Influence Of Social Determinants On Health Outcomes

Influence Of Social Determinants On Health Outcomes

Introduction

Total emotional and physical well-being can be defined as health. Health is more than just not being sick; it is also about being mentally, physically, and emotionally well. Although health is essential, it varies significantly between people. In 2019, the life expectancy of a male child born in Tunisia was 53 years, while that of a male child born in Australia was 83 years. Even so, the life expectancy of an indigenous male child in Australia is ten years lower. These disparities in life expectancy are caused by factors such as these people’s age, genes, and gender. Other factors include what they do, such as smoking, drinking, physical activity, and diet.

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On the other hand, other factors include the environments in which people are born, grow, work, and age. These are referred to as the social determinants of health. According to research, they have a significant impact on people’s health. The social determinants of health and their impact on people’s health outcomes will be examined in this essay.

Health Social Determinants

The conditions under which people are born, grow, live, and age, as well as the connected factors that cause these conditions, such as social structure and the economic system, are referred to as social determinants. Socioeconomic status, education, the environment in which they are born and grow, the social support system, and access to health care are all social determinants of health. These social determinants significantly impact health, particularly among the most vulnerable populations. According to Kaiser Family Foundation research, in over 50 studies, social factors such as education, racial segregation, social support, and poverty account for more than one-third of total deaths in the United States each year. Thus, it is critical for healthcare PR practitioners, including nurses, doctors, and others, to consider social determinants of health when providing better and more comprehensive health care.

The accessibility of resources

The availability of resources to meet daily needs, such as education, proper shelter, and balanced and healthy food, are examples of socio-determinants of health. Health outcomes are heavily influenced by socioeconomic status. In the United Kingdom, for example, a lower-class person has a low life expectancy due to low wages, requiring them to receive good medical services. Mr. Ravish, for example, is a truck driver in England who moved there with his wife, five children, and parents. He is the sole breadwinner and must support her ailing mother. Fashion has been diagnosed with eye cancer, and his treatment will cost him $2,000 weekly. Bashir cannot afford this treatment because his insurance will not cover the entire cost; as a result, his condition worsens by the day. Fashion cannot be Vashir with MR.

Jacob, the CEO of a local company suffering from eye cancer, receives the same treatment without difficulty. This demonstrates that people in lower economic classes have a lower life expectancy than people in higher economic classes. People will also lack balanced and healthy food due to a lack of resources. Unhealthy food increases the likelihood of becoming ill, lowering life expectancy (Adeirola,2021p22). We, indeed are what we eat. In Tunisia, for example, a male newborn lives for 53 years; in Australia, a male newborn lives for 83 years. When you look at families in Tunisia, most of them cannot afford iron-rich foods, so many of their children suffer from eye problems and other food-related diseases; however, when you look at families in Australia, most of these families can afford such healthy foods as meat, so their life expectancy is higher. In addition, a good shelter has a significant impact on children’s health outcomes. A child born into a middle-class family in England lives longer than a child born into a middle-class family in Zambia. The difference is in the resources and environment in which a child grows. A child in England will have complete access to luxury items such as television, video games, monthly medical checkups, and expensive household items.

On the other hand, a child in Zambia will most likely have a television with numbered stations and two toys. Furthermore, the child may use cheaper products, and most will not seek medical attention. People in a low-income economic group in Zambia use tree branches as toothbrushes.

Criminality and violence

Exposure to crime, violence, and social disorder is another example of a social determinant of health. It is critical to public health in a state where people are exposed to crime and violence. People can be subjected to violence in various ways (Webster,2018p49). A person can directly experience violence or speak out about thefts and property crimes in their community or among other residents. Violent and corrupt experiences can result in premature death and fatal or non-fatal injuries. People subjected to violence may experience physical pain, suffering, and mental distress, resulting in a lower quality of life.

Furthermore, repeated acts of violence and crime can cause people to fear; as a result, they reduce physical activities such as exercising, resulting in poor physical and mental health. This hurts the health of people who live in violent neighborhoods. According to research, people who live in communities where they perceive themselves as unsafe have a higher BMI and a higher level of obesity due to reduced or no physical activity (Colabianchi,2020p789). Crime rates vary according to neighborhood characteristics. For example, people who live in low-income neighborhoods are more likely to be victims of crime than those who live in high-income neighborhoods. Children and adults are the most affected by violence because early exposure to crime and violence increases the risk of poor linguistic, behavioral, and mental health outcomes, whether they were directly involved or simply heard about crime in their community. Anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder are behavioral issues that can develop in such children. As they grow older, these children become more aggressive. Children exposed to violence for an extended period may develop these behavioral changes more intensely than those exposed to moderate violence (Hardesty2020p567).

