social determinants of health

Examples of social determinants of health in the following topics:

• Social Epidemiology and Health

  • Social epidemiology studies the social distribution and social determinants of health.
  • Epidemiology is the study (or the science of the study) of the patterns, causes, and effects of health and disease conditions in defined populations.
  • Social epidemiology is defined as "the branch of epidemiology that studies the social distribution and social determinants of health"; or in other words, "both specific features of, and pathways by which, societal conditions affect health" (Krieger, 2001).
  • The roots of social epidemiology go back Emile Durkheim's work on suicide .
  • However, these fields often use health and disease in order to explain specifically social phenomenon (such as the growth of lay health advocacy movements), while social epidemiologists generally use social concepts in order to explain patterns of health in the population.

• Physical Health

  • While gender and race play significant roles in explaining healthcare inequality in the United States, socioeconomic status (SES) is the greatest social determinant of an individual's health outcome.
  • Social determinants of health are the economic and social conditions that influence individual and group differences in health status.
  • Social determinants are environmental, meaning that they are risk factors found in one's living and working conditions (including the distribution of income, wealth, influence, and power), rather than individual factors (such as behavioral risk factors or genetics).
  • Social determinants can be used to predict one's risk of contracting a disease or sustaining an injury, and can also indicate how vulnerable one is to the consequences of a disease or injury.
  • Health inequality refers to the unequal distribution of environmental health hazards and access to health services between demographic groups, including social classes.

• Social Class and Health

  • Social class has a significant impact on one's physical health, ability to receive adequate medical care and nutrition, and life expectancy.
  • They are unable to use health care as often, and when they do it is of lower quality, even though they generally tend to experience a much higher rate of health issues.
  • Social determinants of health are the economic and social conditions, and their distribution among the population, that influence individual and group differences in health status.
  • According to some viewpoints, these distributions of social determinants are shaped by public policies that reflect the influence of prevailing political ideologies of those governing a jurisdiction.
  • Discuss the role social class plays in access to adequate health care and health inequality

• Social Class

  • Social class has a significant impact on one's physical health, ability to receive adequate medical care, and life expectancy.
  • Social class position, thus, affects one's access to good public health and better living environments.
  • Social determinants of health are the economic and social conditions, and their distribution among the population, that influence individual and group differences in health status.
  • According to some viewpoints, these distributions of social determinants are shaped by public policies that reflect the influence of prevailing political ideologies of those governing a jurisdiction.
  • Identify the various ways social class plays a role in access to and quality of health care

• Public Health

  • Modern public health is often concerned with addressing determinants of health across a population.
  • There is recognition that our health is affected by many factors including where we live, genetics, income, education and social relationships - these are known as the social determinants of health.
  • A social gradient in health runs through society, with those who are poorest generally suffering poor health.
  • However even those in the middle classes will generally have poorer health than those of a higher social stratum.
  • The public health system in India is managed by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare of the government of India with state owned health care facilities.

• The Biopsychosocial Model of Health and Illness

  • The biopsychosocial model states that health and illness are determined by a dynamic interaction between biological, psychological, and social factors.
  • Engel that states that interactions between biological, psychological, and social factors determine the cause, manifestation, and outcome of wellness and disease.
  • The biopsychosocial model argues that any one factor is not sufficient; it is the interplay between people's genetic makeup (biology), mental health and behavior (psychology), and sociocultural environment (social world) that determine the course of their health-related outcomes.
  • The theory posits that each one of these factors is not sufficient to bring about health or illness, but the interaction between them is what determines outcomes.
  • This diagram shows how biological, psychological, and sociological factors overlap to determine overall health.

• Mental Health

  • Mental health is a socially constructed and socially defined concept; different societies, groups, cultures, institutions, and professions have very different ways of conceptualizing its nature and causes, determining what is mentally healthy, and deciding what interventions are appropriate.
  • Members of different social classes often hold different views on mental health.
  • Similarly, different social classes have different levels of access to mental health interventions and to information about mental health.
  • Since 1837, many of those disorders have been erased from medical textbooks or modified in light of changing social norms.
  • Define mental health and explain why it is regarded as a socially constructed concept

• Education and Health

  • Health literacy is of continued and increasing concern for health professionals, as it is a primary factor behind health disparities.
  • There are many factors that determine the health literacy level of health education materials or other health interventions.
  • Due to the increasing influence of the internet for information-seeking and health information distribution purposes, eHealth literacy has become an important topic of research in recent years.
  • The eHealth literacy model is also referred to as the Lily model, which incorporates the following literacies, each of which are instrumental to the overall understanding and measurement of eHealth literacy: basic literacy, computer literacy, information literacy, media literacy, science literacy, health literacy.
  • Demonstrate the impact of health literacy on access to and understanding of health care issues, especially for certain social groups

• Global Health

  • Global health is the health of populations in a global context and transcends the perspectives and concerns of individual nations.
  • Global health is the health of populations in a global context and transcends the perspectives and concerns of individual nations.
  • The application of these principles to the domain of mental health is called global mental health.
  • Global health is a research field at the intersection of medical and social science disciplines, such as demography, economics, epidemiology, political economy, and sociology.
  • Through these different disciplinary perspectives, it focuses on determinants and the distribution of health in international contexts.

• Introducing Health Psychology

  • The field of health psychology includes two sub-fields.
  • The biopsychosocial model views health and illness behaviors as products of biological characteristics (such as genes), behavioral factors (such as lifestyle, stress, and health beliefs), and social conditions (such as cultural influences, family relationships, and social support).
  • Health psychology addresses individual and population-level issues across four domains: clinical, public, community, and critical (social justice).
  • Critical health psychology prioritizes social justice and the universal right to good health for people of all races, genders, ages, and socioeconomic positions.
  • Define the focus and goals of the field of health psychology