1. State your health outcome of interest. (It could be the one you used for week #2 or another one.) Pick two key behaviors that are important factors leading to your health outcome. Explain the importance of these behaviors either for etiology, prevention, or intervention. (If none of the behaviors in the readings are important for your health outcome, suggest another behavior that is.)
The main health outcomes of interest are Mental Health Status and Mental Healthcare Utilization. I am interested in looking at how social policies can have influence on mental health status. Relevant social determinants are
· Stress & social support, social cohesion, peer influence
· Neighborhood and community opportunities and resources
· SES markers – income could aid better health behaviors
Mental Healthcare Utilization
· Access to mental healthcare, medical distrust
· SES markers
· Race
Etiology, Prevention and Intervention Social Policies like increasing insurance would increase access to mental health care. More than Etiology I am interested in the intervention that could increase access.
2. Describe how you would study the role of one of the behaviors described for question #1 and your health outcome of interest. Incorporate a social factor (e.g. race/ethnicity, social exclusion, stress) in the study approach.
Social Cohesion measured through self-reported questionnaire and preferably covering different aspects of social support from family, friends, neighbors, community. The information on the relevance of social support could also be interviewed. It’s an integral part to understand the mental health status of immigrants.
Neighborhood measures could also be dissected like security, availability of fresh food, health access, proximity to parks, safety, racial composition… These factors also help in determining the mental health status and utilization of metal health services.
3. If key health behaviors (e.g. smoking, exercise, nutritious diet) are strongly influenced by neighborhood, income, and/or education, do we need to continue to study how these behaviors influence health outcomes? Why or why not?
Yes, even if key health behaviors are strongly influenced by neighborhood, income, and/or education. It is important to study them as there could be some variation in the health key behavior on its own due to intrinsic and individual choices.