Social Capital and Health Risk: An Integrative Review

Abstract

The impact of health risk behaviours on the social and economic fabric of society is of concern to social marketers and policy makers. Current research suggests social capital, that is, the positive benefits gained from a relationship with others in the community, plays a key role in addressing health risk behaviours. The current literature on social capital and health is fragmented, and the field has yet to produce an up-to-date synthesis of past findings to help researchers understand the current status of this research area. This article fills this gap with an integrative review of empirical research based on rigorous criteria. Boolean search was used to limit the search to only those articles containing the keywords ‘social capital’ and ‘health risk’ but no limits were applied for country or population of interest or publication start date. Two researchers screened through the title, abstract and introduction of every retrieved article independently according to the inclusion criteria. A total of 105 articles were eligible for further analyses. This article contributes by: (1) providing a structured overview with an aim to disentangle the findings of varied past studies addressing the theme; (2) identifying important gaps in current knowledge; (3) presenting a research agenda that flows logically from the theoretical gaps identified; and lastly (4) proposing a theoretical framework upon which social capital interventions can be designed and executed to mitigate health risk. We hope that the key issues and new directions presented in this paper will provide new impetus in this area of research.