Determinants of Health – A practical approach! By Let’s Learn Public Health

help it’s the state of complete physical mental and social well-being not just the absence of disease or infirmity and good health is something we strive to achieve not just individually but also as a community but if we look around us our family friends and others we know that he’ll is very variable

for example in 2016 the life expectancy of a child born in Sierra Leone was 53 years while in Australia it was 83 years but even within Australia the life expectancy of indigenous people is about 10 years lower than that of non-indigenous people and even within a specific group of people Health can change based on a person’s income level of Education or occupation so why is health so variable to answer that question we must understand the factors that influence Health the factors that influence a person’s health are called determinants of Health these include who they are such as age sex and genetic makeup and what they do as in health behavior such as smoking physical activity alcohol use and diet health is also largely influenced by the conditions in which people are born grow live work

and they collectively called the social determinants of Health the social determinants of Health are shaped by the distribution of money power and resources and an international national and local level these can lead to health inequities which is the difference in health between different groups of people that is unfair and avoidable let’s take a look at the social determinants of Health using a framework developed by the World Health Organization according to this framework there are two broad groups of Health determinants structural and intermediary structural determinants are the socio-economic and political contacts that people live in it includes governance economic social and public policies and also the social and cultural values based on health issues these factors can lead to the unequal distribution of material and monetary resources which can shape a person’s socioeconomic position

socioeconomic position is characterized by education occupation income gender race or ethnicity and social class the structural determinants of Health operate through a set of intermediary determinants that impact a person’s exposure vulnerability and outcomes two factors affecting their health these include material circumstances such as the quality housing the financial means to buy healthy food clothing or other requirements for healthy living and working environment psychosocial factors like stressful living circumstances relationships and social support behavioral and biological factors in addition to these Health Systems determine the type of healthcare the quality of it and how easily accessible it is Bridging the structural an intermediary determinants are social cohesion and Social Capital the links between all these determinants are not always linear but can be complex

and interacting many different ways to influence hell for example for income can limited opportunities for achieving good health and conversely or health can limit opportunities for people to participate in the workforce and remember these determinants can act across the course of a person’s life

so the next time you think about a health issue consider not only who they are and what they do but also the conditions in which they are born grow live work and age because if we understand and act on them we can build a healthier world for everyone