"Religion as a Social Determinant of Health" with Ellen Idler, PhD

Ellen Idler, PhD is the Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Sociology, and Director of Emory’s Religion and Public Health Collaborative, with additional Emory appointments at the Rollins School of Public Health, the Center for Ethics, and the Graduate Division of Religion.  She earned her PhD from Yale University and held a fellowship at Union Theological Seminary in New York.  Dr. Idler is a Fellow and past Chair of the Behavioral and Social Sciences Section of the Gerontological Society of America.  She served as Chair of the American Sociological Association’s Section on Aging and the Life Course and received its 2021 Matilda White Riley Distinguished Scholar Award.  She studies the influence of attitudes, beliefs, and social connections on health, including the effect of self-ratings of health on mortality and disability, and the impact of religious participation on health and the timing of death among the elderly.  Her research papers have been cited over 20,000 times and she received Emory’s Millipub Award in 2011 for an article with 1000+ citations.  She is an Academic Editor for PLoS One and serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences; Innovation in Aging; and Palliative and Social Care. In this conversation we talk about the effects of religion on physical, emotional and mental health. How does this work? What components of religion practice have the biggest impact? What do studies show on individual and community levels? What are the trends we have seen with generations? Tune in to learn more!Religion as a Social Determinant ofPublic Health BookReligion & Public Health CollaborativeArticleThis podcast is brought to you by Emory Lifestyle Medicine & Wellness. To learn more about our work, please visithttps://bit.ly/EmoryLM