Social Determinants of Health in a Case Study

CNA151 Health and Health Care in Australia 1
CNA151 Health and Health Care in Australia
Assessment 2
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CNA151 Health and Health Care in Australia 2
Characteristics of the individuals in the case study
The case study is talking about the family of a 54years old woman named Carla. Carla
married John when she was just a teenager and got two children named Robbie and Annie.
Annie lives with her boyfriend Josh of which they are expecting to have a baby soon. From
the case, Carla did not do well at school as her guardian aunt was uneducated indicating that
she probably drop out of school. However, from the case, Carla can be described as a very
hard working person. She was worked in groceries and currently despite her age she still
working at the post office. She is also committed, caring as she remained with both her
children despite the separating with the husband. She still also tries to take care of her
husband who is currently having depression.
John, on the other hand, is also a hardworking man but lack responsibilities. She left
her wife and children and only provided for a short period. He is also non-educated as most
of the time he depended on casual labor. Robbie seems to be the most educated person in the
family as he archived to finish Grade 12. Annie, on the other hand, is a school dropout and
currently, she seems to be depending on her boyfriend Josh. Their household is one room
apartment indicating they might have a problem when their child will be born. Looking by
the type of work all members of the family work, they must be earning very little. Carla even
feeds on bread in order to save money for public transport. All members live in small
apartments and they are all with no or low levels of education. However, Josh is currently
working but planning to quit to reasons such as low earning, and he will be having difficulties
when the baby comes so he needs to work more.

CNA151 Health and Health Care in Australia 3
Social determinants of health that are evident in the case study
The major social determinants of health in the case study include education,
employment, income and possibly early marriages. Education equips people with enough
knowledge and skills for better health and success throughout life(Smylie and Firestone,
2016). Education allows one to have stable employment with good and enough income to
sustain one's life (aihw.gov.au, 2019). From the case study, Carla did not have a good
education to sustain better jobs. Annie also was a school dropout and thus good not secure a
better job to support her coming child and live in a better house. If John could have also been
having enough education, he could have been able to secure jobs easily, pay for hospital bills
after head injury and support his family. All their problems were primarily due to lack of
enough education to sustain good jobs with better incomes.
Lack of employment is also a major social determinant of health in this case study.
The evidence from the close association established between working and living conditions
and the health outcomes have elaborated that human health is sensitive and is effected easily
due to social environment. When people lose jobs or unable to secure jobs, they are prone to
health problems such as psychological problems, lack of enough basic need and family
separations (World Health Organization, 2019). John could not find jobs easily with made
him separate from his wife, have depression and finally become dependent. If he could have a
more secure job, his children could have attained enough education to support themselves, as
proper education provides a stable employment and secure income. Carla also had a problem
in looking for jobs as most baseness keeps closing and people moving out. If she could have
better employment, she could have been able to at least afford a better house for her unborn
daughter.