Open AccessFoundational Approaches to Advancing Hearing Health Equity: A Primer in Social Epidemiology
Author(s) -
Carrie L. Nieman,
Jonathan J. Suen,
Lorraine T. Dean,
Aruna Chandran
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
ear and hearing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.577
H-Index - 109
eISSN - 1538-4667
pISSN - 0196-0202
DOI - 10.1097/aud.0000000000001149
Subject(s) - social epidemiology , public health , epidemiology , social determinants of health , health equity , discipline , hearing loss , public relations , medicine , sociology , political science , social science , nursing , pathology , audiology
Hearing health is inextricably linked to factors beyond biology. Social, demographic, environmental, geographic, and historical influences affect hearing health, but these factors are often unmeasured within traditional biological, clinical, and epidemiological studies of hearing health. With increasing recognition of hearing health over the life course as a public health priority, there is also a growing understanding of existing hearing health inequities at the individual, community, national, and global levels. To make progress in addressing these inequities, public health disciplines, such as social epidemiology, can provide valuable frameworks. With a focus on integrating the biological and functional with social and structural factors influencing health, social epidemiology provides key concepts and approaches for filling existing research and practice gaps. In this review, we introduce the discipline of social epidemiology and its associated concepts to inspire greater cross-disciplinary collaboration for the ultimate goal of advancing hearing health equity.