Social Problems Threatening Social Health and having Priority in Iran

Priority setting helps maintain a clear focus, and according to the limitation of resources, it is necessary for reducing and controlling the burden of social problems better resource allocation. The present study aimed to identify and prioritize Iran's most critical social problems. This study was conducted in two steps. In the first step, a framework for classifying social problems was developed by reviewing the literature. Based on this framework, a list of social problems was prepared and categorized. In the second step, by studying the articles and books published in the field of social health, 20 experts in this field were selected and provided with the framework. Utilizing the Delphi method, the experts were asked to rank the mentioned list based on the three criteria including; prevalence, severity, and importance. Expert opinions were taken in three rounds. The country's social problems were categorized into three categories in order of priority. Although problems in society are numerous, the ten problems that have been assigned the highest priority in the present study are unemployment, corruption, income inequality, expensive housing, mistrust, poverty, reduction of productive investment, addiction, crime, and desperation. Planning for interventions and conducting social health research in the coming years should consider the aforementioned high-priority social problems that impose the most significant burden on society. The diverse social problems prioritized do not have exactly the same causes, consequences, and ways of control; therefore, identifying specific solutions to control them should be the next step in the process of social health planning.