Social determinants of health

Social determinants of health are the economic and social conditions under which people live which determine their health. Virtually all major diseases are primarily determined by a network of interacting exposures that increase or decrease the risk for the disease. This is particularly the case for cardiovascular disease and type II diabetes. And these conditions are a result of social, economic, and political forces.

Factors

Social determinants of health have been recognized by several health organizations such as the Public Health Agency of Canada and the World Health Organization to greatly influence collective and personal well-being. A list of determinants of health -- only some of which are social determinants -- compiled by the Public Health Agency of Canada is below:

1. Income and social status
2. Social support networks
3. Education and literacy, i.e. health literacy
4. Employment/Working conditions
5. Social environments
6. Physical environments
7. Personal health practices and coping skills
8. Healthy child development
9. Biology and genetic endowment
10. Health services
11. Gender
12. Culture

The term social determinants of health grew out of the search by researchers to identify the specific exposures by which members of different socio-economic groups come to experience varying degrees of health and illness. While it was well documented that individuals in various socio-economic groups experienced differing health outcomes, the specific factors and means by which these factors led to illness remained to be identified. Overviews of the concept, recent findings, and an analysis of emerging issues are available. All these formulation share a concern with factors beyond those of biomedical and behavioural risk.

The SDOH National Conference list (see Raphael, below) is unique in that it specifically focuses on the public policy environment (e.g., income and its distribution) rather than characteristics associated with individuals (e.g. income and social status). These 11 social determinants of health are:

1. Aboriginal status
2. early life
3. education
4. employment and working conditions
5. food security
6. gender
7. health care services
8. housing
9. income and its distribution
10. social safety net
11. social exclusion
12. unemployment and employment security.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_determinants_of_health