Syndemics Overview - Areas for Exploration
A substantial amount of work must be done to understand what a syndemic
orientation is and what it has to offer. The implications of organizing
around the goal of preventing syndemics have not been systematically
studied; methodologies have not been identified for planning and
evaluating syndemic prevention strategies, nor are there efforts under way
to prepare the public and the public health workforce to support
initiatives in preventing syndemics. Even more pressing is the need to
define terms and develop a glossary of easily understood definitions.
Completing these tasks will help point the way to a promising new frontier
for public health.
At present there is a growing consensus that a new, transdisciplinary
approach is needed to solve current and emerging problems in public
health. Even so, the field has not adopted a framework that transcends
current tensions between science and practice at a population level. The Syndemics Prevention Network was formed to address precisely this
challenge.
Work in progress includes activities designed to clarify the theory and
methods for a syndemic orientation. Through scholarship, service learning,
networking, and other activities members of the network are discovering
new ways of protecting communities from threats to their health. Several
areas of inquiry promise to yield important clues. Some topics currently
being explored are listed in Figure 9. Each of these are discussed in
greater depth in the work in progress area of the Web site.
Figure 9: Areas of Inquiry:
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Page last reviewed: January 30, 2008
Page last modified: January 30, 2008
Content source: Division of Adult
and Community Health,
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
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