CMH 2000 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Unnatural Causes, Socioeconomic Status, Social Capital
Unnatural Causes
• We interact constantly with the world, that’s the way our biology happens
o We carry history in our body
• U.S. is at the bottom of the list in life expectancy of industrialized countries
• Is it because:
o There is a lack of health care
o Behavioral patterns
▪ Access to income, education, and the social determinants of health
• Social determinants of health trumps biology
o Social conditions and policies determine gets sicker and who dies sooner
• Huge inequalities in our society
o Our poor health is not inevitable
Health Determinants
• Health determinants simplify a complex web of factors that determines whether people and
communities
o Factors that determine whether people are health are interconnected
• Key Health Determinants
o Physical Environment
▪ Water
▪ Sanitation
▪ Air pollution
o Healthy Behaviors and Coping Skills
o Employment and Working Conditions
o Access to Health Services
o Individual
▪ Genetic make-up
▪ Sex
▪ Age
o Health Behaviors and Coping Skills
o Healthy Child Development
o Social Environment
▪ Socio-economic status
▪ Education
▪ Social capital
▪ Culture
▪ Gender norms
• Personal and inborn features of the individual, such as genetic make-up, sex, and age, are
basic factors that affect health
• People’s health behaviors and practices, including their coping skills also determines their
health
o What a person eats and drinks
o Smokes, drinks, drives unsafely
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