HE301 Chapter Notes -Social Safety Net, Cardiovascular Disease, Food Security
Document Summary
Social determinants of health are the economic and social conditions that shape health. Determine extent to which a person possesses the physical, social, and personal resources to identify and achieve personal aspirations, satisfy needs, and cope with the environment. Social determinants of health are about the quantity and quality of a variety of resources that a society makes available to its members: e. g. childhood conditions, income, availability/quality of education, food, housing, employment, working conditions, healthy/social services. Requires attention to economic and social policies to improve health: also political, economic, and social forces that shape policy decisions. Surveys: canadians don"t know important role of living conditions on determining health. Mass media reinforces behavioral causes by reporting studies of how how a gene or behavior (e. g. drinking coffee, drinking wine, sleeping certain amounts, too much tv) prevents/causes medical condition. A historical perspective on the social determinants of health. Engels, virchow in 1800"s studied living conditions and disease.
