The impact of social capital and social support on the health of female-headed households
A systematic review
Keywords:
Head of household, Female, Social capital, Social support, HealthAbstract
Background and aim: Social capital and social support as determinants of health play an important role in the
health of female heads of households. Considering the increasing number of female-headed families in Iran and
the world, this study was conducted to systematically review the impact of social capital and social support on the
health of female heads of households.
Methods: This study was conducted as a systematic review in September 2016. Its data were collected from
available papers in different databases including Iranmedex, Magiran, Scientific Information Database (SID),
Irandoc, Scopus, Science Direct, PubMed and Google Scholar. Using advanced search, all published papers from
2000 to 2015 with full text were selected using related keywords. After reviewing by browsers and adapting to
the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 15 papers were entered into the study. The Strengthening the Reporting of
Observational Studies in epidemiology (STROBE) checklist was used to evaluate the quality of papers.
Results: Based on the findings of these studies, there was a significant relationship between social capital and its
components (trust, sense of belonging and social participation) as well as all aspects of health. Additionally,
social support and its dimensions (emotional, instrumental and informational) affected health; however, among
these dimensions, instrumental support of a stronger predictor was concerned with health, especially mental
health.
Conclusion: Social factors such as social capital and social support are effective on human health, particularly
health of female-headed households, since they affect proactive identity and increase information resources,
collaboration as well as collective decisions and actions. Furthermore, they provide emotional and instrumental
support to group members and prevent further health problems.
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