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Thesis of Social Determinants of Health
Socioeconomic influences on health, wellbeing and illness
Thesis of Social Determinants of Health
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The social determinants of health, as described by Julia F. Costich, include social/economic environment and, occasionally, physical environment as a result of one’s social/economic status. These determinants are social as they are not biological factors, such as genes, but rather are influenced by social aspects in one’s life, such as class, race, and gender. These social determinants are related to inequality and oppression as, generally, an oppressed group has lower access to health care, proper nutrition, and other biological factors and, as a result, lower health in general. bell hooks makes an exceptionally compelling argument towards the increase in positive interaction between poor African American and white individuals. Sadly, this
...an, P., Egerter, S., & Williams, D. R. (2011). The social determinants of health: coming
Wilkinson, R.G. & Marmot, M.G. 2003, Social determinants of health: the solid facts, World Health Organization.
Communities are sometimes largely unaware that social factors rather than medical ones, such as income, and employment status, shape our health. Our health is also determined by the health and social services we receive, and our ability to attain high education levels, food and safe housing, among other factors.
Wilkinson, R. G., & Marmot, M. G. (2003). Social determinants of health: The solid facts.
There are 12 determinants of health. Income and social status outlines that usually a higher or lower income determines our environmental and housing living condition, the ability to provide a better-balanced diet, healthier foods and a home within a safer community. Social support can come from our family, friends within the community. It
There are many dimensions of inequality, which have the greatest impact on health outcomes. These dimensions are class, sex and gender and ethnicity. The health outcomes are different for each country. World Health Organisation defines 'health ' as "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease of infirmity" (1948). John Germov (2013, p. 16) wrote a chapter on ‘Imagining Health Problems as Social Issues’ in Second Opinion: An Introduction to Health Sociology, he mentions the ‘social model of health’ where the social determinants of health, which are economic, social and cultural factors, are being looked at closely to how these factors are linked to focus on preventing the illness.
Addiction can be defined as the use of a drug or stimulus that has unreasonably taken control of a person’s behaviour. (Scollo & Winstanley 2012). It is a serious and complex issue hence the social determinants of health need to be addressed to the community and be used to guide nurses with knowledge to use in the nursing practice. Addiction to drug use has contributed to thousands of deaths, social and family disruption, violence, crime and workplace issues. In 2013, over 40% of Australians consumed alcohol, smoked tobacco or used illicit drugs at risky levels making them more likely to become addicted. (Claydon et. al 2014) The population in remote areas were found to be, twice as likely to have an addiction to tobacco, alcohol and drugs
Social determinants of health has been a large topic for many years and can have a positive and negative effect on individuals, families and communities. (World Health Organisation, 2009) The social determinants of health are the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age, including the health system. These circumstances are shaped by the distribution of money, power and resources at global, national and local levels, which are themselves influenced by policy choices. Social determinants have many factors and in this essay education will be the main social determinant of health discussed and how this could have an impact on the physical and mental sides of health.
Poor health is caused by a wide range of factors, including biological determinants (age, sex, hereditary factors), and wider social determinants such as education, social position, income, local environment, and experiences of racism and racial discrimination. The social determinants of health are unequally distributed across ethnic groups, leading to unjust and preventable inequalities in health.
Health stands for both the physical and mental wellbeing of individual, not only the absence of disease. The social determinants of health includes the environmental conditions, living standards, relation in between the communities, families, workplaces and healthcare facilities along with policies and
Social determinants of health are factors that help influence the health and well being of humans.
Social epidemiology is a sub-division of epidemiology that focuses on the social conditions affecting the health and population levels, with an underlying that the way in which health and disease are dispersed among members of a community is a reflection of how advantages and disadvantages are dispersed, in a community (Williams, 2016). Social epidemiology refers to the societal factors that determine the patterning of disease within and across a population (Miller et al, n.d: pp 17-25). Social epidemiologists suggest that not all people are created equally and thus are separated by economic, political, social and other forms of structures that determine unequal distribution (Miller et al, n.d: pp 25-30). These epidemiologists also seek to identify and explain patterns of morbidity and mortality, which are not at random, but more geographically and socially patterned. According to, Miller et al (n.d), in the 1960s and 1970s, a new branch of epidemiology emerged focusing on the health impact of social conditions and status as key determinants of morbidity and
Epidemiology is a section of medicine that deals with the occurrence, distribution and the control of diseases and other factors that connect to health. Many would believe that the study of epidemiology has been successful in identifying risk factors for major diseases (Link & Phelan 1995, pg.80). The article “Social Conditions as Fundamental Causes of Disease”, written by Bruce G. Link and Jo Phelan argue that the individualistic aspect of epidemiological research has overlooked the greater issue of social conditions of health. The authors further examine their research question by critically analyzing the important aspects of epidemiological research. The primary goal of the research is to contextualized individually-based risk factors of disease by identifying what puts people at risk of risks and the second being the social factors like socioeconomic status and other social issue are possible ‘fundamental causes’ of disease (
It is important that all people have the human right to health and not fear if something or someone is going to keep them from living a healthy life. It is a sad reality that most people in developing and developed countries are denied the human right to health and face socially determined barriers that keep them from achieving their best health. To gain perspective on global health inequities it is important to understand that inequality and inequity are concepts that are used interchangeably. Inequality implies disparities in status, opportunity or treatment, while inequity indicate there is a lack of fairness or an injustice. Health inequities which cause health inequalities may be contributed by social determinants. Social determinants
Society constructs the cultural interpretations and perceptions on health and how individuals perceive health as. The social determinants of health, such as race/ethnicity, sex, education, status, and etc, are the social and economic conditions of life (Mikkonen & Raphael, 2010, P. 7). They affect health through biomedical and lifestyle risk factors. The inequalities in the social determinants of health lead to poor mental and physical health. Those subjected to poor quality social determinants of health are more likely to die from cancer, diabetes, or respiratory or cardiovascular diseases. Health is shaped by income and the distribution of wealth in society since it determines the quality of other social determinants of health, as there is a strong connection between the size of the income gap and the health of a population (Mikkonen & Raphael, 2010, P. 7). The wider the gap between the rich and poor, the greater the unequal distribution of resources and the poorer the population’s overall quality of social determinants of health. With the lack of financial stability, there are many other factors that contribute to the social construction of health: insecure housing, unstable employment, food insecurity, and etc. If there are better equalities of the social determinants of health, the better the health of citizens. Therefore, governments ought to pursue policies that improve the social