Social Constructs

350 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: Affects of social determinants on health, essay

Social Construct influences the extent in which we are healthy and physically active. It determines how we use health services, recreational facilities and sporting opportunities to our benefits. It also guides our response to health and physical activity challenges and how an individual views health as a social construct.

The advantages of viewing health of an individual through social constructs have many reasons. Some being that it supports principles of diversity and social justice. Australia is diverse in terms of multiculturalism, socio-economic status and geographic location. Socio-economic status relates how much the individuals income is, their employment status, car/home ownership or their knowledge about health. Being geographically isolated means not having access to available health services. It is taken into account so that the individual has a sense of belonging and empowerment to improve their health. The individual should have a supportive environment so that changes can occur for the better and to ensure the individual develops a sense of ownership for their health.

Another advantage would be that is recognises the interrelationships between socio-cultural and environmental factors that influence social constructs. Many cultural and environmental factors impact and influence in individual?s health. Some of these may include, the climatic conditions, physical environment which influences the health of the individual and what society and culture expects of them. Climatic conditions can have a big impact of an individual?s health because of the decreasing amount of space to do physical activity.

Final advantage is that it challenges the notion that health is solely an individual?s responsibility. For improvements to be made in health, the individual has to take full responsibility and to agree that they are to be blamed for their poor health levels. Through influences of social constructs the individual should make informed decisions regarding their health and should be more motivated to facilitate change.

Show More
Related

  • Social Determinants Of Justice For Aboriginal People

    1216 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Health Disparities Between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Australians

    1874 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...ther two dimensions productivity. Social determinants are situations in which people are born, grow, live, work and age which is why they are so influential on the contemporary and future health status of the individual. Aboriginal people die at much younger ages, have more disability and experience a reduced quality of life because of ill health, which in some way can be related back to the social determinants of health. Many of these social determinants have programs implemented to try and rectified the disparities in health status between Indigenous Australians and Non-Indigenous Australians. If these programs work closing the gap between Indigenous Australians and Non-Indigenous Australians will be improved and Indigenous Australians health will not be described as third world health in a first world country, which is how Aboriginals health is described now.

    Read More

  • Social Determinants Of Health Case Study

    1027 Words  | 3 Pages

    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)

    Read More

  • Socioeconomic Factors and the Health of Individuals

    1304 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Health of People Living in Rural Australia

    1536 Words  | 4 Pages

    Living in a remote area has always been thought to have negative influences on the individual. There are 35 % of the total population in Australia living in rural area(Phillips, 2009).Rural areas in Australia and all over the world are not geographically isolated and disadvantaged only but also culturally and economically deprived which has great consequences on the health status of the population. The main two factors that have a major effect on rural health are socioeconomic status and cultural issues(Beard, Tomaska, Earnest, Summerhayes, & Morgan, 2009).

    Read More

  • Essay On Social Determinants Of Health

    789 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Health as a Social Construction

    823 Words  | 2 Pages

    Social construction refers to the statistics like the morbidity and mortality rate of our society. Our gender, class, ethnicity, religion and even education construct society, these all determine our experience of reality. An example of how sociologists have tried to deconstruct health in society is looking at the theories of sociologists like Leslie (1980). She developed the '3 Fold model of Health'.

    Read More

  • Interplay of Genetics and Lifestyle in Obesity

    612 Words  | 2 Pages

    The social factors reflect on the environmental surroundings in which an individual resides in. This aspect involves socioeconomic factors such as employment, education and income as well as sociocultural factors such as family, media and peers. The levels of education a person possesses directly affects their overall health due to their potential lack of understanding in relation to nutrition and exercise, resulting in obesity. Employment and income are directly linked and influence an individual’s physical health due to the amount of money they maintain. Typically, unhealthy processed foods are cheaper and more readily available, making them the preferred option for people in a lower socioeconomic class. An individual’s family and peers directly affects a person’s health due to their significant influence on their lifestyle choices, which also concerns the activities they participate in and the food they indulge in, thus, creating the potential for obesity. The media also shapes an individual’s health decisions through advertising. The comprehensive and persuasive advertising that is plastered throughout popular technology outlets by companies who offer unhealthy meals, such as McDonalds, only coaxes people into purchasing and consuming these foods which causes health issues such as

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Social Determinants Of Health

    1712 Words  | 4 Pages

    However, the theory might not be applicable to other cultures. Generally, people from different cultural backgrounds have personal coping and social resources that can assist them to avoid negative experiences that affect health status, and to deal with such experiences when they happen. Therefore, most of the psychosocial variables that might impact on the health Westerners may not apply well to those from highly different cultural backgrounds (Fernando, 2010). Another disadvantage of the theory is that it generally focusses on individuals and proximal factors (Sundmacher, Scheller-Kreinsen, & Busse

    Read More

  • Social Determinants Of Lifestyle

    1215 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Essay On Culture And Cultural Influences On Health

    711 Words  | 2 Pages

    How does culture influence health? Give some examples of ethnic and cultural influences on the health of individuals or populations.

    Read More

  • Beattie Model Essay

    3191 Words  | 7 Pages

    Also the essay will discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each approach as this can be an indicator if this approach is applied, whether it can address inequality and improve the health and well being of that individual or society. The essay will use the Dahlgren and Whitehead social determinants of health of need to exemplify the determinants of health showing how these determinants can influence the way health is viewed as holistic or merely an absence of disease. Lastly, the essay will analyse the evaluation with these approaches plus the importance of evaluation to present programs and future programs or activity.

    Read More

  • Social Ecological Framework

    428 Words  | 1 Pages

    I strongly agree with the statement that health promotion programs and policies informed by a social ecological (SE) framework would allow for a comprehensive approach to intervention. The SE model is a very valuable framework for theorizing multiple levels of determinants of health behaviors (Glanz, Rimer, & Viswanath, 2015). These levels include intrapersonal, interpersonal, institutional/organizational, community, and public policy. The SE model includes different factors or levels that are important for addressing major public health issues and these levels are useful guides for the design of comprehensive multilevel interventions (Glanz, Rimer, & Viswanath, 2015). Interventions that consider a multiple levels of influence and are tailored to specific health behaviors are more likely to yield sustainable effects and affect many more people (Glanz, Rimer, & Viswanath, 2015).

    Read More

  • Social Determinants of Health in New Zealand

    1537 Words  | 4 Pages

    The ability to have and maintain good health can determine the quality of, or lack of, life you live. Many in the New Zealand population, in particular, One parent families, experience many barriers to good health. These barriers are called social determinants of health and they are tools used to measure the health status of a population. For example, As identified in The social, cultural and economic determinants of health in NZ: Action to improve health report (Nation Health Committee, 1998) These determinants include income, education, transport, housing and access to clean water and food, stress, complex health needs, social gradient and early life just to name a few. Consequently, When one or more of these determinants begin to negatively

    Read More

  • Understanding Individual Motivations for Health Behavior Change

    684 Words  | 2 Pages

    Many theories have been proposed over the years to explain the individual motivations toward changing behaviors in order to maintain health. These theories differ in the concepts related to the motivation and the reasons for seeking healthy behaviors. Social cognitive theory (SCT) for instance helped researchers to understand the motivation factors that influence individual health behaviors and these factors are self-efficacy, outcome, expectation, and knowledge. They said that changing behaviors takes time, needs efforts and encouragement. First, self-efficacy is the ability of an individual to make a change in his behaviors for better outcome and this concept depend on person experiences, skills, and willingness to perform and change action.

    Read More

More about Social Constructs

Open Document