Publications by authors named "Sanne E Verra"
Article Synopsis
- A growing interest in applying complex systems methods to study socioeconomic inequalities in health is found, but there's a noticeable gap in how these methods are actually utilized in research.
- The analysis reveals that studies employing more complex systems concepts also provide better reporting on relationships within the data, but the underlying beliefs within the system are often overlooked.
- The authors emphasize the need for better reporting practices, including a full depiction of model structures, and suggest creating guidelines to enhance clarity and effectiveness in future studies.
Background: It remains unclear how COVID-19 has disproportionately affected the mental health of different vulnerable groups. This study explores how mental health inequalities changed between 2014 (pre-COVID-19) and 2021 (during COVID-19) in the Netherlands across intersectional social strata defined by interplays of educational attainment, income level, gender, and age.
Methods: Using 2014 and 2021 self-reported cohort data on health and living conditions of the adult population of Eindhoven and surroundings (N = 1,157), a Multilevel Analysis of Individual Heterogeneity and Discriminatory Accuracy (MAIHDA) was applied to explore intersectional inequalities in mental health in 2014, 2021, and in mental health changes (2014-2021).
Background: This study explores socioeconomic differences in acceptability and preferences for policies that aim to reduce socioeconomic health inequalities. The investigated policies range from structural policies, requiring no individual agency, to agentic policies, which depend on the individual agency for behaviour change.
Methods: An online, cross-sectional survey was conducted among 1182 participants, stratified by education and representative of Dutch adults (aged 25-65) for age and gender.
Background: This study explores the role of health in daily life and needs of Dutch adults (aged 25-49) experiencing one or more forms of socioeconomic insecurity stemming from their financial, housing, or employment situations.
Methods: 28 in-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted in the Netherlands between October 2022 and February 2023. The interview guide included questions on participants' socioeconomic situation, the role of health in their daily lives, their health-related and broader needs.
Background: Interest in applying a complex systems approach to understanding socioeconomic inequalities in health is growing, but an overview of existing research on this topic is lacking. In this systematic scoping review, we summarize the current state of the literature, identify shared drivers of multiple health and health behavior outcomes, and highlight areas ripe for future research.
Methods: SCOPUS, Web of Science, and PubMed databases were searched in April 2023 for peer-reviewed, English-language studies in high-income OECD countries containing a conceptual systems model or simulation model of socioeconomic inequalities in health or health behavior in the adult general population.
Article Synopsis
- A study looked at how different types of capital (economic, social, and embodied cultural) affect adults' diets and exercise habits.
- They found that embodied cultural capital was important for all healthy behaviors, while social capital helped with sports and food choices, and economic capital also helped with sports and eating vegetables.
- The research suggested that if people have both economic and social support, it could boost their participation in sports, making it effective to combine these supports for better health outcomes.
Background: Urgent daily hassles, which are more common among people with a lower socioeconomic position (SEP), might limit one's ability to address less pressing goals, such as goals related to health promotion. Consequently, health goals may be viewed as less focal, which could jeopardize one's health. This study examined an understudied pathway: whether a higher severity of daily hassles resulted in a lower perceived importance of health and whether these two factors sequentially mediate socioeconomic inequalities in self-assessed health (SAH) and food consumption.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEconomic inequality is associated with preferences for smaller, immediate gains over larger, delayed ones. Such temporal discounting may feed into rising global inequality, yet it is unclear whether it is a function of choice preferences or norms, or rather the absence of sufficient resources for immediate needs. It is also not clear whether these reflect true differences in choice patterns between income groups.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Pressing issues, like financial concerns, may outweigh the importance people attach to health. This study tested whether health, compared to other life domains, was considered more important by people in high versus low socioeconomic positions, with future focus and financial strain as potential explanatory factors.
Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2019 among N=1,330 Dutch adults.
Background: Socioeconomic inequalities in health behaviors have been attributed to both structural and individual factors, but untangling the complex, dynamic pathways through which these factors influence inequalities requires more empirical research. This study examined whether and how two factors, material conditions and time orientation, sequentially impact socioeconomic inequalities in health behaviors.
Methods: Dutch adults 25 and older self-reported highest attained educational level, a measure of socioeconomic position (SEP); material conditions (financial strain, housing tenure, income); time orientation; health behaviors including smoking and sports participation; and health behavior-related outcomes including body mass index (BMI) and self-assessed health in three surveys (2004, 2011, 2014) of the longitudinal GLOBE (Dutch acronym for "Health and Living Conditions of the Population of Eindhoven and surroundings") study.
Background: Promoting healthy lifestyles at work should complement workplace safety programs. This study systematically investigates current states of occupational health and safety (OHS) policy as well as practice in the European Union (EU).
Methods: OHS policies of EU member states were categorized as either prevention or health promotion provisions using a manifest content analysis.
Objective: Even though medical travel is expanding, limited research has identified pitfalls along the full process of medical travel. This study explores the experiences of medical travellers, with a focus on potential issues that may threaten safe and effective medical travel.
Methods: The experiences of medical travellers were assessed using a cross-sectional questionnaire in the Netherlands in 2014.