Corporate activities that influence population health: A scoping review and qualitative synthesis to develop the HEALTH-CORP typology

Abstract

IntroductionThe concept of the commercial determinants of health (CDH) is used to study the actions (and associated structures) of commercial entities that influence population health and health equity. The aim of this study was to develop a typology that describes the diverse set of activities through which corporations influence population health and health equity across industries.MethodsWe conducted a scoping review of articles using CDH terms (n=116) that discuss corporate activities that can influence population health and health equity across 16 industries. We used the qualitative constant comparison method to build a typology called the Corporate Influences on Population Health (HEALTH-CORP) typology.ResultsThe HEALTH-CORP typology identifies 70 corporate activities that can influence health across industries and categorizes them into seven domains of corporate influence (e.g., political practices, employment practices). We present a model that situates these domains based on their proximity to health outcomes and identify five population groups (e.g., workers, local communities) to consider when evaluating corporate health impacts.DiscussionThe HEALTH-CORP typology facilitates an understanding of the diverse set of corporate activities that can influence population health and the population groups affected by these activities. We discuss the utility of these contributions in terms of identifying interventions to address the CDH and advancing efforts to measure and monitor the CDH. We also leverage our findings to identify key gaps in CDH literature and suggest avenues for future research.