The Ecological Model Of Health

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:

Obesity is defined as a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health, leading to reduce life expectancy and/or increased health problems. “The problem of obesity is increasing in the United States. Understanding the impact of social inequalities on health has become a public health priority in the new millennium. Social, political, and economic factors now are acknowledged to be "fundamental" causes of disease that affect behavior, beliefs, and biology.” (Goodman, 2003)  In the United States today, obesity has become an enormous problem. In the last 3 decades, the number of people overweight has increased dramatically. Obesity has not always been seen as a medical

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.

Social determinants of health encompasses ethnicity, gender and social class. It is seen as the essential

Social determinants are regarded as the life you were born in i.e. your ethnicity, age ,gender etc. this also links to the determinant factors i.e. environment, economic, social status and lifestyle (REFERENCE) Social determinant of health strongly impact on the health outcome of individuals Many health researchers regard social position as the fundamental cause of health (REFERENCE). Social determinant can influence the care and support each individual received in order to manage their diabetes. Living in a deprived area where there is no availability of community based resources, ‘men and women of working age in the most deprived population groups are twice as likely to die prematurely as those who are relatively affluent;’(Inequality in Health and Social care use 2003) therefore you have to access healthcare services outside the area, this can stop individuals from seeking treatment as they might not have bus fare or access to a private car.(Reference).The impact of austerity cuts also impact on individuals of the

This paper discusses how IOM’s ecological model can be used to stop the AIDs pandemic which is a health issue globally. This is because the number of people infected with the disease has increased over the years, since the first case was reported. Statistics show that over 34 million people are infected globally. The disease has been declared a pandemic due to the effects it has caused globally. Therefore, urgency is needed to stop its spread by reducing the rate of infection.

When it comes to the topic of obesity, most will readily agree that it is a growing dilemma. This argument has many writers bringing different responses. Two explanations are debated in What You Eat is Your Business by Radley Balko and Don’t Blame the Eater by David Zinczenko. Both pieces create a good stance on the topic of obesity. Balko’s piece, however, has a better all around flow, organization and consistency.

Much has been written to explain the medical aspect of obesity but little attention has been paid to understanding the sociological aspect of the epidemic. This research attempts to understand the sociological aspect of obesity by examining the socio-cultural, gender, and psycho-social effects and includes the different perceptions of the epidemic as well as what is deemed acceptable in the society we live in.

It is now important to apply the social models and evaluate their effectiveness in explaining the increasing prevalence of health conditions associated with the obesity epidemic.

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).

On individual level changes in health promotion and ecological approaches target and influence multiple health behaviors. This is because the individuals living in the environment are embedded in temporary change of behaviors. Therefore it is very important to consider ecological approaches, changing health behaviors and environmental factors while designing operational and supportable health promotion plans.

This essay will focus on the biomedical and social model of health. It will be critically discussing both models using supporting theories and highlighting the limitations of each. This essay will also discuss and analyse how both models relate to lay perspectives on health and illness.

“Healthy individuals cannot survive when society is sick.” On the other hand, aspects of social structure influence health and illness. Social factors not only affect life expectancy, but the possibilities the one will experience diseases and in turn, the health care that they will receive.

In the example of Obesity, an individual’s obesity can be wrongly viewed as their own personal trouble but when viewed at a broader spectrum, it is noted that there is a variety of social issues involved which transforms it from a personal trouble to a social phenomenon. In addition to Mills’ ideas, there has been a significant amount of research which suggests obesity is a social phenomenon.