Social Determinants Social determinants are the conditions in which people are born, where they live, grow, age and work. These circumstances are shaped by the distribution of power, money, and resources at local, global, and national levels (Social determinants, 2015). Many factors are considered when determining what affects the health of individuals as well as entire communities. Health is affected by environmental and circumstantial factors. It is largely influenced by income, education level, relationships with friends and family, the environment, state of residence, as well as genetics (Social determinants, 2015).…
REACTION PAPER- Unnatural Causes The documentary series “Unnatural causes In sickness and In wealth” explores how socio-economic conditions affect population health and how certain communities come together and work together to improve and extend their health and life expectancy. Throughout the series the common denominator remains that the amount of wealth a person has influences their level of health, overall wellness and level of stress in their everyday life. The higher a person is on the Hierarchy level, the more they earn and the less they worry about basic amenities.…
Health is not determined solely by people’s genes but is largely shaped by environmental and socioeconomic factors. In Health and in Wealth, the first episode in the documentary series Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick?, addresses the vast differences between US communities not only on a nationwide range but even at a local scale with a total shift across a single block. As Dr. Troutman notes, “There’s a cultural demarcation in the city where on one side of this particular street, Ninth Street, there’s a tremendous amount of new developments going on, condos rising up. And right across the street is where the public housing projects begin. Every city has a Ninth Street” (Unnatural Causes 2008).…
This understanding of social determinants of health will influence my work in public health in that while I am working with a community or population these are things I need to consider. This has definitely improved my understanding in that these social determinants of health can influence a person’s well-being and quality of life. This goes to show that not only does individual health behaviors affects their health, but social determinants can also have a tremendous impact on one’s health. This understanding of the social determinants of health has influenced my work in public health in that when am working with a community, I should be open-minded or nonjudgmental because everyone has different experiences even when they live in the same state or district. By understanding social determinants, this will allow me to learn about ways in which I can improve the different components of social determinants and health…
This report looks at how a person with a strong social network or good access to better schools and the impact this can have on the current and future health of a family or individual. This concept can be reinforced if the health profile of different geographical areas are compared. An area which is seen to be as a lower class of workforce, for example Dover, and an area with a higher social class such as Guildford. (public health profiles 2015) The two areas compared can help to show how there can be a connection between inequality and the effects on health.…
(2004). Poverty, Culture, and Social Injustice: Determinants of Cancer Disparities. CA: A Cancer Journal For Clinicians, 54(2), 72-77. http://dx.doi.org/10.3322/canjclin.54.2.72 Bigby, J., & Holmes, M. (2005).…
Student ID: 13817824 Unnatural Causes Reflection The seven episode documentary series presented by California Newsreel, Unnatural Causes, uses research along with human stories to describe the ever present social determinants of health that plague American society. This series moves through multiple determinants such as the social gradient, race, social exclusion, as well as many others to impress upon its viewers that our health is intimately associated with the environment (Alderman & Strain, 2008). Furthermore these episodes beg the questions, “What else needs to be done?” and “How has my social and physical environments affected my own health?”. This reflection will analyze my own health and community, assess which social determinates are contributing to the present disparities in my own life, as well as propose strategies to mitigate the effects of these determinants.…
There are associations between the materialistic/structural explanation and the cultural behavioural explanation. The cultural explanation suggests that the social distribution of poor health is linked to differences in individual behaviours and to different groups’ attitudes towards their health (Daykin, 2001). The Stroke Foundation of NZ (2010) suggests that people who are subject to a greater degree of disadvantage were estimated to have about a 60% increased risk of stroke when compared with those with the lowest level of disadvantage. Asthana and Halliday (2006) backs this statement up as it states that health-damaging behaviours are more prevalent among the poor than the socially advantaged. Additionally there are also behavioural factors…
Workers who are ill or injured are returned to work and therefore continue to make profits for the owners of capital. Marxist believes that inequalities in health are related to how productive people are. The low levels of expenditure on the working class is explained by the presence of social class division throughout society, whereby working class people consistently receive worse treatment across the range of services in housing, education and health (Moore, 2008,…
Dr. Adewalle Troutman promotes the aspects of responsibility and social determinants linked together, because there is only so much that can be controlled within your social status. You can be very responsible and hardworking, yet if the job you have doesn’t give you the means to take proper care of yourself you may end up stuck. For instance, if you’re in a rough neighborhood you cannot control the potential dangers, in turn increasing your stress and ultimately negatively impacting your health. In some cases, the laws and policies that determine the wellness of an individual are designed to work against certain groups within a community. Lack of insurance combined with poverty often results in the shortened life span of those individuals (Borst, 2010).…
“Where you stand in the economic ladder is a good predictor of health”. inequality makes us sick, but more importantly underlying causes of inequality make us sick. Reducing the health inequality is possible as it was done before. In the past, some social reforms such as universal education, eight-hour work policy, and better sanitization, helped to improve the health of people. However, during the 1980’s, the government changed the social policies, deregulated industry, reduced taxes for the wealthy.…
Health Inequality/Social Class Introduction Health inequality is when the health of two or more people is decided based on their socioeconomic situation. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, social class is “a division of a society based on social and economic status.” There are three types of social class. The first type of class is what sociologists refer to as the upper class.…
The health of citizens in the United States has fluctuated tremendously over the count of decades. Communities of wealth have maintained the opportunity to have a healthy lifestyle, whereas rural communities have not been fortunate enough to have that same opportunity to progress towards a healthy lifestyle. This is confirmed by Donald Barr, “those with lower levels of income tend to have lower health status than those of higher levels of income” (2014). Unfortunately, many people are given equality, but that cannot help their health as much as equity can. Equity is about looking at the individual needs of people and actually making it possible for people to receive full health.…
Introduction Australia is one of the countries in the world that is made up of different cultural groups with different cultural health determinants. Generally, the health of an individual begins from their homes, schools, neighborhoods, and workplaces with some similarities being evident while differences crop up at some point (Nagata,et al., 2013). The social determinants of health refers to those conditions in the environment that surrounds a given group of people that in a way affects the health of the people within a given setting. The conditions also affect the quality of life of these individuals as well as the general functioning of the society in question (Garg, Jack, & Zuckerman, 2013). The social determinants of health also refer…
5. Define and explain the significance of the social determinants of health. How is this connected to an understanding of social and health inequalities in Canadian society? How does this approach connect with environmental public health and your role as an environmental public health professional?…