Health behaviour theorists have long attested to the importance of social influences in health decision making. For example, the prominent Social Cognitive Theory builds in a construct of outcome expectancies, of which social outcome expectancies, or the value of the anticipated reaction of those in one’s environment, play a role. In essence, an individual is going to consider anticipated approving or disapproving responses, by his/her peers, to a particular health decision, and the perceived reaction will affect the decision that is made (Lusczynska and Schwarzer, 2007). The Theory of Planned Behaviour describes the social influence as subjective norms, which are individual’s beliefs that significant others think that they should engage in a behaviour (Conner and Sparks, 2007). For example, an adolescent may decide to begin smoking if he thinks that his friends have favourable attitudes towards smoking behaviour. Other models have focused on more of a learning and observing approach, such as the Theory of Interpersonal Behaviour, which speaks more specifically about social group subcultures and norms and their facilitating effect on health behaviour decisions (Norman and Conner, 2007). Though these theories describe the effects of the social environment on an individual, at the very base level the individual is consciously making the decision of which health behaviour to engage in. Social Network Analysis (SNA) is a technique that can be used to develop a richer description of the social environment. In addition to identifying peer groups, SNA creates a structural map of the relationships in a given community, and these can be examined on several different levels, including the individual or sub-group level. In adolesc... ... middle of paper ... ...ccinct description of basic and intermediate SNA measures. For a basic glossary of SNA terms, refer to Hawe, Webster, and Shiell (2006). Social networks have been linked to health research and health outcomes as a measure of social support; the greater the number of relationships present, the better the health outcomes (for a recent example of this type of work, see Magliano et al, 2006). Another common use of SNA is to identify patterns of disease transmission. However, there are many other uses of SNA in health research, such as investigating information transmission networks, examining the influence of social position on health behaviour, creating better partnerships through health organizational networks, and identifying individuals and relationships that will help maximally diffuse a health program message (Luke & Harris, 2007; Valente & Fosados, 2006).
Social determinants of health (SDOH) are increasingly becoming a major problem of Public Health around the World. The impact of resources and material deprivation among people and populations has resulted in an increase in mortality rate on a planetary scale. Social determinants of health are defined as the personal, social, economic and the environmental conditions which determines the health status of an individual or population (Gardner, 2013). Today’s society is characterized by inequalities in health, education, income and many other factors which as a result is becoming a burden for Public Health around the world. Research studies have shown that the conditions in which people live and work strongly influenced their health. Individuals with high levels of education and fall within the high income bracket turn to have stable jobs, live in the best neighborhood and have access to quality health care system than individuals who have low education and fall with the low income bracket. This paper is to explain different social determinants of health and how they play ...
...an, P., Egerter, S., & Williams, D. R. (2011). The social determinants of health: coming
Overweight and obesity problem is becoming more and more serious in Australia. Not only Australians but also the world’s problem obesity is studied as one of the main causes of chronic diseases such as coronary heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, and some cancers and sleep apnoea as well as other serious conditions, which put national economies and individual lives at risk. Obesity is also regarded as epidemic. Obesity is caused by a calorific imbalance between diet intake and consumed calories. Obesity has become the biggest threat to Public Health in Australia shown by Australia Bureau of Statistics (2013). Also, the prevalence of obesity is predicted as the ratio of obesity in adults and children will be doubled by 2025 (Backholer et al.2012). It is believed that this phenomenon is happening due to many social determinants of health, which have a strong negative impact on not only individuals but also society and economy. (Wilkinson and Marmot 2003) The social determinants of health are explained as conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age by WHO (Wilkinson & Marmot 2013). Different circumstances can be formed depending on their finance, power and global resources. These social determinants seem to be responsible for health inequities, which seem to be unfair and avoidable. Social determinants of health including social gradient, high calorie food intake, excessive amounts of stress and poor early life care are the relevant factors to contribute to be or being obesity. It is important to understand that the correlation of social determinants of health and obesity to manage the health problems and enhance public’s health.
The key concept of the health belief model includes threat perception (perceived threat), behavioral evaluation, self-efficacy and other variables. The threat perception has very great relevance in health-related behaviors. This perception are measured by perceived susceptibility (the beliefs about the likelihood of contacting a disease) and perceived severity (the feeling about the seriousness of contacting an illness and leaving it untreated). The behavioral evaluation is assessed by the levels of perceived benefits (the positive effects to be expected), perceived barriers (potential negative aspects of a health behavior), and cues to action (the strategies to activated one’s readiness). The self-efficacy key concept was not originally included in of the health belief model, and it was just added in 1998 to look at a person’s belief in his/her ability to take action in order to make a health related change. The other variables that are also the key concepts of the model include diverse demography, sociopsychology, education, and structure. These factors are variable from one to another and indirectly influence an individual’s health-related behavior because the factors influence the perception...
