AREA, CLASS AND HEALTH - SHOULD WE BE FOCUSING ON PLACES OR PEOPLE

In Britain there has been a long tradition of research into associatio ns between area of residence and health. Rarely has this involved inve stigating socio-economic or cultural features of areas that might infl uence health; usually studies use area level data, for example about s pecific pathogens or about levels of deprivation, as surrogates for in dividual level data, rather than being interested in the areas themsel ves. This paper reviews the literature on the relationship between are a and health. It advocates directly studying features of the local soc ial and physical environment which might promote or inhibit health, il lustrating this approach with some findings from a study in the West o f Scotland, and suggests that improvements in public health might be a chieved by focusing on places as well as on people.