Social Determinants Of Health And Health Disparities

Another U.S. study found that low availability of emotional support and low social participation were associated with all-cause mortality.

“Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander people have a greater amount of disadvantage and significantly more health problems than the non-Aboriginal & Torres strait Islander population in Australia”

These are a few potential links between social inequalities and the health of the population: income and wealth distribution, unemployment, the ageing society, gender and health, mental illness and suicide and disability and dysfunction. I am going to discuss each of these and see the health impact on people in each group.

There is growing research into what has become known as the social determinants of health; the central claim arising from this research is that “various social factors have a strong influence on population health and on inequalities in health outcomes across social groups”. (Preda & Voigt, 2015) Social determinants of health are conditions in the environments in which people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age that affect a wide range of health, functioning, and quality of life outcomes and risks. Conditions such as social, economic, and physical in various environments and settings such as school, church, work, or neighborhood have been referred to as “place”. (HP 2020) According to Healthy People 2020 (2016) understanding the relationship between how population groups experience “place” and the impact of “place” on health is fundamental to the social determinants of health. Healthy People 2020 (2016) have developed an approach to social determinants by organizing a “place-based” framework, reflecting five key areas of social determinants of health. Each of these five determinant areas, economic stability, education, social and community context, health and healthcare, neighborhood and built environment; reflects a number of critical components that make up the underlying factors in the arena of social determinants of health. Differences in social, economic, and environmental circumstances lead to health inequalities that are socially produced and therefore

emphasis was on relationships to family, group and country rather than the development of an

these issues though those might be temporary. A final solution will have to be a national policy change in immigration, however, until then we could pursue some international options to aid undocumented immigrants in the United States.

A proponderance of statistics derived from scholarly sources corroborates the notion that minorities who have a low socioeconomic position or have an significantly low income suffers many atrocious health disparities this includes obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases thus projecting a direct correlation between the two variables. In addition, minorities, specifically African-Americans that live in low income neighborhoods have less access to fresh, healthy and organic foods. In particular, supermarkets are sparse in their area and sometimes is not within walking distance or within the vicinity of their homes. On the flipside, these neighborhoods have the highest levels of fast-food restaurants and convenient stores. These barriers

“Health disparity: A higher burden of illness, injury, disability, or mortality experienced by one population group relative to another group” ("Disparities in Health," 2012, para. 7). There are many factors which contribute to the disparities in health among certain groups here in the United States. The low income populations seem to be at the greatest risk when it comes to health inequality. Whether this is due to lack of education, access to services, or even neighborhood safety, the divide between the higher income populations and that of lower income populations are growing at an alarming

Social determinants of health inequity reflect deeper social divisions, which generate multiple risks that are reproduced over time. Hierarchies of power must be critiqued through the lenses of class and race to make tangible the seemingly abstract connections between social and economic determinants and distribution of health inequity. Racism finds refuge in various forms of material exploitation; narrow interventions that fail to address the root causes that undermine the health and well-being of members of the community will ultimately fail.1 The treatment of Mexican immigrants with tuberculosis (TB) by health officials in Los Angeles from 1914 to 1940 is a telling story that made salient the insidious impact of poverty and race on health, and it provides an important lesson for public health officials.

For a variety of reasons, it is easier for the monied classes to access quality health care when needed and, in general, lead healthier lifestyles. People of higher socioeconomic groups have been shown to live longer (Scrambler, 2012). Beginning with higher infant mortality rates, lower socioeconomic groups often face a lifetime of challenges to good health and longevity.

In the segment of Unnatural Causes, “In Sickness and in Wealth”, the documentary highlights the health disparity created by different socioeconomic statuses. There are several factors that lead to these health differences, including but not limited to policies or lack of policies, and racism. Unnatural Causes draws on several family stories to exemplify the wealth health gradient. Within the family anecdotes, I was most intrigued by the idea of health access. This concept is highlighted throughout the different life cases in the segment. However, it is not just limited to these individuals, communities, and time period. Although health access is considered a universal right, access is not equal among individuals in the US. Access to health is determined by an individuals’ wealth. This is exemplified by the poor health outcomes of those in low-income communities; whereas, individuals in higher income communities have better health outcomes.

The social determinants of health have been said to be causes of a variety of mental and physical illnesses. There are five main social determinants of health, in agreement with the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, and they include: "education, economic stability, health and health care, neighborhood and built environment, and social and community context." These five identified factors shape and influence everyone within a community and assist with understanding health across various levels of the socioecological background.1-2

Social determinants of health are social, economic and physical factors that affect the health of individuals in any given population. There are fourteen social determinants of health but Income is perhaps the most important of these because it shapes living conditions, influences health related behaviors, and determines food security. In Canada, people with lower incomes are more susceptible to disease/ conditions, higher mortality rate, decreased life expectancy and poorer perceived health than people with high incomes. In numerous Canadian studies and reports, there has been more emphasis on health being based on an individual’s characteristics, choices and behaviours, rather than the role that income plays as a social determinant of health. Although Canada has one of the highest income economies in the world and is comprised of a free health care system, many low income families are a burden on the system because of the physical and mental health issues influenced by income insecurity. Low income individuals are heavier users of health care services because they have lower levels of health and more health problems than do people with higher incomes. This essay will address income as a social determinant of health in three key sections: what is known on the issue, why the issue is important and how can health and public policies address the issue. The main theme that runs through the essay is the income related health inequalities among low income groups compared to

A communicable disease chain is the mechanism by which an infective agent or pathogen is transmitted. The chain requires an infective agent, a source of infection, a mode of transmission and a host. An example of an infective agent could be bacteria, a virus, fungus, protozoan or helminth. The source of infective agents can be transmission from host to host, an infected human or animal, insects, soil or livestock. The mode of transmission is how the infective agent is carried from host to host. Transmission can be by air, ingestion or physical contact. To complete a life cycle or to replicate, the infective agent requires a host.

In the last few years, nurses and other healthcare professionals (HCPs) are under the spotlight of the media and the public due to issues addressed in documents such as The Francis Report (2010). This is good in a sense though as it gives us the opportunity to better ourselves as HCPs and improve the standard of care for everyone. It is now a widely known idea that there are many different factors that affect our health and wellbeing not just biological factors as believed to be the case not very long ago when a biological view was taken when addressing a person's health. However, this has all changed for the better where now healthcare is individualised, holistic and takes in to account the individuals own circumstances i.e. the social determinants of health and wellbeing (social determinants), not a simple one size fits all approach. This essay is going to discuss some of these factors so that we can learn to reduce these inequalities in healthcare and make great healthcare more accessible to everyone. The factors that will be discussed are individual lifestyle choices, housing conditions and .