The social determinants of health “are the conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live, and age” (WHO, 2016). They result in the unfair distribution in health status and results in making people powerless. Within examination of this media story, the social determinants result in the ongoing crisis of poverty for the Indigenous children in Canada, both on and off reserves. As well, touches how actions need to be taken to improve upon the deplorable state the children are living in and breaking the ongoing cycle of poverty.
Topic
Poverty has a seemingly firm grip on the lives of families and communities. It grabs hold and stretches from one generation to the next, trapping both individuals and community’s in a socioeconomic pit that
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Social determinants of health contribute to this overall state of living both in negative and positive ways. Through not having them one can fair better in life, while evaluating and addressing them negatively correlates with one’s heath, state of living, and the ability in improving these standards.
The social determinant of income and social status is an important component to address when looking to improve someone’s state of living. The wealth of a person contributes to one’s overall health and living condition. This determinant leads to material deprivation, a form of poverty. Denise Raphael, brings notice to the effect that material deprivation has on one’s life, “[the] greater the deprivation, the less likely individuals and families are able to afford the basic prerequisites of health such as food, clothing, and housing” (Mikkonen, J., & Raphael, D. 2010, p.12). This view shows that material deprivation has a direct effect on one’s health, something which the Indigenous children in this media story are suffering from. Access to healthcare and the resources necessary for health, are frequently dependent on obtaining suitable employment. Therefore, the social determinant of employment and social status has negative health effects, as well as limited or reduced contact to healthcare and treatment. Those who are Aboriginal and have a low to no income and
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When it as a social determinant of heath it is seen that eliminating it improves one’s overall health and life in various ways. Firstly, education is seen to stem from and correlate with many of the other social determinants of health such as early childhood development and income and social status. Accessing this determinant, it shows that through having and education, it allows for people to gain access to both the economic and societal resources in society which will improve their lives. This can greatly help the Indigenous children talked about in the media story. By providing them with an education they are more likely able to get a job and earn and income, allowing for them to gain access to economic and societal resources like heath care facilities, improving their health. Secondly, having an education allows for people to be more well educated of the world, resulting in a better understanding of the factors affecting their health, prompting them to try and make a change. Better educating the Indigenous children, would allow for them to better understand the state they are living in, seeing what factors contribute to this state result and than make a change. Overall, this not only improves their health, but also is taking a step in decreasing the number of people living in poverty. Lastly, education improves upon a person literacy. Improving upon literacy, allows others to gain a more complete
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 ...
Social determinants of health are the conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live and age, and the wider set of forces and systems shaping the conditions of daily life. These focuses and systems include economic policies and systems, development agendas, social norms, social policies and political systems. (WHO, 2016). In the video, various social determinants of health were being portrayed. They include aboriginal status; how aboriginal people are treated and how this treatment contributes to the economic status and health status of aboriginal people. Education, as aboriginal schools receive less funding from the government. Housing, as aboriginal people are forced to live in unsuitable reserves. Social exclusion and social safety net as aboriginal people are excluded from society. The social determinants of health are what contributes to the attributes of social justice. This problem also led to a larger and broader issue in society that includes the attributes of social justice. Social justice problems such as human and civil rights that includes sexism and racism. Equity in which the distribution of society’s wealth is not distributed fairly and results aboriginal people receive less of society’s wealth. Equity refers to fair shares. (CNA, 2010). It also leads to poverty as they experience lack of access to basic needs such as food, water, clothing and shelter. It also led to higher suicide rates and increase rate of aboriginal people in federal prisons. It also contributes to many health issues such as 42% of aboriginal children lack dental care, tuberculous rate four times higher and diabetics rate three times higher. Most of all it has led
There are significant health disparities that exist between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Australians. Being an Indigenous Australian means the person is and identifies as an Indigenous Australian, acknowledges their Indigenous heritage and is accepted as such in the community they live in (Daly, Speedy, & Jackson, 2010). Compared with Non-Indigenous Australians, Aboriginal people die at much younger ages, have more disability and experience a reduced quality of life because of ill health. This difference in health status is why Indigenous Australians health is often described as “Third World health in a First World nation” (Carson, Dunbar, Chenhall, & Bailie, 2007, p.xxi). Aboriginal health care in the present and future should encompass a holistic approach which includes social, emotional, spiritual and cultural wellbeing in order to be culturally suitable to improve Indigenous Health. There are three dimensions of health- physical, social and mental- that all interrelate to determine an individual’s overall health. If one of these dimensions is compromised, it affects how the other two dimensions function, and overall affects an individual’s health status. The social determinants of health are conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age which includes education, economics, social gradient, stress, early life, social inclusion, employment, transport, food, and social supports (Gruis, 2014). The social determinants that are specifically negatively impacting on Indigenous Australians health include poverty, social class, racism, education, employment, country/land and housing (Isaacs, 2014). If these social determinants inequalities are remedied, Indigenous Australians will have the same opportunities as Non-Ind...