According to the World Health Organisation (2017) the social determinants of health are defined as the conditions where people are born, grown, work and live, which also includes the health system. The social determinants of health determined populations health’s outcomes and therefore linked with health inequalities (WHO, 2017)
The biomedical model of health has been criticised because it fails to include the psychological and social causes relating to an individual’s medical illness or health, looking only at the biological causes (Giddens and Sutton, 2013). Therefore, sociologists being aware of the impacts of social structure and lifestyle on health have put in various efforts to place the study of ‘the social’ at the core of health and healthcare examination.
Social Determinants of health is the “conditions in which people are born, live, work and age that affect their health” Healthypeople.gov. (2017). Social Determinants of Health | Healthy People 2020. [online] Available at: https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/social-determinants-of-health [Accessed 22 Sep. 2017]. The determinants of health are important because it helps create policies to make changes, as well as improving public health conditions by addressing the different health outcomes an individual can face and improving the need for healthier conditions. Healthy People 2020 organizes the determinants of health in both a social and physical determinant which has an impact on health.
Over the years, the social determinants of health (SDOH) have been receiving more attention due to its importance in determining peoples’ health access, health quality and health outcome. The social determinants of health have been described by various scholars as the situation or environmental condition in which people are born, or where they grow, live and work; unfortunately these conditions have continued to affect and determine people’s ability to access proper care.1-5 In other words, the SDOH continues to consciously and unconsciously influence people’s access to most opportunities in life including access to healthcare services both in developed and developing countries.2 This issues have continue to deteriorate in most developing countries increasing people’s susceptibility to multi-morbidity among different age groups, with a slight increase among the elderly.6
Although very divergent in their focus, the existing theoretical models seem to have some similarities and differences. This is especially true in regard to their factors of analysis when considering social determinants of health. For example, Krieger’s ecosocial theory encompasses and acknowledges the roles of social and psychosocial processes of disease process (WHO 2010).
There are many social determinants that are present in our society, yet many of these determinants are not discussed. This is due to the fact that categorizing and discussing social groups and determinants is often seen as controversial. Although this may be true, comprehending and discussing these determinants are essential, as many of these determinants affect our health. These determinants affect our health simply by altering our own actions as well as the environment around us. Thus, comprehension of social determinants, the environment, and its ultimate connection with an individual’s lifestyle is essential in assessing many of the public health issues prevalent
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.
The theory of planned behavior attempts to link health beliefs directly to behavior. Health beliefs take some time in predicting when people will change their health habits. According to Taylor a health behavior is the direct result of a behavioral intention done by the person. Behavior intentions are made up of three different components. The first one would be attitudes towards the specific action, then subjective norms regarding the action, and finally perceived behavioral control. Attitudes refers to actions that are performed and delivers outcomes, subjective norms refer to what the person believes others think they should do, and perceived behavior refers to the person acknowledging that they can perform the intended action.
It is a community approach to prevent diseases and illnesses. The social model focus is on policies, education and health promotion and goes beyond the focus of lifestyles and behaviour and accepts the need for social change to provide prerequisites for health. It was developed in the late 1970’s 1980’s as some members of the community were not experiencing the same levels as health as others despite the understanding of the impact of lifestyle and behaviours on
Social cognitive theory relates the performance of a behaviour change to an individual’s expectations of his or her particular performance and their probability in accomplishing that particular change (Plake). In regards to this specific model there are two types of expectations, outcomes and efficacy. Outcome expectations referring specifically to an individual’s belief that performance of a specific task or behaviour will lead to a specific outcome. Efficacy expectations refer to a person’s belief that they will be able to perform that behaviour change. All of the above mentioned facts can link specifically to various health behaviours that require changing in regards to Hypertension. When looking at specific health behaviours that are most often focused on there are five main areas which become prominent and seem to be the most problematic when dealing spe...
Scholars agree that social support is one large component from the social network that influences both physical and mental health, but they argued that “it is not the only critical pathway” (Berkman and Glass). Beyond social support, they look into the behavior level of a social network that includes four smaller pathway: “provision of social support, social influences, social engagement and attachment, and access to resources and material good” (Berkman and Glass). Social support becomes a smaller part of their argument on how social networks affect health. There are other factors that contribute to behaviors that influences health results and social support become one of the factors. Through the epidemiological studies, they focus on “health-damaging behaviors such as tobacco consumption,” “health-promoting behavior such as appropriate health service,” “medical adherence, and exercise,” and “exposure to infectious disease agents” (Berkman and Glass). These focuses are on how the behaviors are reproduced in order to help determine better ways to address health issues that are a result of the consequences of social interactions between people. Behaviors are often taught and reinforced and then reproduced when it becomes a norm for the