Social causation of disease is described as the origin of illness that results from social environment, social interactions, or social factors. On the other hand, biological factors are not the only cause of disease as social causation and presume that social factors such as socioeconomic status (SES), religion, and social networks have an effect on the severity of illness and mortality. The idea that social interaction and culture play a major role in the causation of disease has been present in social thought since the discussion of the interaction between politics and mortality. Social causes of disease can be divided into fundamental causes and proximate lifestyle causes ( Link & Phelan, 1995). Nevertheless, causes of illness can directly
I attended the event titled Unnatural Causes Bad Sugar on Thursday, October 22 from 6 to 7 p.m. The event centered on the ways in which many factors influence people’s lives and significantly impact health. The first part of the event centered on watching a short video that focused on the damage to health that Native American tribes faced after they lost their water. There was a large increase in the amount of Native Americans who got diabetes and who were dying. It was thought that biology and genes were one of the main causes behind the increase in diabetes, but in reality there were many other factors. Geographic location, social and economic class status, and income level has an impact on a person’s health.
The lecture, led by Dr. Christian Dimaano, discussed a variety of health disparities and then went into an in depth look at Henrietta Lacks, and the use of her cells in scientific research. He described health disparities as the differences of health problems between races, lifestyles, and mental processes. This was a very interesting topic for me, as a nursing major, I hadn’t really thought about health disparities before, so it was interesting to think about all of the potentially higher health risks that can occur simply because a patients race, or mental state. He also discussed the social determinants of heath and how things like your physical environment, economic stability, social community, and education can all influence your health. Dr. Dimaano also talked about how social determinants of health are health problems that you had no choice in, they are developed by factors such as sex, age, genes, medical care, and individual behaviors such as work and home life.
Beginning with a quote like “What kills people changes over time, but who is likely to die remains the same” is a mentors eye opener. No one wants to die. So we start to struggle and think of all these factors that can lead to illness. There is smoking, money, race, gender, if one received prenatal care, martial status, family structure, and socioeconomic status. The list goes on!
According to Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report (2011), annually, teen pregnancy cost taxpayers about $6 billion in lost tax proceed and almost $3 billion in community expense. It noted that in spite of declines in teen pregnancy in the United States since 1991, substantial racial and ethnic inequalities still occur. Viner et al. , (2012) identified social determinants of health in a population as those factors or conditions of people’s birth, place of residence, and source of livelihood. Their work recognized four social determinants of health which may impact teen pregnancy as 1) income 2) education 3) social support network and 4) living environment.
It shows that as we move from social class 1 to social class V, there is increased risk of variety of diseases like cancer, respiratory, heart, strokes etc. and also the chance of accidents and suicides also increase in the lower classes (Waterson, 2003). It states that poor men and women are more likely to die than rich ones. Thus mortality is also proportional to the social class that an individual belongs to. Socioeconomic inequalities in health typically take the form of a ‘social gradient’, in which those in higher socioeconomic groups have better health and longer life expectancy than the groups below them (Scambler, 2008).
The human is described as a social being, like all mammals and birds. In the sense that it interacted permanently with members of his sex to form complex social relations, resulting in a hierarchy or social structure, leading to the overall form of the system known as the community. This social interaction is not only important to the formation of society, it is also a necessary human need to maintain mental and physical health. The decrease of social interaction, through social isolation or loneliness, leads to negative physical and psychological health consequences, Early. This fact has recently been confirmed by the results of a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, conducted by scientists at the Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care at the University College London.
Social Determinants of Health Shelly Clavis Rutgers University School of Nursing Social Determinants of Health Defined Health concerns is an issue that most organizations have formed a pact to safely deal with the challenge. The main agenda focuses on the eradication of health inequalities that may exist in most countries. It is best suited that social determinants are accorded the much-needed attention since they affect a number of people. In assessing the factors that affect one’s health, genetic disposition, personal behaviors, ability to obtain healthcare and the overall environment in which an individual resides are to be considered. Social determinants of Health are issues that deals with the conditions that people have found constructed in a society and acts as a parcel in their lives, such as; growth, age and some of the more complex systems that construct a society which include economic policies and their systems that include social norms, development goals and the basic political system that they are indulged under (World Health Organization, 2008).
In P5 of my work I am going to outline and discuss the strategies and procedures used in health and social care to reduce the risk of abuse. The aim of the independent safeguarding Authority (ISA) was established under the Safeguarding Groups Act 2006 to protect children and vulnerable adult to those who might abuse them. The strategy in order to achieve this is through mentoring people who seek access through their work, paid, unpaid and voluntary. As they have to be registered under the vetting and barring scheme and will be checked against one of two barred list. Reference can be defined as being information that is written by a pervious employer that tells the workplace what type of person the individual is and if their experience is valid and if they have the experience to work with vulnerable adult.
How does social class affect people’s lives? Social class groups individual persons into class hierarchy which is determined by person’s income, education, wealth, social connection, and job profession. Social class classifies people into spectrum of class such as lower class, lower middle class, middle class, upper middle class, and upper class. Depending on which class an individual falls in affects earnings, education, respect, success, status, family life, health, job occupation, and social connection. An individual that lies in higher part of class spectrum gets more opportunities and has better lives than an individual that lies in lower part of class spectrum that does not get opportunities and struggles in lives.
These determinants describe the conditions where people live and work (World Health Organization). Typically, the lower the socioeconomic position of a certain population, the worse their health outcomes will be. In the United Kingdom, the three major social determinants of health are child development and education, employment, and living standards (GOV.UK). Education is often the basis of healthy behaviors and outcomes, which is why child development and educational attainment is one of the top social determinants of health in the United Kingdom. Highly educated individuals have been shown to have decreased rates of chronic diseases as well as mental health disorders.
Socioeconomic Status Related To Heart Disease The heart is the hardest working muscle in the body, pumping approximately two ounces every day for a lifetime. To keep this small but efficient muscle working, one must understand the importance of heart health. Unfortunately this lack of understanding causes millions of Americans to suffer from heart disease.
1. Knowing your family history can be beneficial in many different aspects. Based on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention knowing your family medical history can help prevent chronic diseases. “Family health history information may help health care providers determine which tests and screenings are recommended to help family members know their health risk”. Physicians will be able to detect signs early on, and even give tips on things in which you can do to reduce your risk for certain diseases, just by simply having a record of your family’s health history.
Social model often ensures physical and mental health and broader sphere of participating in active life. The model permits most understated discrimination of people that succeed to lead productive lives irrespective of physical damage. The disadvantage of social model is the approach that runs the threat of excessive breadth and to incorporate all life. Therefore, they do not differentiate among the state to become healthy the concerns of being healthy neither do they differentiate among “health” and “health determinants”.
These factors are known as the Social Determinants of health. “The social determinants of health are the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age, including the health system” (WHO). Dalgren & Whitehead (1991) image of the social determinants of health aims to show the relationship between the person, their environment and their health. The modifiable factors, people’s age, gender and race lie in the centre surrounded by non modifiable factors like profession, housing, education and public policy. There is a direct relationship between people’s environment and their health, e.g. people who live in damp housing have a higher incidence of respiratory health problems (Farell et al.
This essay will give a clear overview of the concept and theories of structural violence and how the idea can be used to encourage more attention on the fundamental cause of poverty and disease. It will as well look at how structural violence has an impact on illness and health. Furthermore, how clinician can lessen the effect of structural violence. The term violence conveys an image of physical or emotional assault on a person.