A scoping review and research synthesis of community-level interventions that modify social environments and influence health

Social conditions in communities have been shown to be a better predictor of health than health care or individual lifestyles. Therefore policies and programs that seek to improve social conditions can be expected to have a great impact on health of the community. In order to know which policies and programs might be the most effective in improving health, it is necessary to look at the effects that changes in policies and programs have had in the past. Once it is known which programs and policies are most effective and under what conditions, policy makers, health care practitioners, and community organizations can plan interventions with more confidence that they will be effective. The Atlantic Centre for Health Promotion Research has assembled a dynamic team of researchers and end-users of research to determine 1) which interventions in the social environments of communities are most effective and 2) areas in which more research evidence is needed to determine the effectiveness. The results of the study will be distributed widely through summary briefing documents, oral presentations, distribution of the full report, and publication in a peer-reviewed journal.