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Learning from the Social Sciences in Chronic Diseases Health Promotion: Structure, Agency and Distributive Justice

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Global Handbook on Noncommunicable Diseases and Health Promotion

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Abstract

Two major “hot topics” regarding chronic disease health promotion and the social sciences are developed in this chapter. These two topics, how to understand how and why people change their health behaviours and how to understand the inequitable distribution of these behaviours, are intimately related. In describing the relationship between these two issues, the discussion bring us to the input that sociology, ethics and political philosophy can have on the development of chronic disease health promotion in the years to come. Health promotion’s neglect of the “structure” of lifestyle, or the social conditions of daily life conduct, are discussed. It is then proposed that health promotion focuses on both the structure of lifestyle as well as the agency that individuals have to change this same lifestyle. From political philosophy and ethics, the discussion turns to a consideration of distributive justice theories within health promotion, particularly that of Amartya Sen’s capability theory. The chapter ends by applying these issues to the problem of vulnerable populations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Département de médicine sociale et préventive, Université de Montréal, 7010 Avenue du Parc, Montréal, QC, Canada, H3C 3J7

    Katherine L. Frohlich

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  1. Katherine L. Frohlich
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Correspondence to Katherine L. Frohlich .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Emory University, Midvale Court 2418, Atlanta, 30084, Georgia, USA

    David V. McQueen

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Frohlich, K.L. (2013). Learning from the Social Sciences in Chronic Diseases Health Promotion: Structure, Agency and Distributive Justice. In: McQueen, D. (eds) Global Handbook on Noncommunicable Diseases and Health Promotion. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7594-1_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7594-1_5

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

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