Despite decades of universal health insurance coverage, most developed countries are still faced with glaring health inequalities that are not reducible to lifestyle and health behaviours, and that bear a strong relationship with many social determinants. This situation has been deemed of such concern to researchers and policymakers alike that limiting these inequalities has been put at the forefront of the agenda of many governing bodies.
Social inequalities in health are generated by the accumulation of vulnerabilities and risks that begin at conception and that may be compounded or mitigated by the intervening life experiences. These inequalities are also thought to be the product of multigenerational processes that combine genetic and social risks.
Research in a lifecourse framework can inform social policies that would mitigate the downward spiral of these processes of cumulative disadvantage.
Membership drive
- All the departments of sociology, economics, epidemiology and public health across Canada were examined for Faculty interests that coincided with the focus of the thematic committee and the PCLC mandate.
- A list of 56 new potential members was drafted from this canvassing, and invitations to join the cluster were sent, resulting in 25 responses from faculty members and some of their students.
- Conducted an international search of research centers focused on health inequalities for an online repository of health inequalities research and as a means of international partner recruitment.
Conference Presentations
2010 Socio-Economic Conference
Public Policies and Health Inequalities
What is the Contribution of Early Life Circumstances, Adult Circumstances and Adult Health Behaviour to Educational Differences in Major Depressive Episode During Young Adulthood in Men and Women?
Alison Park, Amélie Quesnel-Vallée and Rebecca Fuhrer, McGill University,
Cost-related Prescription Drug Non-adherence Across Canada
David Haardt, Dalhousie University
Defining Disability: Recognizing the Heterogeneity of Care Receivers and Its Consequences for Projecting Future Care needs of Canadians
Janice Keefe, Mount Saint Vincent University; Jacques Légaré and Patrick Charbonneau, Université de Montréal; Yann Décarie, Université de Sherbrooke
4th Population, Work, Family Policy Research Collaboration
Social Inequalities in Health over the Life Course
Socio-geographic mobility and health status: A longitudinal analysis using the national population health survey of Canada, Sarah Curtis, Amelie Quesnel-Vallée, Maninder Setia, McGill University,
Social inequalities in health dynamics: A comparison of the United States and Britain, PeggyMcDonough, Diana Worts, and Amanda Sacker, University of Toronto
Later life health risks in relation to growing income inequalities in the United States and Canada, Susan McDaniel, University of Utah
2009 Socio-Economic Conference
Socio-Economic Inequalities in Access to Health Care
Income, Access to Mental Health Services and Perceived Unmet Need in Canada, Amélie Quesnel-Vallée, McGill University; Eric Latimer, Aihua Liu and Jean Caron, McGill University and Douglas Hospital Research Centre, Montréal
Arduous Access: Does Socio-economic Status Affect Access to Primary Care in Quebec, Canada?, Tania Jenkins, McGill University
Health Care Access - who gets it and who doesn’t? Evidence from the National Population Health Survey (1994-2006), Maninder Singh Setia, Amelie Quesnel-Vallee, Michal Abrahamowicz, and Pierre Tousignant, McGill University John Lynch, University of South Australia,
2009 CRDCN Annual Conference: Health Over the Life Course
Social Inequalities, Health, and Policy
Unequal Health and Income Trajectories: The Role of Health Insurance in a National Health System
Emilie Renahy and Amélie Quesnel-Vallée
Socioeconomic History and Preventable Disease: A Comparative Analysis of Fundamental Cause Theory
Andrea Willson and Amir Erfani
Peggy McDonough, Diana Worts, Amanda Sacker
SSHRC to CIHR Transition Grants
On Cluster Substantive Committees
On Faculty and Student Exchanges
Links:
Canadian Research Data Centres Network (CRDCN)
Quebec inter-Univesity Centre for Social Statistics (QICSS)
Hidden Costs/Invisible Contributions
Prentice Institute for Global Population and Economy
Centre for International Research on Care, Labour and Equalities