Chapter 3: Social Determinants of Health
Katie Baker
Summary
In conclusion, there are many factors that go into a person’s health. Personal decisions, like whether to smoke or how often to exercise, are frequently considered but underlying these choices is the reality of social determinants of health such as pollution and access to healthy options, as well as cultural beliefs, racial identity and socioeconomic status.
Public health professionals work to minimize some of the negative effects of the above on health through prevention campaigns, such as free immunization clinics and educational outreach, as well as through the field of epidemiology.
For Mei and Chao in the introduction, close family connections and access to green spaces have a positive effect on their health. 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 friends might provide a strong support system or they might be all alone in a new city with their parents. All of 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 own life shaped by 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 Guadelupe at the beginning of the chapter, identify the social determinants of health that affect her life. What are some ways in which public health can affect the determinants that she experiences every day?
- Can you name a public health project that is an example of each type of intervention (primary intervention, secondary intervention and tertiary intervention)? Which type do you think reaches 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”, what is an example of how it fulfills its role? Explain your answer by discussing the positive or negative impacts of governmental funding on your chosen example, and how successful the public initiative was, and if any outside influences might be affecting that 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. What is an example of a common barrier to care that might be in place for individuals of a specific identity, and how would we as healthcare providers identify that barrier and remove it for our patients?
- Define what health means to you. How do you think your definition 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 would morbidity rates from a disease be important to track if they do not lead to death?