Saggers, S., & Walter, M. (2007). Poverty and social class. In Bailie, Carson, Chanhall + Dunbar Social determinants of indigenous health. Crows Nest, N.S.W.: Allen & Unwin.
In my experience working in a mandated Aboriginal child protection agency, there were many instances of child neglect that were associated with poverty. As reported by Swift (2011), Aboriginal children disproportionately make up the child welfare system in proportion to their percentage of population. Accordingly, most of the cases that I saw were child neglect cases and directly related to poverty. There are many systemic factors that contributed to oppression and poverty in the community I worked, including the lasting impacts of residential school. Moreover, housing on reserve was limited and overcrowded and to move off reserve was expensive, in addition to the impact of being further away from one’s community and support system. Child
Health care inequities can be elucidated by the research that identifies the social, economic and political ideologies that reflect aspects of cultural safety (Crandon, 1986; O’Neil, 1989 as cited in Browne & Fiske, 2001). There are various factors that affect the mistreatment of aboriginal peoples as they access health care in local health care facilities such as hospitals and clinics. Aboriginal women face many barriers and are discriminated against as a result based on their visible minority status such as race, gender and class (Gerber, 1990; Dion Stout, 1996; Voyageur, 1996 as cited in Browne & Fiske, 2001). A study done on Aboriginal peoples in Northern B.C. showed high rates of unemployment, underemployment and dependency on social welfare monies (Browne & Fiske, 2001). This continued political economic marginalisation of aboriginal peoples widens the gap between the colonizers and the colonized. The existence of racial profiling of aboriginal peoples by “Indian status” often fuels more stigmatization of these people because other Canadians who do not see the benefits of compensations received with having this status often can be resentful in what they may perceive is another compensation to aboriginal peoples. The re...
...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.
Material and non-material poverty are vital factors in understanding the extent that Indigenous Australians face poverty. Material poverty refers to the deprivation of basic human needs (Taylor, 1993). Whereas, non-material poverty consists of components of deprivation not directly caused by lack of income, but include factors such as lack of family support (Taylor, 1993). In an article by Choo (1990) it emphasises that Indigenous communities suffer immensely from non-material factors of poverty, including the loss of children through their removal, and the loss of dignity and self-respect through oppression over the years. It was also stated that material poverty was also substantial in communities this includes both income poverty and non- income indicators of poverty such as housing and health. It is important to have an understanding of the full extent of the issue to fully comprehend the discussion.
Wilkinson, R. G., & Marmot, M. G. (2003). Social determinants of health: The solid facts.
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)
In conclusion the colonisation of Australia and the adoption of discriminatory policies eroded Aboriginal culture and tradition affecting their sense of well-being and thus deteriorated their health. Today these policies are reflected in the social determinants of health as socio-economic disadvantages. They continue to impact contemporary Aboriginal people. In order to improve Aboriginal health outcomes; the impacts of these policies need to be overturned. This can be done by assisting them with improving their socio-economic status in the light of their needs and traditions.
Social determinants of health have attracted the attention of governments, policy makers and international health organisations over the last three decades (Hankivsky & Christoffersen 2008). This is because social conditions which people are born in, live and work play an important role in their health outcomes (WHO 2015). According to Kibesh (1200) social determinants drive health disparities, disrupts the human developmental process and undermine the quality of life and opportunities for people and families (ref). Thus, several theories have been developed over the years to provide in-depth understanding of the social determinants of health and to reduce health inequalities (Hankivsky & Christoffersen, 2008). However, there is still significant
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.
Education is recognised as a social determinant of health by the World Health Organisation. "The condition in which people are born, grow, live, work and age, and the wider set of forces and systems shaping the conditions of daily life." (WHO, 2016). The factors closest to the individual, such as; lifestyle, personal choices and decisions influence physical health and mental wellbeing more than factors further away. This is where education can be identified, as it contributes and influences to health as it gives individuals the opportunity to gain a wider range of knowledge, not only in an academic sense, but in terms of physical, emotional and mental wellbeing. The part in which education plays in society is evident in that it assists children and young adults with the knowledge of information and provides learning.