Social Determinants of Health

When someone thinks of health, they usually think of someone that is in-shape and does not have any illnesses. Health involves much more than the physical body. It includes your mental health, such as how you feel about yourself. It also includes your emotion health, specifically stress.

During our lives we watch as life expectancies and good health in many countries continue to rise, however we also observe many parts of the world which fail to improve (Commission on social determinants of health, 2008, p.3). Social determinants of health are conditions, which can play both positive and negative roles in our lives from the day we are born, whilst we grow, live, work and age. Two key determinants that have damaging effects on the health of people is income related to unemployment and the further effects this has on children and also poor housing conditions effecting the livelihoods of many across the globe including right here in Aotearoa New Zealand.

interrelated elements that affect individuals across their lifespan, from birth to death. Their interaction influences the health and well being of individuals and communities for good or ill thereby impacting health. These determinants of health can be grouped under four broadly accepted categories:

“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”

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.

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

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

Aboriginal people saw the land as a dwelling place for the spirits of their ancestors and considered land to be the mother of all Aborigines as explained by S. Night an Aboriginal Land Rights activist: “Aboriginal spirituality is inextricably linked to land, it's like picking up a piece of dirt and saying this is where I started and this is where I'll go. The land is our food, our culture, our spirit and identity.” (Knight, 2016).

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.

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

Norma James is a 65 years old widow who lives alone. Mrs. James has a medical history of Type 2 diabetes mellitus and hypertension and has also been diagnosed with atrial fibrillation. Mrs. James has been a smoker since her 20s and smokes about a ½ pack of cigarettes per day. She has two adult sons who lives far and has minimum contact with them. She does not work and has a very limited savings. She relies on Old Age Security Benefits for income. She has been living in the same neighbourhood for years but has only few individuals who she considers friends. She prefers to spend her time alone at home watching television, reading or watching over her six cats.

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

Below are my top four social determinants of health ranked 1 to 4 in order of significance.

My thoughts seem to drift into a void as the apprehension of my spiritual existence becomes more prominent. The reality of my physical presence seems to shift into only an idea, temporarily in the mind of our creator. One must discard the negative influences of present day technology and realize the potential of Nature herself. Human advancements have made it difficult to harness the true comfort of the outdoors. I am quite taken by surprise, the magnificence of everything natural; everything that once shared the same DNA. It can be flattering knowing that I am a part of this undisturbed beauty, breathing the same air that my ancestors, both human and non human, breathed. Once again, the willows and the oaks send to me vibrations of tranquility,

“Where what breathes, breathes / and what drinks, drinks,” the persona says (3,5). Natures relationships depicted in the first stanza are beautiful. At first, something as simple as the “islands” may seem unimportant (1). Once analyzed, its purposed is defined by providing a warm home for life to sustain. Without the “restless wind” and “incoming tide,” the animals could not sustain (4,6). Everything in the universe is interconnected.