Determinants of Health Essay

1. Discuss economic, political, and social structures as determinants of health. Each of these concepts should be addressed in your response.

Determinants of Health

Economic, Political, and Social structures as determinants of health

Determinants of health refer to a variety of ecological, political, cultural economic, personal, and social factors that determine the health status of populations of individuals. The political structure is a determinant of health because the majority of the determinants of health depend on the action of international, national, and local laws and legislation. According to Slusser et al. (2018), policies at the federal, state, and local levels influence population and individual health. Political health promotion entails the development and sustenance of an environment conducive to the adoption and maintenance of a healthy personal lifestyle. For example, government policies such as increasing taxation of alcohol and tobacco can improve population health by lessening the rate of consumption of alcoholic and tobacco products among individuals. Determinants of Health Essay

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The social structure reflects the social factors as well as the environmental conditions in which individuals are born, live, brought up, age, work as well as the systems that influence a variety of quality of life, functioning, and health outcomes and risks.  Social determinants include social attitudes and norms, such as discrimination; availability or accessibility of resources to meet everyday needs, such as educational and employment opportunities, healthy foods, or living wages;  social interactions and social support; residential segregation, transportation options; and socioeconomic conditions like concentrated poverty. Individuals at the bottom of the social ladder have a high risk of serious diseases and premature deaths (Nathial, 2020).

The economic circumstances into which an individual is born or grow essentially shape health all through their health.  Poor economic circumstances influence health throughout life.  People with different levels of education, income, and occupation have very different access to physical activity opportunities, healthy food, and medical care.  According to Nathial (2020),   limited economic resources/ finances contribute to limited or lack of access to health services which have significant impacts on the health status of an individual. For instance, when people lack health insurance,   there is a high likelihood that they will delay medical treatments and a less likelihood of them participating in preventive care. Determinants of Health Essay

References

Nathial, M. S.  (2020). High Education and Environmental Studies.  Friends Publications.

Slusser, M., Garcia, L. I., Reed, C., & McGinnis, P. Q. (2018). Foundations of Interprofessional  Collaborative Practice in Health Care –E-Book. Elsevier. Determinants of Health Essay