3.4 Chapter Conclusion
Katie Baker
Summary
In conclusion, a person’s health is influenced by a wide range of factors. While personal decisions, such as whether to smoke or how often to exercise, are frequently emphasized, these decisions are influenced by the social determinants of health, such as pollution, access to healthy food options, cultural beliefs, racial identity, and socioeconomic status.
Public health professionals work to minimize the negative effects of these factors through prevention programs, such as free immunization clinics, educational outreach, and epidemiological research.
For people like Mei and Chao from the introduction to this chapter, health is influenced by a combination of positive and negative influences. Close family connections and access to green spaces have a positive effect on their health, while living in the city with increased exposure to environmental pollution has a negative one. They may benefit from an excellent education system or suffer from an underfunded one. Their extended family or church community might provide a strong support system or they might feel isolated in a new city with their parents. These social determinants of health, among others, will have a profound effect on their physical, emotional, and spiritual health as they grow.
Review Questions
- In what ways is your life shaped by the social determinants of health? Can you think of two or three ways each social determinant has had a positive or negative impact on your physical, emotional, or mental health?
- Returning to the story of Cleo from earlier in this chapter, identify the social determinants of health that affect her life. What are some ways in which public health affects the social determinants of health that she experiences every day?
- Name a public health project that is an example of each type of intervention (primary, secondary, and tertiary)? Which type do you think affects more people and has a bigger impact, and why?
- If public health’s role is to “protect and improve the health of people and their communities,” can you provide an example of how it fulfills this role? Explain your answer by discussing the positive and negative impacts of governmental funding on your chosen example. How successful is the public initiative, and are there any outside influences that might affect its success?
- Which of the following is not a social determinant of health?
- You have a family history of heart disease and therefore have an increased risk of heart attack.
- You are a practicing Hindu and maintain a plant-based diet due to your religious beliefs.
- You have recently lost your job and are currently looking for work.
- You just moved into a new apartment in a part of town that has no sidewalks or buses close by.
- An individual’s identity can greatly affect the care they receive. Can you provide an example of a common barrier to care faced by individuals of a specific identity? How can we as healthcare providers identify this barrier and remove it for our patients?
- Define what health means to you. How do you think your understanding of health is shaped by those around you?
- List the top three things that affect your health the most. Explain why these items either positively or negatively affect your health and how they are affected by environmental or personal factors.
- Identify three ways that healthcare is impacted by an individual’s culture.
- Why is it important to track morbidity rates from a disease, even if they do not lead to death?
