Social Determinants of Health

What are they?
They are the social, economic and political situations that affect the health of individuals, communities and populations.
The World Health Organization (WHO) offers this definition of social determinants of health: “ The conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age.”

Why are they important?
Their importance arises from the fact that they impact the health of the individual in a serious way. As health is not just a result of genetic and biological processes.

Why do they arise?
They arise from the economic and social conditions we live in, and they are not linear or fixed; they are for example:
• Housing
• Health Education
• Employment
• Income
• Life style decisions
• Globalization
• Gender equity
• Health Systems
• Urbanization

How do the Social Determinants of Health impact individual health?
1- Social Determinants contribute to the health inequalities between social groups. This is because the effects of social determinants of health are not equally distributed across society.
2- They operate on different levels.
3- They are interconnected. For example, poverty is linked to poor housing, access to health services or diet, all of which are in turn linked to health.
4- They can influence health both directly and indirectly. For example, educational disadvantage can limit access to employment, raising the risk of poverty, and its adverse impact on health.

Emerging Strategies to Address Social Determinants of Health
A number of tools and strategies are emerging to address the social determinants of health, including:
• Use of Health Impact Assessments to review needed, proposed, and existing social policies for their likely impact on health.
• Application of a “health in all policies” strategy, which introduces improved health for all and the closing of health gaps as goals to be shared across all areas of government.