Social Determinants of Health Assessment 2022

Running head: SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT 2
Summative Assessment 2
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT 2
Introduction
Social Determinants of Health (SDH) are defined as certain factors in the environment
under which the people live, born, learn to work, play, and worship and age that modulates a
wide range of health-related factors, proper health functioning and overall quality of life.
Social, economic and physical conditions influence the social determinants of health and
thereby affecting the health related quality of life. A detailed picture of SDH is explained in
the diagram below:
Figure: Framework for the social determinants of health
(Source: Dahlgren and Whitehead 2007)
The following essay aims to discuss and explain how the determinants of health
impact the individual and community-related health. Affect of the social determinants of
health on the health-related quality of life of individuals will be further explained with the
help of suitable examples. The main focus will be given towards lifestyle factors (physical
exercise, tobacco smoking and alcohol drinking) as the main SDH.

2SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT 2
Key social determinants of health
Socio-economic factors
People from poor socio-economic condition are vulnerable to poor health, illness and
disability. They also have shorter lifespan in comparison to the people from higher socio-
economic status (Mackenbach 2015). Improvement in the socio-economic ladder helps to
improve the health condition. The individual indicators like education, occupation and
income is used to define the socio-economic position of an individual (Artiga and Hinton
2019). Educational qualification is associated with good health throughout the life. Adler et
al. (2016) stated that education equips individuals to achieve a stable employment status and
thus helping to secure income, proper housing and adequate healthcare access. Education also
assists in selected healthy lifestyle condition. Occupation also has a strong link with the
socio-economic determinants of health and proper occupational status helps to maintain a
quality life and improves the social status as well. Income and wealth also play an important
role in defining the socio-economic position of an individual and thus helping to define health
apart from improving the socio-economic condition, a standard or higher income enables
higher access to services and amenities that provide proper health benefits like quality food,
proper housing and sanitation facilities and additional healthcare support. Loss of income
resulting from sudden illness, disability and injury can adversely impact the socio-economic
condition of a family or an individual (Artiga and Hinton 2019).
Early life
The foundation of adult health occurs during the early life of an individual (Adler et
al. 2016). Different aspects of the early stages of the childhood development like the
social/emotional, physical and language/cognitive significantly influence the level of
academic success, economic participation and health of an individual (Artiga and Hinton
2019). Proper physical development along with proper emotional support during the early

3SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT 2
years of life acts as a building block for further social, emotional, physical and cognitive
well-being. Children from disadvantaged family are more likely to experience poor schooling
and thus affecting the adult opportunities to maintain a healthy life like employment
opportunity (Adler, Glymour and Fielding 2016).
Social Exclusion
Social exclusion is a vast concept that is used to explain the level of social
disadvantage and lack of proper resources, facilities, participation and other skills Adler,
Glymour and Fielding 2016). Social exclusion can result from social discrimination,
unemployment and social stigmatization. Poverty, religion, culture ethnicity, sexual
orientation, refugee status and gender modulate the extent of social exclusion. For example
people who are poor ethnic background like indigenous population are more likely to suffer
from social exclusion and discrimination and resulting in poor mental and physical health
condition. Social exclusion thus increases the risk of disability and illness (Adler, Glymour
and Fielding 2016).
Employment and work
Unemployed individuals have higher risks of death and disability in comparison to the
people of similar age and are employed (Garg, Boynton-Jarrett and Dworkin 2016). The
psychosocial stress resulting from unemployment has a significant impact on the mental and
physical well-being of the individual (Garg, Boynton-Jarrett and Dworkin 2016). According
to the Office of National Statistics (2019), at least 3.8% of population in the UK are
unemployed and the percentage has decreased by 0.2% in comparison to the last decade. The
level of male unemployment rate is higher in comparison to female. Adler et al. (2016) stated
that the unemployed people tend to suffer from mental health depression. Unemployment
people suffering from depression tend to avail unhealthy lifestyle condition leading to poor
health-related quality of life.