The Social Determinants Of Health

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

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:

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

Some researchers in the field of public health analysis have increasingly focused on how social determinants of health influence health outcomes and disparities (Clarke, C. E., Niederdeppe, J., & Lundell, H. C., 2012). They have also explored strategies for raising public awareness and mobilizing support for policies to address social determinants of health, with particular attention to narrative and image-based information Clarke, C. E., Niederdeppe, J., & Lundell, H. C., 2012). The relationship between the social determinants of health and health disparities has been well researched. In developing policies or programs to reduce and, ultimately, prevent health disparities, upstream contributing factors, known as the social determinants of health, must be taken into consideration when addressing such issues (Dubiel, H., Shupe, A., & Tolliver, R., 2010). Progress toward reducing health disparities will involve support for community-based strategies, enhanced the understanding of SDH, and increased diversity of the health-care workforce. The coordinated efforts to address disparities take into account strategies and actions that build on community infrastructure and an increasingly diverse and culturally competent workforce (Jackson, C. S., & Gracia, J. N., 2014). These efforts will need to overcome low public awareness and concern about social determinants of health; few organized campaigns; and limited descriptions of existing message content. The established relationships

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.

The barriers of mental healthcare access are a notable issue for many Canadians and Canadian youth. Nearly 20% of Canadian youth suffer from a mental illness or disorder, however, only 1 in 5 youth who have a mental illness receive the appropriate mental health care (Canadian Mental Health Association, 2014). These barriers may include structural barriers such as the uninsured costs of mental health services, the long waiting list for services that are insured and attitudinal factors such as fear of stigmatization (Sareen et al. 2007). The barriers of the mental healthcare available to our youth may be a contributing factor as to why suicidal death is the second leading cause of death among Canadians aged 15-24 (Canadian Mental Health Association,

Assessing communities by Wards have been articulated through a set of constructs, referred to as social determinants of health. Social determinants of health consider how neighborhood and social conditions collectively impact outcomes on individual and community levels. Access to health protective resources like clean air and water, healthy food, recreational areas, high quality education, employment wages, and decent housing have an impact on the health of individuals living in the community. Therefore, if good health is not shared equally in Ward 2 by Jacksonians, then understanding these factors that contribute to health and differences in health status is essential to identifying and implementing solutions to this challenge. Disparities

The social determinants of health can be defined as social and economic conditions in a population that have different effects on the individual and groups levels on health status. They are factors that promote health in an individual`s working and living condition like wealth rather than individual factors like genetics. In this paper, social determinants approaching mental diseases such as depression and as a health issue are addressed. The social determinates that will be discussed is income inequality, discrimination and finally Chronic stress. Depression is timeframe of several weeks whereby an individual has a lot of unhappiness or low morale. In this period, that individual may commit suicide or cause a self-inflicted injury. From the determinant social perspective, this illness is seen to result from

When looking at the social determinants that affect the health and wellbeing of the population it is important to have an understanding of what these terms mean. Health is defined in the oxford dictionary as being free from illness or injury however many argue that to be of good health does not necessarily mean to be completely free from illness and disease. The American Nurses Association in 2010 argued that everyone will go through times of good health and times of illness and that “the presence of illness does not preclude health, nor does optimal health preclude illness.” The social determinants of health are the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age and how these can influence our health. (WHO 2012). Arguably one of the main influences of health is the environment that people are living in and how their housing conditions can impact on their health and quality of life.

Education has a significant correlation on health outcomes. The following presented case study will demonstrate how the Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) directly impacts health status. As described in Appendix A, Mrs. Smith is a 68-year-old female who was diagnosed with type I diabetes mellitus 37 years ago. She presented in hospital with a pressure ulcer on her left foot, which has increasingly worsened and become necrotic in certain areas. She has had uncontrolled blood glucose levels for many years and often does not prescribe to her medication schedule “because it doesn’t really work anyways.” She has a long history of neuropathy resulting from her poorly controlled diabetes mellitus. She also has difficulty understanding the

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 .

This paper from the World Health Organization (WHO) discusses the importance of job security in health, well being and one’s over inner satisfaction. This paper is split off into sections and discusses ten topics that are important in the social determinants of health and relate them back to public policies. From this resource, the part that will be utilized the most for the research paper is the unemployment section. In the section’s it emphasizes the importance of public policy in relation to better health outcomes and thus it showcases key topics. This is a reliable source and the author backs up opinions with key facts and trends. Overall, it is a source that will provide some key ideas to expand and explore on and helps connect back to