People do not act in isolation, which is why it is important to understand the waysthey interact with their communities and environments, in order to determine whythey do what they do.
One way of measuring these networks of interactions is the Social Ecological Model.This model, developed by sociologists in the 1970s, studies how behaviors formbased on characteristics of individuals, communities, nations and levels in between.In examining these intervals and how they interact and overlap, public health expertscan develop strategies to promote wellbeing in the U.S. and abroad.
The Social-Ecological Model is broad in scope. Each level overlaps with other levels.This signifies how the best public health strategies are those that encompass andtarget a wide range of perspectives. A public health organization may struggle topromote healthy habits in a community if it does not take into account how otherfactors play into the behavior of the community as a whole.
Different organizations use variations of the Social-Ecological Model organizationalhierarchies in a given society. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC) sometimes uses a four-level model, while UNICEF’s model has five levels.Here is the layout of UNICEF’s model and its application in a public health context:
1. Individual: An individual’s various traits and identities make up this level ofthe Social-Ecological Model. These characteristics have the capacity toinfluence how a person behaves. Age, education level, sexual orientationand economic status are some of the many attributes noted at this interval.These factors are important to consider when constructing public healthstrategies, as characteristics such as economic status are linked to anindividual’s ability to access healthcare.
2. Interpersonal: The relationships and social networks that a person takespart in also have great potential to impact behaviors. Families, friends andtraditions are key players at the interpersonal stage of the model. Usingtherapy or intervention, one can promote healthy relationships at thisinterval. Discouraging violence between individuals also comes into playhere.
3. Community: This level of the Social-Ecological Model focuses on thenetworks between organizations and institutions that make up the greatercommunity. These associations include businesses and functions of the“built environment,” such as parks. Community structures are oftenimportant in determining how populations behave and what customs theyuphold. It is important to understand the community level to determinewhere health behaviors originate.
4. Organizational: Organizations are instrumental in the development ofbehaviors as they often enforce behavior-determining regulations andrestrictions. A school, for example, controls the dissemination of
knowledge. This influence is significant when it comes to communicatinginformation about safe health practices.
5. Policy/Enabling Environment: Policies and laws that are instigated at local,national and global levels make up the broadest level of theSocial-Ecological Model. These policies have the potential to impact largenumbers of people. A policy outlining a U.S. malaria aid budget, forexample, will have far-reaching global effects for decades.
The Social-Ecological Model is useful in the creation of sustainable solutions forat-risk individuals and societies. One approach to public health that considers manyof the model’s levels is the practice of social change communication (SCC).Communities use SCC to facilitate discussions about beneficial and harmfulpractices in societies and to encourage people to speak about individual andcommunal problems. A health-based SCC discussion could cover anything fromstrategies developed to reduce pneumonia rates in babies to changing an outdatedand potentially harmful social ritual.
SCC allows individuals and communities to influence shaping fairer, healthiersocieties. Its use of the Social-Ecological Model ensures that the strategies itdevelops are implemented across society.
Through SCC and other approaches, public health organizations are creatinglong-term solutions to the problems that plague individuals, societies and countriestoday. Only in understanding the numerous factors that influence harmful behaviorcan experts hope to tackle such problems effectively.
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