Social exclusion is a concept that has been discussed and debated in many disciplines in recent decades. In 2006 the WHO Social Exclusion Knowledge Network published a report detailing their work explaining the relevance of social exclusion to the domain of health. As part of that work, the authors formulated a complex definition of social exclusion that has proven difficult to adapt or operationalize in healthcare settings. We looked at this WHO work, and at other published evidence, and decided that social exclusion is a concept that is worth measuring at the individual level in healthcare settings. We suggest that the primary healthcare space, in particular, is an ideal setting in which to do that measurement. We have examined existing social exclusion measurement tools, and scrutinised the approaches taken by their authors, and the various domains they measured. We now propose to develop and validate such a tool for use in primary healthcare settings.Suggested citation: O'Donnell P, Elmusharaf K. Social exclusion in primary healthcare settings: the time for measurement has come. J Hum Growth Dev. 2019; 29(1): 10-13. http://dx.
Why was this study done?The concept of social exclusion is complex but very important in relation to health. Primary healthcare settings seem like a logical place to seek to assess and monitor social exclusion in the patients encountered there. This study was done in order to find out what research had already been carried out on this topic and to try and understand the concept more clearly.
What did the researchers do and find?The researchers conducted and published a scoping review looking at measurement tools used to measure social exclusion at the individual level. They also reviewed the published and grey literature relevant to the topic.
What do these findings mean?The findings so far support the argument that primary healthcare settings are an ideal place to seek to assess and monitor the social exclusion of individuals. The next steps will be to develop a measurement tool using a process informed by the experience of relevant stakeholders, including people with experience of social exclusion.