The Effects Of Social Determinants On Human Health

The social determinants of health strongly influence the shape of human health in the world today, presenting challenges and complications for government, communities and individuals. Health is conditioned predominately by the distribution of power money and resources at global, nationals and local levels (National Rural Health Alliance Inc. 2017) Social determinants arise as a reflection of general socio-economic status, culture and environmental conditions. There is a strong relationship between health and wealth. The impacts of equity and social change, and the correlation to place and space provides insight into the way in which social determinants affect global health. This essay will discuss the effects of living in isolated and rural

Awareness of the social determinants first arose in the work of social scientist and philosopher, Frederick Engel’s in “Conditions of the working class in England,” written more than 150 years ago (Rosenthal 2008). Originally indicated by WHO, in 2003, social determinants may include the social gradient, stress, social exclusion, work, unemployment, social support, addiction, food and transportation. More recently, the effects of the social determinants have been outlined by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as a result of a “Toxic combination of poor social policies, unfair economic arrangements and bad politics (2008).” As research develops, WHO seek to improve the daily conditions of life whilst considering the circumstances in which people are born, grow, work, live and age, as well as manage the inequitable distribution of resources; power and

Many indigenous and Australian’s living rurally, have lower levels of access to real jobs and a greater reliance on social security. Moreover, the biomedical determinants of health can vary substantially between urban and regional areas. For example, young children in some regional and remote communities have high rates of skin infections as well as high rates of rheumatic fever, dental caries and abuse. These effects can transition to adversely effect health and eventually result in higher rates of chronic disease and poorer quality of life (National Rural Health Alliance Inc. 2017). Although, there is an inference that poorer health outcomes in rural and remote Australia has little to do with rurality and much more to do with lower socio-economic status of people in isolated areas. Employment and career opportunities, and consequently education in regional rural and remote places are restricted precisely because of the nature of towns and communities in such areas (National Rural Health Alliance Inc.