A male child born in Syria, where constant wars have occurred, is a good example. This child’s health is at a higher risk than a child born in England, where there is political stability and no wars. The consequences of childhood exposure can follow them into adulthood, where they may engage in substance abuse, risky sexual behavior, and risky driving. A person’s exposure to violence at any age can also lead to intimate partner violence. As a result, women who have experienced intimate partner violence are more likely to suffer from physical issues such as injuries. They may suffer from mental illnesses such as poor eating habits, depression, and suicidal ideation. It is evident that exposure to violence and crime has short-term and long-term health consequences for a community; thus, addressing it as a public issue is critical. There is also a need for more research into what works to reduce the effects of crime and violence on health outcomes.

Discrimination and other social norms and attitudes

Social norms and attitudes determine people’s lifestyles. Smoking, drinking alcohol, and exercising are all social norms. Social norms are unwritten rules of behavior that society follows. In Western culture, for example, it is customary to form a line in front of a store before it opens or to say “Bless you” when you sneeze. Norms provide us with guidelines for how we should act. Social norms and attitudes heavily influence people’s health. A person who is used to smoking and drinking alcohol, for example, is at a higher risk of developing cardiac disease and type 2 diabetes than someone who does not drink or smoke. Due to these destructive norms, alcohol and other drug use can cause mental distress, such as addiction, and emotional problems, such as a family fracture.

Furthermore, a person who is required to engage in physical activities is less likely to experience physical or mental distress than one who is not required to engage in physical activities. Not to mention that a lack of physical activity leads to obesity and being overweight. People’s health outcomes are also influenced by their attitudes. An attitude such as it is common for a family to be overweight and thus one cannot do anything about it can hurt one’s health. People in Subsaharan Africa, such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, have a terrible attitude toward hospitals; as a result, pregnant women are at a higher risk of dying when giving birth, not to mention the child. People should focus on healthy social norms and attitudes to improve health outcomes.

Social interaction and support

Social support is the perception and reality that one is cared for, can seek help from others, and has a supportive social network (Forte,2018, p14). Support can be tangible or intangible companionship or emotional or informational support. Social support and the network have a huge impact, particularly on people’s physiological health outcomes. Social support is essential for good psychological health and strong relationships. In other words, social support is the availability of a network of friends and family to whom one can turn in in times of need. Social support assists people in dealing with mental distress, such as stress and depression, and encourages them to continue. When dealing with a personal crisis, physiologists and other mental health experts advocate for a strong family and friends support network. According to research, social support has been linked to various other aspects of health and well-being. Poor social support has been linked to depression and loneliness, altering the brain’s normal function (Lane2019p990). People with a faulty support system are likelier to engage in risky behaviors such as alcohol abuse, suicidal thoughts, cardiovascular disease, and depression. A study conducted in the United Kingdom found that middle-aged men with robust support systems and networks are less likely to die than those without. Friends and relatives, for example, can be helped by assisting them in performing tasks when they are ill, advising friends under challenging situations, and providing care, love, and empathy to their loved ones when they require it. Social support and networks assist people in making healthy choices and behaviors, such as eating healthy, coping with stress, and improving motivation.

High-quality education and transportation options

Education directly predicts life outcomes like employment, social status, attitude, and well-being. Most people use education to shape their social identities and to frame their relationships with others (Amlôt,2019, p660). Positive outcomes such as increased well-being and good health are associated with a positive social identity. However, in today’s world, there is an emphasis on education, making it difficult for people with low education levels to develop a positive social identity, affecting their health, particularly their self-esteem. According to a British household survey, higher education is associated with a wide range of positive outcomes, including health, well-being, higher social trust, greater political interest, and less hostile attitudes toward immigration (Cislaghi,2017p987).

Furthermore, children born to parents who have not completed high school are likelier to grow up in environments with inadequate health care. Transportation has a wide range of effects on health. For example, people who live in walkable and bikeable communities are healthier than those who are always in their cars. This is because such people exercise and have lower rates of weight gain, traffic injuries, and exposure to air pollution. Every year, 3.6 million people do not receive medical care due to transportation issues, according to a study conducted in the United Kingdom. These transportation issues include a lack of vehicle access, poor infrastructure, and a long distance and time to reach health care. These transportation issues have an impact on both rural and urban communities. These issues can lead to missed or delayed healthcare appointments and adverse health outcomes. It is critical to develop affordable transportation and other healthy options that can positively and beneficially impact.

