Handbook of Social Inclusion

1. Abundance, Resilience and Trust: A New Framework for Social Inclusion

   • Derek Cook

2. Academic Ventriloquism

   • Sergio A. Silverio, Catherine Wilkinson, Samantha Wilkinson

3. Addressing Health Inequities Via Community Engagement

   • Bernadette Brady, Irena Veljanova, Lucy Chipchase

4. Against Inclusion

   • Nada DeCat, Zahra Stardust

5. Aging in the Right Place

   • Mei Lan Fang, Judith Sixsmith, Sarah L. Canham, Ryan Woolrych

6. An Inclusive Cultural-Variant Community-Based Participatory Model

   • Tammy L. Henderson

7. Arts and Mixed Methods Research for Social Inclusion

   • Mandy M. Archibald

8. Body Mapping and Youth Experiencing Psychosis

   • Priya Vaughan, Adèle de Jager, Katherine M. Boydell

9. Centring Participants’ Voices as Inclusive Research Practice

   • Michele Jarldorn

10. Co-research with People with Mental Health Challenges

    • Rebecca Spies, Priscilla Ennals, Rebecca Egan, Philippa Hemus, Kathryn Droppert, Michael Tidhar et al.

11. Community Asset Mapping as a Method to Foster Social Inclusion

    • Naiema Taliep, Samed Bulbulia, Ghouwa Ismail

12. Community Engagement Strategies in a Participatory Action Research Study with Farmworkers

    • Maia Ingram, Andrew Gall, Lucy Murrieta, Jill Guernsey de Zapien

13. Community Gardens and Social Connectedness Among Rural Older People

    • Pranee Liamputtong, Erin Sanchez

14. Community-Based Participatory Research Using Community Activation and Peer Support Through Churches

    • Freya MacMillan, Kate A. McBride, Dorothy W. Ndwiga, Ronda Thompson, David Simmons

15. Concepts of Social Inclusion and Social Exclusion

    • Steven Davey, Sarah Gordon

16. Conducting PAR with Sex Workers in Coimbra, Portugal

    • Marta Graça

17. Creative Arts Therapies as Social Inclusion Promotion

    • Katrina Skewes McFerran, Jae Eun (Jane) Song, Amanda Musicka-Williams, Ella Dumaresq, Jennifer Bibb

18. Cultural Humility and Social Inclusion

    • Vivian Chávez

19. Cultural Safety and Social Inclusion

    • Pauline B. Thompson

20. Dances of Resistance and Social Inclusion in Brazil

    • Kathleen A. Spanos

The focus of this ambitious reference work is social inclusion in health and social care, with the aim of offering a good understanding of matters that include or exclude people in society.


Social inclusion stems from the ideal of an inclusive society where each individual can feel valued, differences between individuals are respected, needs of each person are met, and everyone can live with dignity as “the norm” (Cappo 2015). Community participation and interpersonal connections' dynamics that accommodate access to positive relationships, resources, and institutions can lead to social inclusion (Tua & Barnerjee 2019: 110). Social inclusion can explain why some individuals are situated at the centre of society or at its margins, as well as the consequences of the social layer in society (Allman 2015). 
Closely related to the concept of social inclusion is social exclusion. Social exclusion refers to “the process of marginalising individuals or groups of a particular society and denying them from full participation in social, economic and political activities” (Tancharoenathien et al. 2018: 3). Social exclusion is marked by unequal access to capabilities, rights, and resources. It is “a multi-dimensional process driven by unequal power relationships across four dimensions – economic, political, social and cultural” (Taket et al. 2014: 3-4). It engages at the individual, household, community, nation, and global levels. Social exclusion renders some individuals or groups to social vulnerability. Thus, these individuals or communities are unable to prevent negative situations that impact their lives.



Methodologically, to promote social inclusion and reduce social exclusion, inclusive research methodologies must be embraced. Inclusive research refers to a “range of approaches and methods and these may be referred to in the literature as participatory, emancipatory, partnership and user-led research – even peer research, community research, activist scholarship, decolonizing or indigenous research” (Nind 2014: 1). Terms such as collaborative research and community-based participatory action research (CBPR) have also been referred to as inclusive research methodology.



