Social Determinants Of Health

2001 Words9 Pages
Health inequalities/disparities as said by Margaret Whitehead (1990, 106.107) that “health differences are not only unnecessary and avoidable but, in addition, are considered unfair and unjust”1. The complicated and overlapping structures in the society and economy are responsible for most of the health inequalities. These systems include the physical and social environment, health system and various societal elements. Among these, Social Determinants of Health (SDH) are identified to be the main cause of the health inequalities. Although SDH may not be the same as social determinants of health inequities but promoting/reshaping SDH policies may help to contribute in closing the health gap among different social groups, which might improve…show more content…
Examples include; access to resources to meet daily needs, such as education and job opportunities, income , healthy food; social norms and attitudes, such as discrimination, exposure to crime, including social support and interactions, with socioeconomic conditions, such as poverty. There are biological and genetic factors that affect specific populations more than others, which in turn result in various health outcomes that leads to health disparities and inequities. For example, older adults are biologically predisposed to poorer health than adolescents due to physical and cognitive effects of aging. Sickle cell disease is a common example. Other examples include: Age, Sex, HIV status, hereditary conditions like hemophilia, cystic fibrosis, family history of heart disease/diabetes…show more content…
Kunst and Mackenbach 8have argued that there are several indicators for socioeconomic position, and that the most important are occupational status, level of education and income level. Each indicator covers a different aspect of social stratification, and it is therefore preferable to use all three instead of only one. Socioeconomic position can be assessed at three complementary levels: individual, household, and neighborhood. Each level contribute to distributions of exposure and outcomes. Also, socioeconomic position can be measured at different aspects of the lifespan: e.g., infancy, childhood, adolescent, adult and these lifespans depends on exposures, pathways and etiology. Nowadays, it is also important take into gender, ethnicity and sexuality into consideration and categorized them as social stratifiers. Dahlgren and Whitehead’s
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