Religion as a social determinant of women's cancer screening: Evidence from state level data for policy and resource allocation

Religion as a Social Determinant of Health (SDOH) is established in relevant literature. The challenge is to translate the theoretical and empirical relationship between religion and health to practical applications and policymaking to build partnerships between state government entities and faith‐b...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The American journal of economics and sociology 2023-05, Vol.82 (3), p.263-279
Main Authors: Medcalfe, Simon K., Slade, Catherine P., Habegger, Wendy
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adherence
Cancer
Health problems
Mammography
Medical screening
Partnerships
Policy making
Population policy
Public health
Religion
Religious beliefs
Religious organizations
Resource allocation
State government
Tests
Women
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Summary:Religion as a Social Determinant of Health (SDOH) is established in relevant literature. The challenge is to translate the theoretical and empirical relationship between religion and health to practical applications and policymaking to build partnerships between state government entities and faith‐based organizations. Our manuscript focuses on the connection between adherence to religion and the pernicious public health problem of cancer in women. Using publicly available state level data and Ordinary Least Square regression analysis, we identify the SDOH, including adherence to religion, that are associated with state level rates of cancer screening for women. We confirm that states with higher levels of adherence to religion have higher rates of cancer screening for women including Pap smear and mammogram. Our results show that the magnitude of the effect of adherence to religion and state level rates of cancer screening for women is similar to that of other key SDOH. Our results provide state‐level targets for population health improvements that should be addressed with policy that recognizes and encourages partnerships with faith‐based organizations to improve health for women.
ISSN:0002-9246
1536-7150
DOI:10.1111/ajes.12507