As Nind (2014) suggests, the term inclusive research can be adopted across disciplines and research fields within the paradigm of social inclusion. Hence, research and examples that are classified as inclusive research methods are included in this reference.


This reference work covers a wide range of issues pertaining to the social inclusion paradigm. These include the theoretical frameworks that social inclusion can be situated within, research methodologies and ethical consideration, research methods that enhance social inclusion (PAR and inclusive research methods), issues and research that promote social inclusion in different communities/individuals, and programs and interventions that would lead to more social inclusion in society.


The aims and scope of the reference are to provide discussions about: 

1. social inclusion and social exclusion in different societies; 
2. theories that are linked to social inclusion and exclusion; 
3. research methodologies that enhance social inclusion; 
4. inclusive research methods that promote social inclusion in vulnerable and marginalised groups of people; 
5. discussions about issues and research with diverse groups of vulnerable and marginalised individuals and communities; 
6. discussions regarding programs and interventions that can lead to more social inclusion in vulnerable and marginalised people.

The reference work is divided into seven sections to cover the field of social inclusion comprehensively. Each section is dedicated to a particular perspective relating to social inclusion as covered by the aims and scope above.



Handbook of Social Inclusion: Research and Practices in Health and Social Care should be an invaluable resource for professors, students, researchers, and scholars in public health, social sciences, medicine, and health sciences, as well as those at research institutes, government, and industry, on the concepts and theories of social inclusion/exclusion, and the research methodologies and programs/interventions that can enhance social inclusion in different population groups. Examples from the research are included to show the real-life situations that can promote social inclusion in different groups that readers can adopt in their own work and practice.

• social inclusion
• social exclusion
• social isolation
• inclusive society
• social determinants
• social capital
• social support
• social justice
• social care
• human rights
• stigma
• discrimination
• occupational justice
• vulnerable populations
• marginalized people
• research methodologies
• participatory action research
• inclusive research methods
• health systems
• public health

• School of Health Sciences, Western Sydney University, Penrith, Australia

  Pranee Liamputtong

Pranee Liamputtong, PhD, is a medical anthropologist and Professor of Public Health at the School of Science and Health, Western Sydney University, Penrith, New South Wales, Australia. Pranee has a particular interest in issues related to cultural and social influences on childbearing, childrearing, and women’s reproductive and sexual health. She works mainly with refugee and migrant women in Melbourne and with women in Asia (mostly in Thailand, Malaysia, and Vietnam). Pranee has published several books and a large number of papers in these areas. Some of her books in the health and social sciences include: The Journey of Becoming a Mother Amongst Women in Northern Thailand (Lexington Books, 2007); Community, Health and Population (Oxford University Press, 2009); Infant Feeding Practices: A Cross-Cultural Perspective (Springer 2011); Motherhood and Postnatal Depression: Narratives of Women and Their Partners (Springer, 2011); Health, Illness and Well-Being: Perspectives and Social Determinants (Oxford University Press, 2012); Women, Motherhood and HIV/AIDS: A Cross-Cultural Perspective (Springer, 2013); Stigma, Discrimination and HIV/AIDS: A Cross-Cultural Perspective (Springer, 2013); Contemporary socio-cultural and political perspectives in Thailand (Springer, 2014); Children, Young People and Living with HIV/AIDS: A Cross-Cultural Perspective (Springer, 2016); Public health: Local and global perspectives (Cambridge University Press, 2016, with its second edition is published in 2019); and Social Determinants of Health (Oxford University Press, 2019).


Pranee is a qualitative researcher and has also published several method books. Her most recent method books include: Researching the Vulnerable: A Guide to Sensitive Research Methods (Sage, 2007); Performing Qualitative Cross-Cultural Research (Cambridge University Press, 2010); Focus Group Methodology: Principles and Practice (Sage 2011, 2016); Qualitative Research Methods, 4th Edition (Oxford University Press, 2013); Using Participatory Qualitative Research methodologies in Health (Sage, 2015); Research Methods in Health: Foundations for Evidence-Based Practice, 3rd Ed. (Oxford University, 2017); and Handbook of Research Methods in Health Social Sciences (Springer, 2019).

Policies and ethics