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SUMMARY:What does experiential knowledge contribute to public health evide
 nce to reduce health inequalities?  - Professor Jennie Popay\, Sociology a
 nd Public Health\, Division of Health Research\, Lancaster University
DTSTART:20141017T120000Z
DTEND:20141017T130000Z
UID:TALK52776@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Lucy Lloyd
DESCRIPTION:This talk will be introduced by Dr Louise Lafortune\, Scientif
 ic Co-ordinator\, SPHR (Cambridge.\n\n ‘The people are excluded from for
 ming judgements on various matters on the ground that expert knowledge is 
 required\, and that of course the people cannot possess.... The debunking 
 of the expert is an important stage in the history of democratic communiti
 es because democracy involves the assertion of the common against the spec
 ial interests’ (Aneurin Bevan\, quoted in Smith\, 1993:178).  \n\nWhatev
 er else ‘health’ is\, it is also a ‘moral imperative’ deeply embed
 ded in unequal power relationships.   And although the context has changed
  profoundly it was ever thus.   From traditional tribal societies to conte
 mporary African States struggling to control Ebola in an unequal global ec
 onomy\; from Galenian notions of disharmony and disequilibrium to the (Pos
 t) modern ‘western’ world obsessed with individual lifestyles and the 
 regulation and disciplining of the self\, becoming ill has always been a s
 ign of moral failure and a source of blame: and is therefore inherently as
 sociated with moral meanings and judgements.’  What worth then has knowl
 edge based on experience or ‘the wisdom of experience’ as E P Thomson 
 called it? \n\nResearch on health and health inequalities is dominated by 
 an epistemology rooted in naturalism\, positivism and quantification.  Iro
 nically\, in this numerical world\, individuals dominate but as accumulati
 ons of vulnerabilities or resiliences and/or sets of freely chosen behavio
 urs\, with the ‘wisdom’ acquired through ‘everyday’ experiences ty
 pically neglected or devalued.  An alternative perspective sees individual
 s and communities as ‘knowing subjects’ constructing meanings and judg
 ements about health that are logical in the context of their lives: able a
 nd willing to account for their actions.  For people living in difficult s
 ocio-economic circumstances\, experiential knowledge serves to (re)-establ
 ish moral worth in the context of enduring inequalities in health and in a
 ccess to the resources needed to maintain and promote health. \n\nIn this 
 context no single definition or associated quantitative measure of health 
 – no matter how dynamic – will suffice.  Instead of current approaches
  to evidence accumulation and utilisation\, dominated by scientific and pr
 ofessional rationalities\, public health to engage multiple lay\, scientif
 ic and professional perspectives in deliberative processes that\, whilst u
 ncomfortable\, and often conflictual\, could provide the beginnings of a c
 ollective verstehende theorising\, creating ‘new knowledge spaces’ for
  the development of shared understandings of health problems and potential
  solutions. a more civic epistemology. \n\n \n
LOCATION:Large Seminar Room\, 1st Floor\, Institute of Public Health\, Uni
 versity Forvie Site\, Robinson Way\, Cambridge
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