Considering daily mobility for a more comprehensive understanding of contextual effects on social inequalities in health : a conceptual proposal

摘要

Despite growing interest in integrating people’s daily mobility into contextual studies of socialinequalities in health, the links between daily mobility and health inequalities remain inadequatelyconceptualized. This conceptual proposal anchors the relationship between daily mobility andcontextual influences on social inequalities in health into the concept of mobility potential, whichencompasses the opportunities and places individuals can choose (or are constrained) to access.Mobility potential is realized as actual mobility through agency. Being shaped by sociallypatternedpersonal and geographic characteristics, mobility potential is unequally distributed acrosssocial groups. Social inequalities in realized mobility may thus result. We discuss pathways bywhich these may contribute to contextual influences on social inequalities in health. One pathwayis reflected in disadvantaged groups encountering more fast-food outlets during their dailyactivities, which may relate to their higher risk of unhealthy eating. This proposal lays the basesfor empirical research explicitly testing hypotheses regarding the contribution of daily mobility tosocial inequalities in health.