The Social Epidemiology of the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened health disparities worldwide. Across all nations, the burden of COVID-19 has fallen most heavily on the socially disadvantaged. In the United States, the COVID-19 mortality rate for Black Americans is over twice that of their White American counterparts, and people in prisons have more than double the COVID-19 mortality rate of the general U.S. population. Other social dimensions such as income, gender, sexuality, and immigration status have also played a significant role in COVID-19 infection, hospitalization, and mortality.

The Social Epidemiology of the COVID-19 Pandemic provides an interdisciplinary analysis of the pandemic's effect across populations and its disproportionate impact on vulnerable groups in society, including racial/ethnic minority, immigrant, and incarcerated populations. Written by leading international scholars, this essential volume describes how the COVID-19 pandemic intersects with nearly every social determinant of health, from race and ethnicity to income inequality, and how such interactions compound existing structural disadvantages. Using examples from upper-middle and high-income countries such as the United States, contributing experts delve into the differential impacts of COVID-19 by major social determinants of health and reveal the resultant effect of pandemic-related policy on health outcomes. Together, these authors underline the urgent need for further integration of social epidemiology into public health decision-making to ensure that every population receives the care it requires.

Drawing from research across epidemiology, sociology, psychology, and public policy, The Social Epidemiology of the COVID-19 Pandemic illuminates the stark disparities exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the valuable insights from social epidemiology that can inform a more equitable pandemic response.

Dustin T. Duncan, ScD, is Associate Professor of Epidemiology at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, where he directs the Columbia Spatial Epidemiology Lab and codirects the Social and Spatial Epidemiology Unit. In addition to HIV and sleep epidemiology, his interests include characterizing the COVID-19 epidemic, especially among marginalized populations. He has received several early-career and distinguished scientific contribution, mentoring, and leadership awards from organizations such as the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, the Interdisciplinary Association for Population Health Science and the National Academy of Medicine.

Ichiro Kawachi, MBChB, PhD, is John L. Loeb and Frances Lehman Loeb Professor of Social Epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Dr. Kawachi is also co-editor of the eponymous first textbook on Social Epidemiology, published by Oxford University Press in 2000. He is an elected member of the Institute of Medicine of the US National Academy of Sciences and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand.

Stephen S. Morse, PhD, is Professor of Epidemiology at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. His research focuses on epidemiology and risk assessment of emerging infectious diseases, and improving disease early warning systems. His book, Emerging Viruses (Oxford University Press, 1993) was selected by American Scientist as one of the "100 Top Science Books of the 20th Century." He served on the Steering Committee of the Institute of Medicine's Forum on Microbial Threats, and on numerous National Academies of Sciences and international committees. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the American Academy of Microbiology.

Sir Michael Marmot, CH, MBBS, MPH, PhD, FRCP, FFPHM, FMedSci, FBA, is Professor of Epidemiology and Director of the Institute of Health Equity at the University College London.

Foreword
Sir Michael Marmot

Chapter 1. Introduction
Stephen S. Morse, Ichiro Kawachi, and Dustin T. Duncan

Chapter 2. COVID-19 across the Life Course
Diana Kuh and Joanna Blodgett

Chapter 3. Social Class, Poverty, and COVID-19
Alicia R. Riley and M. Maria Glymour

Chapter 4. Race/Ethnicity and COVID-19
Merlin Chowkwanyun, Dean Robinson, and Adolph Reed

Chapter 5. Racism, Stigma, and the COVID-19 Pandemic
David H. Chae, Kara W. Chung, Diamond J. Cunningham, Connor D. Martz, Ethan A. Smith, and Michael Cunningham

Chapter 6. International Migration, Immigrant Health, and Social Policies during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study of Six Countries
Sarah Diaz, Rama Hagos, Tod Hamilton, and Carmela Alcántara

Chapter 7. Explaining Binary Sex and Gender Patterns in the Direct and Indirect Health Effects of COVID-19: Biologic and Social Constructions of Difference
Lisa M. Bates

Chapter 8. Sexual and Gender Minorities in the COVID-19 Pandemic
Liadh Timmins, Kevalyn Bharadwaj, Krish J. Bhatt, and Dustin T. Duncan

Chapter 9. Disability and Ableism in the COVID-19 Pandemic
Krish J. Bhatt and Bonnielin K. Swenor

Chapter 10. COVID-19 and Mass Incarceration
Sandhya Kajeepeta and Seth Prins

Chapter 11. Income Inequality and COVID-19
Ichiro Kawachi

Chapter 12. Work during and after the Pandemic
Susan E. Peters and Gregory R. Wagner

Chapter 13. Housing Conditions in the COVID-19 Pandemic
Sebastián Sandoval Olascoaga, César García López, Gabriela Zayas del Rio, and Mariana C. Arcaya

Chapter 14. Neighborhoods and COVID-19: Current Research, Future Directions, and Place-Based Interventions
Byoungjun Kim, Adam Whalen, Andrew Rundle, Christopher Morrison, Charles Branas, and Dustin T. Duncan

Chapter 15. Social Capital, Social Cohesion, and COVID-19
Ichiro Kawachi and Yusuf Ransome

Chapter 16. Religion, Spirituality, and COVID-19
Yusuf Ransome, Tamara L. Taggart, and Ichiro Kawachi

Chapter 17. Trust in Public Health Communications and the COVID-19 Pandemic
Rachel McCloud, Mesfin Awoke Bekalu, and K. Vish Viswanath

Chapter 18. COVID-19, Welfare States, and Social Policies
Wasie Karim, Emilie Courtin, and Peter Muennig

Appendix

Index