Document Type : Research/Original/Regular

Authors

• Saeid Goudarzi ¹
• Asma Sabzevar ²

¹ Department of sociology of Payame Noor University (PNU), Tuyserkan, Iran

² Master of Sociology, employee of Khorramabad Shohada-ye Ashayer hospital,Khorramabad, Iran

Abstract

Abstract
Health has various dimensions, including mental, physical and social. Social health in society is affected by many factors, including social factors. The aim of this research was to investigate the sociological rate of the social health of working women in hospital and related factors using survey method. The sample size was determined using Cochran's formula of 237 people and the samples were selected using simple random sampling method. In order to collect research data, the Keyes standard questionnaire was used to measure social health and a researcher-made questionnaire was used to measure independent variables. The findings of bivariate analysis showed that there is a significant relationship between the variables of anomie feeling, job satisfaction, feeling of social alienation, societal security feeling, social trust and quality of life with social health. There is also a significant difference between women's social health in terms of job position, level of education and income, but there is no significant difference between women's social health in terms of their marital status. In multivariate analysis using multivariate regression analysis, the findings also showed that there is a significant relationship between the variables of anomie feeling, social trust, societal security feeling, feeling of social alienation and job satisfaction with social health. Research variables have been able to explain 30% of the variance of the social health dependent variable.




Keywords: Social Health, Societal Security Feeling, Feeling of Anomie, Quality of Life.

Highlights

Extended Abstract

Background & Purpose

While having social health is important for all groups of society, it is even more important for women, especially working women, because it ensures women, family, and consequently community health. Women with social health are more successful in solving the challenges posed by playing key social roles and are more likely to participate in group activities (Fathi et al, 2013: 227-228). Health means having the physical, mental and social ability to establish healthy social relationships with others through empathy and moral cooperation  (Safari et al, 2018: 1-2).

The concept of social health was first proposed by Belloc and Breslow (1972). According to them, health is more than just reporting the symptoms of a disease and a person's functional abilities. They believed that individual well-being and comfort is a distinct thing from physical and mental health (Mohseni, 2000: 1-2). Keyes is one of the leading sociologists in the field of conceptualizing and measuring social health at the micro level (Omidi et al., 2017: 164). Nowadays, social health has become very important and health is not only the absence of physical and mental illnesses, but also the way a person acts in social relations and the way he thinks about society as criteria for assessing the health of the individual at the macro level of society (Sam Aram, 2012: 29). The social dimension of health is perhaps the most complex and at the same time the most controversial aspect of health. Currently, a large part of the forms of health, especially social and organizational health of office workers, is related to social factors and has become very important (Khosravi et al., 2019: 112).Therefore, the present study aims to sociologically investigate the factors associated with the social health of working women  in hospital.

Method

 This is a descriptive survey study.The statistical sample of this study was women working in Khorramabad Shohada-ye Ashayer hospital, including administrative staff, radiology, anesthesia technician, operating room technician, laboratory, nurse, general practitioner and specialist, 237 of whom were selected by simple random sampling.The instrument for data collection was questionnaire. To ensure the validity of the research from the content validity and to ensure the external validity of the research, we tried to fit the sample size to the volume of society.

Cronbach's alpha coefficient was also used to assess the reliability of the questionnaire.To ensure the validity of the research from the content validity and to ensure the external validity of the research, we tried to fit the sample size to the volume of society. In the present study, Keyes theory of social health was used. Keyes has proposed five dimensions and basic indicators for social health, which are: social integration, social acceptance, social contribution, social coherence and social actualization (Keyes and Shapiro, 2004: 46; Keyes, 1998: 122).

Findings

 Findings indicated that respondents' social health differed according to their job position, level of education, and their amount of income. Bivariate regression analysis also showed that there is a relationship between social trust, social alienation, feelings of social security, feelings of anomie, quality of life, and job satisfaction with social health.

