Determinants Of Health Research

“HealthyPeople.gov” (2017), defines social determinants as conditions in which people are born, live, work and age. All of these factors affect our health. Physical determinants of health impact a wide range of health, functioning, and quality – of – life. It is also explained social and physical determinants of health are often results of decisions made at higher levels of society.

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.

Health as a whole is determined by the quality of life, as well as an individuals’ ability to create personal positive social and physical environments. These environments include homes, schools, workplaces and the community as a whole. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO, 2003), the social determinants of health are conditions in which people live, work, and grow, where these factors are influenced by money, power and available resources. There are five main aspects of social determinants: economic stability, social/community health, general health, education, and the surrounding built environment, where each determinant refers to multiple key issues. These determinants commonly affect health, the functioning of people, their quality of life, as well as social, economic and physical risks. Examples of social determinants include:

Porta (as cited in Thurston, 2014), defined a determinant of health as ‘any factor that brings about changes in a health condition or other defined characteristic.’

The determinants of health are economic and social conditions that affect people’s health status. These influence the living and working conditions that impacts people’s everyday living condition. Factors such as the place and the environment we live in, genetics, educational level or work status and income, as well as friends and family are some of the aspects that affects our health condition. On the other hand, the people that have an access to good health care and have financial stability are less susceptible and are often less affected. (NANB, 2009)

The social determinants of health are the circumstances that impact and surround people, since are born, grow, work, live, and age, education, income, race and gender, and the broader set of powers and systems that shaping the circumstances of daily life. It is important because it impacts all aspect of daily life of people, and it caused direct and indirect health problems.

The geographic-level aspects involve a range of dimensions, ranging from physical characteristics of the area – such as location and climate (Bloom and Sachs 1998, APUD Wagstaff, 2001), to the infrastructure offered (Macintyre et. al., 2002) such as health services (quantity and quality), sanitation, water supply, roads, and so forth. One interesting hypothesis is that the presence of favorable aspects, like low crime rates, street cleanness and lightening, recreation places, among other “amenities” in the region under analysis mitigate the effects of unfavorable individual circumstances over health; whereas the adverse ones, such as pollution, lack of sanitation or low accessibility to urban facilities, amplify the already perverse influence of deprived individual characteristics on health status (Macintyre et. al., 2002; Kennedy et al., 1998). In California, for instance, Haan, Kaplan and Camacho (1987) found that people from poor areas experienced higher mortality rates (after controlling proper age, race and sex) than the population from non-poverty areas. Such risk of death persisted even after socioeconomic and behavioral adjustments. Similar findings have been reported by Humphries and Carr-Hill (1991); Jones and Duncan (1995) and Duncan et.al. (1993), supporting the hypothesis of the social environment´s influence over health, independently of the individual-level.

The World Health Organization defines, "Social determinants of health (SDoH) are the conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live, and age, and the wider set of forces and systems

“Failure to acknowledge, and more importantly, to understand the role of Social determinants of Health (SDH) in health and access to health and social services will hamper any effort to improve the health of the population.” (Ompad, Galea, Caiaffa, & Vlahov, 2007). Unemployment, unsafe work environments, globalization and the inability to access health systems are some social determinants of health. Social factors would be considered place of residence, race and ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status are also part of social determinants of health. According to “Social Determinants of the Health of Urban Populations: Methodologic Considerations’ Place of residence and an individual’s status within the place are important determinants of health in urban settings. It is important to recognize that the place of residence is

Education level, employment, income, family and social support, and community safety are all part of the social and environmental determinants in healthcare (Senterfitt JW et al., 2013). Public health has concentrated on improving clean water supplies, healthier housing, sanitation, workplace safety, safe food, and access to medical care to increase life expectancy (Senterfitt JW et al., 2013). Social and economic factors are not only the largest single predictor or driver of health outcomes, but also strongly influence health behaviors, the second greatest contributor to health and longevity(Senterfitt JW et al., 2013). In the lower social and economic population, unhealthy behaviors are more likely to

Access to Medical Care Services – The CDC states that determinants of health are “factors that contribute to a person’s current state of health” Teitelbaum & Wilensky, p.124, 2017) The biggest factor to the current state of an individual’s health is access to medical care. Without medical care services health issues will linger as they will be put off and never addressed until the issue becomes serious.

The social determinants of health are factors that can affect a person’s physical or mental health, A few examples of these factors are; Unemployment, Housing, Education, Lifestyle factors, Transport, Access to health services etc. These types of social factors can lead to insecurity, stress, anxiety, isolation and lack of control of home life, work and health status. These factors contribute to the development

The range of personal, social, economic, and environmental factors that influence health status are known as determinants of health. Social determinants of health reflect the social factors and physical conditions of the environment in which people are born, live, learn, play, work, and age. According to Florida Public Health, Heart disease was the second leading cause of death in 2012, accounting for41, 643 deaths. The heart disease age-adjusted death rate per 100,000 populations decreased between 1990 and 2012 from 286.5 to 155.3. Heart disease was the leading cause of death among individuals 85 years or older, accounting for 30.0percent of deaths in this age group.

An array of factors like personal, social, economic, and environment issues influence and determines the health of individual and population, acting in various combination (Knickman & Kovner, 2015). These determinants of health, known as population health determinants generally include genetics, access to health care, individual behavior, social determinant, physical environment (Knickman & Kovner, 2015).

The determinants of health include those of individual, sociocultural, socioeconomic, and environmental factors. These factors act in various combinations to influence an individual’s personal health. The determinants of health can have a positive or negative influence on the health of individuals or populations.