Social Determinants Of Health Essay

This paper will compare the healthcare service and healthcare status between Canada and the United States. Canada and the United States have a totally different healthcare system. Many people argued that the United States healthcare system needs some upgrading, while, some people admire Canada’s healthcare system due to the fact that Canada’s healthcare does more for less. Research has shown that Canada spends less of its’ GDP on it’s healthcare yet performs better than the United States.

According to the dictionary, the word health is “the state of being free from illness.” At a first glance, this defination seems to be very direct and simple, however the meaning of the word ‘health’ nowadays is much more complex. The above definition pretty much sums up our view of health in the first half of the 20th century.

Health is a concept that relates to and describes a person's state of being. It is highly subjective as good health means different things to different people, and its meaning varies according to individual and community expectations and contexts. In this paper the definition of health, care and wellbeing is looked from an Aboriginal perspective taking into account the history of Aboriginal health and contemporary issues in health and wellbeing of Aboriginal communities.

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 living conditions people experience, which plays a vital role in shaping population health (Mikkonen & Raphael, 2010). Government policy is one of the Social Determinants of Health and also the one that can strengthen or weaken the other Social Determinants of Health such as education, income, employment etc. The Social Determinants of Health for Canadian young adults become worse today while the older Canadians today, young Canadians a generation ago, experience better Social Determinants of Health. This is because the Canadian government and policy maker put less effort to develop public policy so that the Social Determinants of Health are not strengthened today (Mikkonen & Raphael, 2010). I choose

Canada is a ‘high-income nation’, possessing industrialized economies, technologically advanced industries, and high per capita income (Kendall et al. 2016: 24). Resulting in Canada much receiving international scrutiny as it has a vast number of individuals living in relative poverty (Kendall et al. 2016: 29). Particularly as many as five million, or one in seven people live in relative poverty in Canada (Kendall et al. 2016: 29). Constituting relative poverty is living below the standard of living relative to the average individual in Canada (Levine-Rasky 2017). In addition, income inequality acts as a social determinant of health (SDH), as it impacts the economic and social conditions of an individual or a community (Raphael 2016:

One of the most important things in our lives today is Canada’s welfare state, as it transformed Canada’s economy after the economy’s downturn from the Great Depression. The democratic system was formed to maintain prosperity, solidity and security in our everyday lives. One of the key pillars of the nation’s welfare state is employment insurance (EI). Through this analysis of Canada’s employment insurance, I will elucidate why I believe that this program should continue, but with refinements, as it has benefited a large portion of unemployed Canadians over the years and should continue doing so to fulfill the countries goals of the welfare state.

The Canadian healthcare system is one that I believe has been long coveted by many Americans. One thing I found particularly unique and also a bit of an eye-opener was this quote from the text, “ Wealthy or poor, employed or jobless, retired or younger than 18, every Canadian receives the same health insurance, financed in the same way. No Canadian would even imagine that leaving, changing, retiring from, or losing a job has anything to do with health insurance.” Canada has it right, health insurance should be a right regardless of age, employment status or income. A few months ago I

Currently, the author is trying to tell the audience that social problems can be more problematic than clinical problems. The author also discusses how the living standards for Canadians are not distributed equally. Since everything is unequal, those who are in a higher social position have more control over the economy and try their best to avoid risks and diseases (Graham, 2004). The main argument from the author is that healthcare determines the heath outcome of an individual. The author also addresses that all Canadians should have equal access to all the social determinants of health to avoid getting sick in the first place. That being said, the author is briefly addressing all the social determinants of health and how the all connect to health, but with inequality as an underlying issue. The dispute on how social determinants of health is a notion that directs attention to the social factors shaping people’s health is also discussed in the article (Graham, 2004).

After 11 consecutive years of being in power, the Conservative Party led by Mr. steven harper which believed in individual responsibility economically have been defeated during the election. They were defeated by the Liberal Party led by Mr.Justin Trudeau The Liberal Party believe the government has responsibility for helping families, individuals, and communities who have economic difficulties. They also believe in creating social programs that support the communities such as the welfare system. It is a system that gives money to people

When discussing health care systems, Canada’s is often used as a possible model for the US. The two countries systems are very different being that Canada has a single payer, mostly publicly funded system, while the US has a multi-payer, heavily private system. So much of the appeal of the Canadian system is that is does more for less. They provide universal access to health care for its citizens, while almost one in five non-elderly Americans are uninsured. Many of these findings come from the results of the Joint Canada/United States Survey of Health from 2002-2003. This survey revealed that the health status is for the most part similar in the two countries, but income-related health disparities exist. For example, Americans in the poorest income bracket are more likely to have poor health compared to their “counterparts” in Canada. In "Health Status, Health Care, and Inequality: Canada vs. the U.S.," (NBER Working Paper 13429) June O 'Neill and Dave M. O 'Neill take a closer look at the U.S. and Canadian health care systems. They examine whether the Canadian system delivers better health outcomes and distributes health resources more justifiably than the U.S. system. After conducting their own research, they have different findings then the survey. They feel that in the US we have too many outside factors contributing to our health to really be able to compare the two systems. Let’s take a deeper look into the different systems.

Health care reform has been the main factor of parting between Canada and the United States, with the different political systems of the countries influencing how the molding of the system occurs. A Social Democratic Third Party in Canada had created the foundation of reform, the influence that a third party had on the government of Canada was significant (Maioni, 1997, p.415). The working class banded together to support the third party in Canada to push for their rights in a way that the major two parties were unable to do and unconcerned with doing, the third party that was supported created essentially a voice that gave the working class a prominent position in their country with concern to reform in health benefits. Within the United States

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

Currently there are many problems and flaws with the way the Canadian government’s policies deal with healthcare, income inequality and poverty. Time to time changes in policies have been made, perhaps to improve these issues, however, the gap between rich and poor keeps increasing and there is very little improvement in healthcare and the economy. In fact, healthcare keeps on becoming costly. Major issues like income inequality and poverty are not being taken care of by the government. According to Dr. Raphael (2002) poverty is caused by several reasons such as inequality in people’s income, weak social services and lack of other social supports (p.VI). He states, “Poverty directly harms the health of those with low incomes while income

The “Sociological Perspective on Health and the Health Care” introduced perspectives about social structure, and social relations. The readers learn the sociological theory and the main misconceptions related to health care, and their policies. It provides an explanation of the production and the distribution of health care services. Firstly, structural functionalism focuses on individuals and groups in society and how it maintains a social role. Furthermore, symbolic interactionism focus on the conflicts in interaction amongst individuals. Moreover, social constructionism focuses on the medical facts and social authority and the reign over all in society. Also, gender and race influence the social conditions, and implications evident in Canadian health. Class conflicts with the control of power and the relationship between the employers and employees. It enhances the inequality evident in workplaces and the social stratification; ranking one by their assets. Materialism portrays that society is a social consensus rather than a conflict. However, this conflicts between the rich and the poor. Therefore, the healthcare impacts the minority, and affects it the most. Since the rich have an advantage of other options, however the minority struggles to afford private health care or buy their way around. Furthermore, the Marxist theory and oppression focuses on the exploitation by capitalism. It emphasizes on