaviors. We first highlight the lack of progress made in the health sciences to explain differences between population groups, and then identify 10 key barriers in research impeding progress in more effectively and rapidly realizing equity in health outcomes. Second, we highlight the primarily mono-cultural lens through which health behavior is currently conceptualized, third, we present a consensus definition of culture as an integrating framework, and last, we provide guidelines to more effectively operationalize the concept of culture for health research. We hope this effort will be useful to researchers, reviewers, and funders alike.

KW - Cross-cultural health

KW - Culture

KW - Culture and health

KW - Culture defined

KW - Culture of science

KW - Culture, race, and ethnicity

KW - Health disparities

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84994674020&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84994674020&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.07.015

DO - 10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.07.015

M3 - Article

C2 - 27542574

AN - SCOPUS:84994674020

SN - 0277-9536

VL - 170

SP - 237

EP - 246

JO - Social Science and Medicine

JF - Social Science and Medicine

ER -

Culture: The missing link in health research

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this