Who benefits from social investment? The gendered effects of family and employment policies on cardiovascular disease in Europe.

Background: In the context of fiscal austerity in many European welfare states, policy innovation often takes the form of 'social investment', a contested set of policies aimed at strengthening labour markets. Social investment policies include employment subsidies, skills training and job-finding services, early childhood education and childcare and parental leave. Given that such policies can influence gender equity in the labour market, we analysed the possible effects of such policies on gender health equity.

Age and Gender Differences in Social Network Composition and Social Support Among Older Rural South Africans: Findings From the HAALSI Study.

Objectives: Drawing on the "Health and Aging in Africa: A Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH community in South Africa" (HAALSI) baseline survey, we present data on older adults' social networks and receipt of social support in rural South Africa. We examine how age and gender differences in social network characteristics matched with patterns predicted by theories of choice- and constraint-based network contraction in older adults.

Method: We used regression analysis on data for 5,059 South African adults aged 40 and older.

Measurement equivalence: a glossary for comparative population health research.

Comparative population health studies are becoming more common and are advancing solutions to crucial public health problems, but decades-old measurement equivalence issues remain without a common vocabulary to identify and address the biases that contribute to non-equivalence. This glossary defines sources of measurement non-equivalence. While drawing examples from both within-country and between-country studies, this glossary also defines methods of harmonisation and elucidates the unique opportunities in addition to the unique challenges of particular harmonisation methods.

How social policy contributes to the distribution of population health: the case of gender health equity.

Aims: In this study we aimed to analyze gender health equity as a case of how social policy contributes to population health. We analyzed three sets of social-investment policies implemented in Europe and previously hypothesized to reduce gender inequity in labor market outcomes: childcare; active labor market programs; and long-term care.

Methods: We use 12 indicators of social-investment policies from the OECD Social Expenditure Database, the OECD Family Database, and the Social Policy Indicators' Parental Leave Benefit Dataset.

The emotional cost of distance: Geographic social network dispersion and post-traumatic stress among survivors of Hurricane Katrina.

Rationale: Social networks offer important emotional and instrumental support following natural disasters. However, displacement may geographically disperse network members, making it difficult to provide and receive support necessary for psychological recovery after trauma.

Objectives: We examine the association between distance to network members and post-traumatic stress using survey data, and identify potential mechanisms underlying this association using in-depth qualitative interviews.