NDLI: The impact of social assistance programs on population health: a systematic review of research in high-income countries

Content Provider	Springer Nature : BioMed Central
Author	Shahidi, Faraz V Ramraj, Chantel Sod-Erdene, Odmaa Hildebrand, Vincent Siddiqi, Arjumand
Abstract	Background Socioeconomic disadvantage is a fundamental cause of morbidity and mortality. One of the most important ways that governments buffer the adverse consequences of socioeconomic disadvantage is through the provision of social assistance. We conducted a systematic review of research examining the health impact of social assistance programs in high-income countries. Methods We systematically searched Embase, Medline, ProQuest, Scopus, and Web of Science from inception to December 2017 for peer-reviewed studies published in English-language journals. We identified empirical patterns through a qualitative synthesis of the evidence. We also evaluated the empirical rigour of the selected literature. Results Seventeen studies met our inclusion criteria. Thirteen descriptive studies rated as weak (n = 7), moderate (n = 4), and strong (n = 2) found that social assistance is associated with adverse health outcomes and that social assistance recipients exhibit worse health outcomes relative to non-recipients. Four experimental and quasi-experimental studies, all rated as strong (n = 4), found that efforts to limit the receipt of social assistance or reduce its generosity (also known as welfare reform) were associated with adverse health trends. Conclusions Evidence from the existing literature suggests that social assistance programs in high-income countries are failing to maintain the health of socioeconomically disadvantaged populations. These findings may in part reflect the influence of residual confounding due to unobserved characteristics that distinguish recipients from non-recipients. They may also indicate that the scope and generosity of existing programs are insufficient to offset the negative health consequences of severe socioeconomic disadvantage.
Related Links	https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/counter/pdf/10.1186/s12889-018-6337-1.pdf
Ending Page	11
Page Count	11
Starting Page	1
File Format	HTM / HTML
ISSN	14712458
DOI	10.1186/s12889-018-6337-1
Journal	BMC Public Health
Issue Number	1
Volume Number	19
Language	English
Publisher	BioMed Central
Publisher Date	2019-01-03
Access Restriction	Open
Subject Keyword	Public Health Medicine Epidemiology Biostatistics Vaccine Environmental Health Social assistance Health Health inequalities Income Poverty Social policy Social welfare Socioeconomic status Medicine/Public Health
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
Journal Impact Factor	3.5/2023
5-Year Journal Impact Factor	3.9/2023

Sl.	Authority	Responsibilities	Communication Details
1	Ministry of Education (GoI), Department of Higher Education	Sanctioning Authority	https://www.education.gov.in/ict-initiatives
2	Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	Host Institute of the Project: The host institute of the project is responsible for providing infrastructure support and hosting the project	https://www.iitkgp.ac.in
3	National Digital Library of India Office, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	The administrative and infrastructural headquarters of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in
4	Project PI / Joint PI	Principal Investigator and Joint Principal Investigators of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in Prof. Saswat Chakrabarti will be added soon
5	Website/Portal (Helpdesk)	Queries regarding NDLI and its services	support@ndl.gov.in
6	Contents and Copyright Issues	Queries related to content curation and copyright issues	content@ndl.gov.in
7	National Digital Library of India Club (NDLI Club)	Queries related to NDLI Club formation, support, user awareness program, seminar/symposium, collaboration, social media, promotion, and outreach	clubsupport@ndl.gov.in
8	Digital Preservation Centre (DPC)	Assistance with digitizing and archiving copyright-free printed books	dpc@ndl.gov.in
9	IDR Setup or Support	Queries related to establishment and support of Institutional Digital Repository (IDR) and IDR workshops	idr@ndl.gov.in

Moderating or mediating effects of family characteristics on socioeconomic inequalities in child health in high-income countries – a scoping review

Housing inequalities and health outcomes among migrant and refugee populations in high-income countries: a mixed-methods systematic review

The impact of income-support interventions on life course risk factors and health outcomes during childhood: a systematic review in high income countries

Health and social impacts of open defecation on women: a systematic review

Austerity policy and child health in European countries: a systematic literature review

Interpersonal violence-related physical injury in low- and middle-income countries and its association with markers of socioeconomic status: a systematic review

Unevenly distributed: a systematic review of the health literature about socioeconomic inequalities in adult obesity in the United Kingdom

Are interventions to promote healthy eating equally effective for all? Systematic review of socioeconomic inequalities in impact

Food subsidy programs and the health and nutritional status of disadvantaged families in high income countries: a systematic review

The impact of social assistance programs on population health: a systematic review of research in high-income countries

Similar Documents

Moderating or mediating effects of family characteristics on socioeconomic inequalities in child health in high-income countries – a scoping review

Housing inequalities and health outcomes among migrant and refugee populations in high-income countries: a mixed-methods systematic review

The impact of income-support interventions on life course risk factors and health outcomes during childhood: a systematic review in high income countries

Health and social impacts of open defecation on women: a systematic review

Austerity policy and child health in European countries: a systematic literature review

Interpersonal violence-related physical injury in low- and middle-income countries and its association with markers of socioeconomic status: a systematic review

Unevenly distributed: a systematic review of the health literature about socioeconomic inequalities in adult obesity in the United Kingdom

Are interventions to promote healthy eating equally effective for all? Systematic review of socioeconomic inequalities in impact

Food subsidy programs and the health and nutritional status of disadvantaged families in high income countries: a systematic review

The impact of social assistance programs on population health: a systematic review of research in high-income countries