Workplace, school, and recreational facilities

They increase their chances of having adverse health outcomes when working in an unsafe environment—for example, a bank manager in Uganda and a gold mine in the same country. Compared to the bank manager, the gold miner is more likely to sustain physical injuries while on the job. When the mines collapse, the gold miner is at risk of dying. Work-related issues, such as job dissatisfaction, workplace injury, stress, discrimination, and accidental deaths, can also lead to physical and mental health issues (Mezeh,2021p57). In Australia, workers have positive health workers because the cost of compensation for workers who suffer from stress-related conditions at work is very high (Oldenburg 2019 p580). Workplace stress includes long hours, a heavy workload, job insecurity, and coworker conflicts. As a result, people must consider their work-life balance. Work without play, as the saying goes, makes Jack a dull boy; participating in recreational activities significantly impacts a person’s physical health. In general, hiking, skiing, skating, and other outdoor recreational activities help one maintain a lower body fat percentage, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels. Lafortezza (2018), p455. Furthermore, recreational activities strengthen one’s social network and improve mental and emotional health.

Conclusion

The social determinants of health are the circumstances under which people are born, grow, live, and die. Social determinants significantly impact people’s health and contribute to the disparity in life expectancy. Discrimination, education, transportation, income, crime and violence, and the general physical environment are all social determinants of health.

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References

De Cieri, H., Shea, T., Cooper, B. et al.Oldenburg, B., 2019. Effects of work‐related stressors and mindfulness on mental and physical health among Australian nurses and healthcare workers. Journal of nursing scholarship, 51(5), pp.580-589.

Decker, M.R., Wilcox, H.C., Holliday, C.N. et al. Webster, D.W., 2018. An integrated public health approach to interpersonal violence and suicide prevention and response. Public Health Reports, 133(1_suppl), pp.65S-79S

Drury, J., Carter, H., Cocking, C., Ntontis, E., Tekin Guven, S. et al. Amlôt, R., 2019. Facilitating collective psychosocial resilience in public emergencies: Twelve recommendations based on the social identity approach. Frontiers in public health, 7, p.141.

Fischer, L.K., Honold, J., Botzat, A., Brinkmeyer, D., Cvejić, R., Delshammar, T., Elands, B., Haase, D., Kabisch, N., Karle, S.J. et al. Lafortezza, R., 2018. Recreational ecosystem services in European cities: Sociocultural and geographical contexts matter for park use. Ecosystem services, 31, pp.455-467.

Kim, Y., Landgraf, A. et al. Colabianchi, N., 2020. Living in High-SES Neighborhoods Is Protective against Obesity among Higher-Income Children but Not Low-Income Children: Results from the Healthy Communities Study. Journal of Urban Health, 97(2), pp.175-190.

Smith, R., Weihs, K.L., Alkozei, A., Killgore, W.D. et al. Lane, R.D., 2019. An embodied neurocomputational framework for organically integrating biopsychosocial processes: An application to the role of social support in health and disease. Psychosomatic Medicine, 81(2), pp.125-145.

Tamunomiebi, M.D. et al. Mezeh, A.A., 2021. Workplace Stressors and Employee Performance: A Conceptual Review. Asian Journal of Economics, Business, and Accounting, pp.57-66.

Vaitla, B., Taylor, A., Van Horn, J., et al. Cislaghi, B., 2017. Social Norms and Girls’ Well-Being– Integrating Theory, Practice, and Research.

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For this Discussion, you will explore the assessment of Social Determinants of Health. You will develop interview questions and techniques that will facilitate a full assessment of your patients. You will explore available instruments to complete a full assessment of an individual’s Social Determinants of Health.

Influence Of Social Determinants On Health Outcomes

  SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH AMONG THE FEMALE POPULATION

To prepare:

• How would your communication and interview techniques for building a health history differ with each patient?
• How might you target your questions for building a health history based on the patient’s social determinants of health?
• What risk assessment instruments would be appropriate for each patient, or what questions would you ask each patient to assess their health risks?
• Identify any potential health-related risks based on the patient’s age, gender, ethnicity, or environmental setting that should be considered.
• Select one of the risk assessment instruments presented in Chapter 1 or Chapter 5 of Seidel’s Guide to Physical Examination text or another tool with which you are familiar, related to your selected patient.
• Develop at least five targeted questions you would ask your selected patient to assess her health risks and begin building a health history.

Post a summary of the interview and a description of the communication techniques you would use with your assigned patient. Explain why you would use these techniques. Identify the risk assessment instrument you selected and justify why it would apply to the selected patient. Provide at least five targeted questions you would ask the patient. Identify and discuss at least one online, national, or local resource for your at-risk client.