Web of Causation: Global Health Disparities
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention define health disparities as “preventable differences in the burden of disease, injury, violence or opportunities to achieve optimal health that are experienced by socially disadvantaged populations” (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2015). These disparities affect people and communities worldwide, both positively and negatively. A web of causation is used to illustrate how these factors contribute to one another and to health disparities worldwide.
Description of Web
Health Issues Major health issues that contribute to global health disparities cross borders and communities, affecting every individual. These issues include communicable
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There are many relationships within these social determinates of health, most being reciprocal. The culture in a certain community or population determine if someone will have the choice or access to a quality education, which in turn determines one’s socioeconomic status, income, and institutional inequities. Specifically, if a person grows up in a family where education is seen as a priority then they have an increased probability of obtaining a job, therefore positively affecting their income and status. This could also work in a negative path as well depending on someone’s culture. Social determinates of health also have positive and negative relationships with environmental factors and individual determinates of health. Culture is dependent on geographical location. There are many cultures around the world, that vary from country to country, and even state to state. Culture also has a relationship with behavior choices, which can be seen as positive and negative. An example of this would be female genital mutilation. This negative health risk and decision is embedded within the culture of many different countries around the …show more content…
Access to health care impacts behavior choices. If an individual has to travel a long distance to receive medical care they could be less likely to seek said care. Geographic location can be linked to many health issues, such as pollution and diseases. If an area has a warm and wet climate, they probably have more mosquitos leading to a high prevalence in malaria cases.
Individual Determinants Individual determinants are those that are personally or biologically acquired. They include gender, race/ethnicity, relationships, age, sexual orientation, and behavior choices. As seen before, many of these factors can be intertwined with one another. One’s behavior choices are often correlated with their gender, relationships, and age. Health issues, environmental factors, and social determinates have a causal relationship with individual determinates. For instance, age depends on what type of education that person may seek and
According to the World Health Organisation (2017) the social determinants of health are defined as the conditions where people are born, grown, work and live, which also includes the health system. The social determinants of health determined populations health’s outcomes and therefore linked with health inequalities (WHO, 2017)
Social determinants of health (SDOH) are increasingly becoming a major problem of Public Health around the World. The impact of resources and material deprivation among people and populations has resulted in an increase in mortality rate on a planetary scale. Social determinants of health are defined as the personal, social, economic and the environmental conditions which determines the health status of an individual or population (Gardner, 2013). Today’s society is characterized by inequalities in health, education, income and many other factors which as a result is becoming a burden for Public Health around the world. Research studies have shown that the conditions in which people live and work strongly influenced their health. Individuals with high levels of education and fall within the high income bracket turn to have stable jobs, live in the best neighborhood and have access to quality health care system than individuals who have low education and fall with the low income bracket. This paper is to explain different social determinants of health and how they play ...
Health Disparities and Racism is an ongoing problem that is reflected among society. Health is when an individual is physically, mentally and social well being is complete. However health disparities seems to be a social injustice within various ethnicities. Health disparities range from age, race, income, education and many other things. Even though we realize health disparities are more noticeable depending on the region of country where they live in. Racism is one of the most popular factors, for why it’s known that people struggle with health.
