What Is Social Determinants Of Health

Why are higher income and social status associated with better health? If it were just a matter of the poorest and lowest status groups having poor health, the explanation could be things like poor living conditions. But the effect occurs all across the socio-economic spectrum. Considerable research indicates that the degree of control people have over life circumstances,

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.

“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”

This essay will explore housing as a social determinant of health and the effects it has on the physical and mental health and wellbeing of families, communities and individuals. Poor housing and poverty may be a result of overcrowding, dampness, mould, insufficient heating and poor ventilation. It can have detrimental effects on the behaviour of individuals, how families cooperate and friendliness within communities. Poor housing can cause anything from colds and flus to cardiovascular disease but also may affect mental health. This may lead to individuals experiencing depression and anxiety. It is also common for children’s development to be disrupted due to poor housing and poverty. Different housing-related conditions results in different physical and mental health illnesses for different age groups, for example, overcrowding affecting the respiratory system is more common in childhood whereas insufficient heating having a negative affect and causing excess winter deaths is prone to those age 65 and over.

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

Individuals of higher income levels often have private insurance that allows them to see a physician on a regular basis. These individuals are able to prevent many diseases before they exacerbate. They often eat low fat diets or plant based diets. They are educated on their nutritional health and often make better choices when choosing the different types foods to eat. Due to their income, they can afford to eat healthy food and make healthy food choices. Even though these individuals may be predisposed to certain diseases, their diets prevent them from becoming prevalent in their lives. Due to the individual’s socioeconomic status they make enough money that they don’t stress about the necessities in life. These individuals live in areas such as Roswell, Johns Creek. Alpharetta, Buckhead, Kennesaw, and Stockbridge. Individuals of a poor economic status have limited access to healthcare. These individuals often have Medicaid, Medicare, or no health insurance at all. They often eat diets that are high in fat. Individuals of poor economic status aren’t often educated about eating healthy. They often eat unhealthy because it is too expensive to eat healthy. These individuals often receive government subsidiaries such as WIC and SNAP benefits for themselves and their children. There aren’t many healthy food stores if any at all in these neighborhoods. Stores such as Whole Foods, Sprout, and Trader Joe’s aren’t located in poverty stricken communities because the individuals can’t afford the prices. It is a disadvantage that the grocery chains in the neighborhood don’t offer the resident a healthier option. Individuals of poor economic status often fight chronic illnesses such as high blood pressure, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and often cancer. They often live sedentary lifestyles that contribute to these diseases. They eat diets that are high in red meats one that contributes to

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.

St. Paul's L'Amoreaux Centre provides programs and services for older adults from all backgrounds. Most of these clients have children living nearby or in the GTA area. The clients at SPLC are all independent and can live on their own. Some of the important determinants of health that are relevant to this client group is income and social status, social support networks, education and literacy, social and physical environments, personal health practices, coping skills, biology and genetic endowment, health services, gender, and culture. All these social determinants of health will affect each individual in a different way, so as a nursing student we have to pay attention to how one determinant of health may be a concern for one specific client.

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

Health and social class have always been closely linked. Recent research has shown that the gap between social classes is not only widening in terms of annual income but also in terms of health. Social class affects a person's physical health, longevity, and ability and access to appropriate nutrition and medical care. People who have received more education and have a higher income are less likely to have and die of chronic diseases, such as heart disease, strokes, diabetes, and cancer. While individuals of lower social-economic class tend to experience more health issues, they have less access to healthcare of appropriate quality compared to individuals of higher social-economic classes. This is because there are higher health risk factors

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 .