The World Health Organization defines social determinants of health as conditions or circumstances in which people are born, grow, live, work, and age. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the social determinants of health encompass the social conditions that influence the health of people and communities. There are different factors related to the outcomes of the health based one each individuals socioeconomic standpoint in life. These factors include money, power and resources (Center for Disease Control and Prevention). Many people may think that fitness level, diet, life experiences, education and time are factors in which determine a persons health, but it is much more than these things. he main determinants of health, according to the Government of Canada (2020), include:
1. Income and social status
2. Employment and working conditions
3. Education and literacy
4. Childhood experiences
5. Physical environments
6. Social supports and coping skills
7. Healthy behaviours
8. Access to health services
9. Biology and genetic endowment
10. Gender
11. Culture
12. Race / Racism
Specifically looking at income and social status as a factor in determining ones health, Wang and Geng (2019) found that higher incomes are usually associated with better occasions of being exposed to health risks. Similarly, higher incomes are usually associated with nutritional status, housing conditions, medical services, etc. In my opinion, health and equity should become a bigger issue for the government to be looking at in todays day and age.
As you can see in Figure 1 (Artiga & Hinton, 2020), there is a break down of many categories that determine health in society and the outcomes both positive and negative that come with these.
Resources
CSDH. Closing the Gap in a Generation: Health Equity Through Action on the Social Determinants of Health. Final Report of the Commission on Social Determinants of Health. Geneva: World Health Organization (2008).
Government of Canada. (2020, Oct 7). Social Determinants of Health and Health Inequalities.https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/health-promotion/population-health/what-determines-health.html
Samantha Artiga and Elizabeth Hinton Published: May 10, 2. (2019, July 09). Beyond Health Care: The Role of Social Determinants in Promoting Health and Health Equity. Retrieved from https://www.kff.org/racial-equity-and-health-policy/issue-brief/beyond-health-care-the-role-of-social-determinants-in-promoting-health-and-health-equity/
Wang, J., & Geng, L. (2019). Effects of Socioeconomic Status on Physical and Psychological Health: Lifestyle as a Mediator. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(2), 281. doi:10.3390/ijerph16020281
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