Germov (2015: 87-93) states that the most common explanations of health inequality can be grouped into five main categories. These five categories are artifact explanations, natural/social selection explanation, cultural/behavioral explanation, materialist/structural explanations, and psycho-social/social capital explanation of the social gradient of health. Basically, health inequality has to do with what your status is as an individual, cultural, economic, as well as education level. In the textbook, Germov (2015: 516) defines the term social gradient of health “as a continuum of health inequality in most countries from high to low.” Meaning the poorest group has the worst health status, while each group above the poorest has a better health status. An example of this injustice would be the indigenous
When we consider the education of our children in the United States, we must consider their health as a significant issue as it can positively or negatively impact a student’s education. It has generally been acknowledged that there is a great disparity in our country in the area of health care. Healthy People2010, a published report put out by the Health and Human Services Division of the Unites States Government (2000) has included as part of its Goals for 2010, to eliminate health disparities among different segments of the population. According to this report, health differences occur depending on a persons gender, race or ethnicity, education or income, disability, rural locality, or sexual orientation. In this paper, I will mostly concentrate on racial and ethnic differences as well as socioeconomic differences. According to the Healthy People 2010 report, biological and genetic differences do not explain the health disparities experienced by non-White populations in the United States. Besides "complex interaction among genetic variations, environmental factors, and specific health behaviors," Health and Human Services says, "inequalities in income and education underlie many health disparities in the United States." Also, "population groups that suffer the worst health status are also those that have the highest poverty rates and least education." Health, United States (1998) reported that each increase of income or education increased the likelihood of being in good health. According to this report, those with less education tend to die younger than those with more education for all major causes of death including chronic diseases, communicable diseases and injuries. There are several factors that account for differences between socioeconomic and racial and ethnic groups. These factors include a lower sedentary life style, cigarette smoking and less likely to have health insurance coverage or receive preventive care among these groups.
"Eliminating Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health." Public Health Reports. July/August 1998: 372 EBSCOhost. Available <http://www.epnet.com/ehost/login.html>. (11 February 1999)
Social determinants of health have attracted the attention of governments, policy makers and international health organisations over the last three decades (Hankivsky & Christoffersen 2008). This is because social conditions which people are born in, live and work play an important role in their health outcomes (WHO 2015). According to Kibesh (1200) social determinants drive health disparities, disrupts the human developmental process and undermine the quality of life and opportunities for people and families (ref). Thus, several theories have been developed over the years to provide in-depth understanding of the social determinants of health and to reduce health inequalities (Hankivsky & Christoffersen, 2008). However, there is still significant
Williams, D. R., & Jackson, P. B. (2005). Social sources of racial disparities in health. Health Affairs, 24(2), 325-334. doi:10.1377/hlthaff.24.2.325
Wilkinson, R.G. & Marmot, M.G. 2003, Social determinants of health: the solid facts, World Health Organization.
Social determinants of health has been a large topic for many years and can have a positive and negative effect on individuals, families and communities. (World Health Organisation, 2009) The social determinants of health are the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age, including the health system. These circumstances are shaped by the distribution of money, power and resources at global, national and local levels, which are themselves influenced by policy choices. Social determinants have many factors and in this essay education will be the main social determinant of health discussed and how this could have an impact on the physical and mental sides of health.
Socioeconomic Disparities and health are growing at a rapid rate throughout the United States of America. To further understand the meaning of Socioeconomic Disparities, Health and Socioeconomic disparities & health, this essay will assist in providing evidence. Disparities can be defined in many ways, of which include ethnic and racial background and class types that deal with it the most. Due to the low income some individuals receive, they have less access to health care and are at risk for major health issues. Although, ethnicity and socioeconomic status should not determine the level of health care one should receive or whether not the individual receives healthcare.
Social Determinants of health is the “conditions in which people are born, live, work and age that affect their health” Healthypeople.gov. (2017). Social Determinants of Health | Healthy People 2020. [online] Available at: https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/social-determinants-of-health [Accessed 22 Sep. 2017]. The determinants of health are important because it helps create policies to make changes, as well as improving public health conditions by addressing the different health outcomes an individual can face and improving the need for healthier conditions. Healthy People 2020 organizes the determinants of health in both a social and physical determinant which has an impact on health.
First of all, there are many issues which influence the ethnic inequalities in health whi...
The social determinants of health are the collective prepare of conditions in which people are born, grow up, live and work. These include housing, education, financial ease, and the built surrounding as well as the health system.
This report is based on the major and specific global health problems in the world. Global health refers to the health of all people in the world which concerns about the health issues that go beyond the borders of each country due to the globalization ( Dyar & Costa, 2013). As well as health issues are referred to the health problems created due to this globalization.