What Does Social Enterprise Have to Do with Population Health?
Jun 6th, 2013 by BK
Vancouver is a hotbed for social enterprises – over 60 – the most in Canada. Even the civic government is on board, awarding $380,000 in grant funding to support the social enterprise sector.
Why have social enterprises gained momentum? Because they are seen as a viable, longer-term alternative to existing social programs that: 1) are run by government but perceived to be ineffective; 2) are run by non-profit organizations that depend on the “charity” of others like government (funding could be cut at any time) and donations; and 3) view people as having the capacity to be independent, productive citizens (a hand up). Social enterprises are non-profit organizations that run a business for social purposes. The main difference between a social enterprise and a traditional business is where the profits end up. In traditional businesses, profits end up in investors’ and business owners’ pockets. In social enterprises, profits are re-invested to support the organization and its social programs. In Vancouver, social programs tend to be in the form of paid jobs or job skills training and life skills support for people with barriers to employment, for example, in catering, cleaning, and renovations/deconstruction. Barriers to employment could include mental illness, substance use, homelessness, etc.
Social enterprises help people with barriers to employment – essentially addressing inequities – and are highly relevant to population health. So, how can the field of population health advance knowledge on how social enterprises (as a population health intervention) can reduce inequities?
First, there is a need to synthesize and review what is currently known about the impact of social enterprise on health and well-being. A Ph.D. student by the name of Michael Roy has already begun this type of work at the Yunus Centre for Social Business and Health at Glasgow Caledonian University in the United Kingdom. Michaels’ important research will also be able to help identify any gaps in current knowledge, such as important indicators of health and well-being that are not being measured.
Second, research needs to be conducted on the features of a social enterprise that contribute most to improving health and well-being. This includes factors related to program design (e.g., how life skills training is incorporated, type of jobs training) and to implementation (e.g., organizational capacity).
Third, once we know more about how social enterprises can improve health and well-being, we can put more money into implementing social enterprises as a population health intervention. Hopefully, we can reduce inequities by helping people with barriers to employment to become what most of us also desire to be – independent, productive citizens.
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