Investigating the Relationship Between Social Capital and public health in Iran’s Legatum Prosperity Index with Canonical Correlation Analysis

Health, as an inherent value for humans, plays an important role in improving the happiness of society and the prosperity of individuals, and is often considered as a key component of human capital that leads to greater economic growth. The concept of social capital shows how the social structure of a group can act as a valuable resource for its people to achieve their goals at a lower cost. Considering health as an asset means the decentralization of policies from risk factors to a more comprehensive perspective based on social factors, including social capital, and the upcoming research was conducted on this basis.

This research was descriptive and correlational. Data analysis was performed through canonical correlation and multiple regression using secondary data collected by Legatum Institute in 2021 and data related to Iran in the period from 2007 to 2020, with the 24th edition of SPSS software.

According to the significance of Pillais and Wilkes tests at a significance level of 5%, the correlation coefficient of social capital and health was determined to be 0.89. According to the structural coefficients, elements of longevity, physical health, mental health, care systems, preventive interventions, and high-risk behavioral factors had the greatest impact on the canonical variable of health, respectively. Based on the standard coefficients, it was found that interpersonal trust has the greatest impact on health, and institutional trust, social networks, civil and social participation, and personal and family relationships as elements of social capital, were placed in the next priorities of impact on health.

Social capital plays an important role in understanding the determinants of health, and it is inevitable to pay special attention to it by policymakers in order to eliminate health inequalities. This is the basis in Iran’s health policy process, which is still facing many challenges, in addition to paying attention to hardware and treatment-oriented strategies, social capital can and should be given special importance as one of the most important determinants of health.