Table 1. Regression coefficients between the variables of social trust, social alienation, feeling of social security, feeling of anomie, quality of life and job satisfaction with social health

The results of multiple regression also showed that the entered variables in the multiple regression equation explained a total of .306 of the social health variance variable. Findings show that the most important independent variable in explaining the dependent variable variance is the anomie feeling.

Discussion & Conclusion

The results indicated a positive relationship between social trust and social health. Social trust directly relates to women's social health because trust reduces anxiety in women, and women with high trust have higher knowledge and skills and, thus, better health. Also, with the increase of trust among women, women's social relations and participation increase, and trust help them to feel refreshed and happy under discomfort conditions.

The results showed a relationship between social alienation and social health. Alienation is a factor influencing the process of social and cultural participation, which is considered a barrier to cultural, social, and political participation. It can be argued that a person who becomes alienated from society can't adapt to social norms and standards and consider himself an important member of the community, and ultimately his social health will be reduced.

The results showed that there is a relationship between quality of life and social health. People live within social structures and communications. They evaluate their quality of life and individual performance by their social criteria. Thus, social health comprises the components that clarify whether or not a person has a good quality of life.

The results showed that there is a relationship between feelings of anomie and social health. Social anomie is a factor influencing social health that examines social disorders, actions, and behaviors that are viewed abnormal in society and also examines the conditions in which valuable social principles and are neglected and violated. Today, social anomie in our society affects all groups, including women. Meanwhile, in this social group, the women's vulnerability is more important for various reasons since it is related to women's role and function in educational, social, cultural, and economic practices.

The results showed that there is a positive relationship between social security feeling and social health. There is an interrelationship between subjective and objective dimensions of social security and social health. Achieving a healthy society requires social security in its objective and mental dimensions. A sense of security is formed in social interactions and other relationships. In this way, the feeling of security or insecurity is shared by the community, and when this feeling is adequately shared, people in the society enjoy social health.

According to the results, there is a positive relationship between job satisfaction and social health. Job satisfaction is achieved when employees are satisfied with the nature of their work, salary and benefits, a good opportunity, co-workers, and supervisors.

There is a positive relationship between job position and social health. The physicians' level of social health is different from other job positions and is higher than from other careers. Those who have a high job position have more social health than those with a low job position. Because they are more financially secure and affluent than other people, so they have a higher social health.

The results showed that there was a difference in respondents' social health based on their level of education

The results showed that there was a difference in respondents' social health based on their level of education, and the higher the education is, the higher the social health will be. There is a relationship between marital status and social health, and the social health of single people is higher than married people. In explaining this finding, it can be said that single people have fewer responsibilities, conflicts, and problems in their life, and this in itself can be effective in increasing their social health.

There is a difference between respondents' social health based on income. The higher the level of education is, the better the employment situation and income will be. Thus, people with higher income and social status have higher social health.

In summary, it can be concluded that in the past few decades, the number of educated women in the country has increased, and a large number of them have been working with men in various jobs. But in Lorestan province, their presence in society and labor market is low because of unequal opportunities. The dominant culture in this province is a masculine attitude, and the patriarchal culture demands women to marry and raise children and does not consider economic activity for women and girls. This culture adversely affects the social health of women seeking work. What threatens the social health of working women in the workplace is not the work itself but the social and psychological factors such as feelings of insecurity, lack of trust, job dissatisfaction, etc.

Ethical considerations

Compliance with the research ethics:This study was conducted under the human research ethics

Funding:The present study resulted from research by the current authors and was not sponsored by any organization or individual.

Authors' contribution:The first author contributed to the presentation of the research idea, data analysis, article writing and review, and the second author contributed to the data collection and research.

Conflict of interest:The authors declared that there is no conflict of interest with any person or organization

Keywords

• Social Health
• Societal Security Feeling
• Feeling of Anomie

20.1001.1.23452692.1401.10.2.5.6

Main Subjects

• Woman and family