Reviewing Social Health Studies: Introducing Macro-Social Health Indicators

Social health is a dimension of health that affects other aspects. Social health deals with people's relationships with each other and their interactions in the society, but there is not a single approved definition by all international organizations. Due to diversity of definitions for social health, various indicators have been introduced to measure it. The purpose of this article is to introduce macro social health indicators.

The research approach in this study is a mixed method. Initially, a list of indicators was extracted via systematic review. In the qualitative phase, the prepared list was evaluated and scored by experts in the field of social health (as members of the scientific committee). Prioritization was achieved based on average scores.

Finally, 50 articles were included in the study. Priority macro indicators of social health include the following:Number of prisoners, divorce number (ratio of divorce to marriage), poverty, suicide, school drop-out rate, child labor rate, youth incarceration rate, homicide, security, environmental performance index, social capital, equality of income opportunities )Gini index), legalism (rule of law), social justice feeling, political participation index (e.g., vote in presidential elections).

Using the list of macro indicator priorities and conducting periodical surveys, policy makers and scientific societies could have a true picture of social health and its trend. Social healthpromoting programs could then be designed accordingly.