Studying Health Inequalities in Colombia: Diverse Perspectives on Their Causes and Next Steps for Action

TL;DR

This study explores health inequalities in Colombia, highlighting diverse perspectives on their causes and how to address them.

Contribution

The paper provides context-specific insights into health inequalities research in Colombia, emphasizing local traditions and perspectives.

Findings

Health inequalities in Colombia are influenced by historical, political, and social contexts.

Diverse perspectives on studying health inequalities include ethical, ontological, and political proposals.

The study highlights the need for meaningful change to build a fairer society.

Abstract

Public health relevance—How does this work relate to a public health issue?
Understanding and reducing health inequalities—systematic differences in health outcomes amongst different social groups in a population—are of critical importance for public health.Context-specific insights into how health inequalities are understood and studied are essential to inform future research and action.

Understanding and reducing health inequalities—systematic differences in health outcomes amongst different social groups in a population—are of critical importance for public health.

Context-specific insights into how health inequalities are understood and studied are essential to inform future research and action.

Public health significance—Why is this work of significance to public health?
The historical and global study of health inequalities includes diverse philosophical, conceptual and methodological debates on their causes, the approaches to study them, and how and where to intervene. However, not all these perspectives are widely recognized or known worldwide.Study findings offer valuable context-specific insights into the field of health inequalities in Colombia, including the diverse perspectives and experiences within the national research field, which not only reflect conceptual differences, but also different ethical, ontological, political proposals on how society should be organized and transformed to reduce these inequalities.

The historical and global study of health inequalities includes diverse philosophical, conceptual and methodological debates on their causes, the approaches to study them, and how and where to intervene. However, not all these perspectives are widely recognized or known worldwide.

Study findings offer valuable context-specific insights into the field of health inequalities in Colombia, including the diverse perspectives and experiences within the national research field, which not only reflect conceptual differences, but also different ethical, ontological, political proposals on how society should be organized and transformed to reduce these inequalities.

Public health implications—What are the key implications or messages for practitioners, policy makers and/or researchers in public health?
Findings emphasize the importance of considering historical, political and social context that generate and exacerbate health inequalities in particular settings when trying to understand causality, make political decisions, and develop interventions.Findings include relevant ideas on how to create meaningful change towards building a fairer society in Colombia and beyond.

Findings emphasize the importance of considering historical, political and social context that generate and exacerbate health inequalities in particular settings when trying to understand causality, make political decisions, and develop interventions.

Findings include relevant ideas on how to create meaningful change towards building a fairer society in Colombia and beyond.

The historical and global study of health inequalities includes diverse philosophical, conceptual and methodological debates on their causes, how best to study them, and how and where to intervene. However, not all the perspectives in the field are widely recognized or known worldwide; for instance, Latin America’s long-standing intellectual tradition on Social Medicine and Collective Health. Also, evidence suggests that not all countries have had the same socio-politics and institutional conditions to enable them to produce this type of research, and a few scholars have called for more in-depth understanding of the health inequalities research field in different global settings. This study aims to assess these issues in Colombia, where the Latin America Social Medicine and Collective Health tradition remains strong, yet the volume of scientific output has not been consistent over time. In total, 12 semi-structured interviews were conducted with key informants who have worked on health inequalities in Colombia over the past five decades to understand their perspectives on these issues and the national health inequalities research field. Data was triangulated with gray and scientific literature. The findings provide valuable context-specific empirical insights into the causes of health inequalities in Colombia, the main perspectives used to study them in the country, including the associated tensions around causality, as well as ideas on how to create meaningful change towards building a fairer society.