Social Determinants of Health in Australia

This assignment analyzes the influence of social determinants on public health within Australia. It emphasizes the importance of factors like education level, income, and social standing in maintaining individual well-being. The document delves into how these determinants directly affect the overall health status of Australians, advocating for improved educational attainment as a key strategy to enhance public health.

Community Assessment
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Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK...............................................................................................................................................3
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................4
REFERENCES............................................................................................................................6
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INTRODUCTION
There are different determinants of health that has their impact on the wellbeing of an
individual. A number of drivers are there which are present in the everyday living like the
culture, working surroundings, social factors such as status, education level etc. All these has
their direct impact on enhancing and reducing the current state of health of people. It is observed
that people from low income group are more prone to poor health as they are habitual of risky
drinking and smoking habits (Mossaheb and et.al., 2012). Apart from this, in Australia the
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are more likely to smoke than non-Indigenous
Australians which shows that their health condition is low in comparison to other in the same
country. The following report will talk about the health of society in Australia using distinct
social determinants of health which will help in understanding the effect that each one of them
has on the state of health.
TASK
Community in a normal language refers to what is common. People share geographical
place and interact with one another interacting with each other and with aspects of their
surroundings distinguish a living community from a collection of inanimate objects. The health
of a community is referred by the availability of effective social capital, stron members of
community flexible surroundings which are assessable and a code of conduct of governance that
is inclusive and responsive to those who are part of the community in addressing the SDH
(McMurray and Clendon, 2015). Human life is important and therefore it is required to
understand different factors that affect the health and well-being of an individual. It is so much
influenced by the daily habits like what a person eat, drink what all physical activities are
adopted etc. The increased degree of connectivity in the community surroundings and state of
health has raised the requirements of understanding the health determinants factors (Dorahy and
Kannis-Dymand, 2012). WHO has defined social elements like situations in which a person is
grown up, working, his age and like factors. In the views of this organisation living conditions is
the only aspect that has its major impact. It is important that a person maintains his/her
surroundings and minimum level of income which is important for marinating the minimum
level of status. Nurses and different care takers perform a number of activities in order to
maintain the wellbeing of an individual by communicating the need of good living conditions.
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People live in different circumstances and surroundings which leads to difference in their health
standards (McMurray and Clendon, 2015)
There are a number of social determinants which help in understanding how the health of a
person gets effected and therefore the same needs to be analysed (Hannay and et.al., 2013). The
way how these causes effect on well-being are discussed below:
Socio-economic Position – On a broader level it is found that people belonging to poor
class are more effected by ill Health and fall sick on frequent basis. Their life span is
comparatively less to those who belong to higher income group (McMurray, 2011). This is because
they can take the facilities available in this sector whereas poor people are deprived of the same
due to lack of resources with them. It can be understood in more detail by exploring sub factors
under socio-economic aspect (Acharya and et.al., 2011).
 Education Attainment – In order to have a secured and stable life enlightenment is of
great importance. It helps an individual in earning a required standard of living which
further assist in coping up with false health. Without education poor people remain
unaware about the importance of their good living habits and therefore remain in
unhealthy surroundings (Wyman, Crum and Celentano, 2012).
 Occupation – There is a strong link between position of a person in society and the level
of income as an individual having more income is capable of earning more benefits like
health facilities.
Early life – The upbringing or care at initial stages of life also contributes much in the
physical health of society. It is observed that people who receive strong support in their early
childhood grow stronger in comparison to those who has weak background. This way they
remain less effective in exploring to different opportunities which are available for their personal
and professional growth (Hendricks, Conradi and Wilson, 2011)
Social exclusion – It is a wider concept that is a result of less resource availability. It
majorly causes due to unemployment and difference in treatment given to individuals. There are
a number of basis on which different treatments are given to people like gender, race, sex etc. It
shows that how social exclusion can affect the connections and health of society people.
Employment and work – Placement of different people also play a major role in their
present state of health. Those who are unemployed are found to be weaker as a result of financial
problem they go through. This way those who are less qualified or have less skills are found to
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be having poor health. This also includes the section of society which is in minority ( Ahari and
et.al., 2012).
Housing – Safe, affordable and secure housing is associated with better health as the impact
of participation in daily course of work is also evident. Those who live in the unsuitable areas
fall more ill and therefore the unsecure and unaffordable location add worse situation to the well-
being of people living in nearby areas.
All these discussed factors show that they have a major impact on the health of an
individual and therefore to develop the skills it is important that work is done towards them so
that the condition of health is improved in the long run (Jiang and et.al., 2014)
CONCLUSION
From the above report this has been summarised that the health of an individual is a result of
different factors of an individual. In order to live a healthy life, it is required that education,
income and other levels of status is maintained so that the minimum wellbeing of different
individual is maintained. Different social determinants were elaborated with the description of
how each one of them has their impact on the health of people. It shows that overall level of
education should be raised as this will have a direct impact on raising the present state of health
in Australia.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Mossaheb, N. and et.al., (2012). The Community Assessment of Psychic Experience (CAPE)
questionnaire as a screening-instrument in the detection of individuals at ultra-high risk
for psychosis. Schizophrenia research. 141(2). pp.210-214.
Dorahy, M.J. & Kannis-Dymand, L., (2012). Psychological distress following the 2010
Christchurch earthquake: A community assessment of two differentially affected
suburbs. Journal of Loss and Trauma. 17(3). pp.203-217.
Hannay, J. & et.al., (2013). Combining photovoice and focus groups: Engaging Latina teens in
community assessment. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 44(3). pp.S215-S224.
Acharya, B.K. & et.al., (2011). Kinetic modelling and microbial community assessment of
anaerobic biphasic fixed film bioreactor treating distillery spent wash. Water research.
45(14). pp.4248-4259.
Wyman, L., Crum, R.M. & Celentano, D., (2012). Depressed mood and cause-specific mortality:
a 40-year general community assessment. Annals of epidemiology. 22(9). pp.638-643.
Hendricks, A., Conradi, L. & Wilson, C., (2011). Creating trauma-informed child welfare
systems using a community assessment process. Child Welfare. 90(6). p.187.
Ahari, S.S. & et.al., (2012). Community based needs assessment in an urban area; A
participatory action research project. BMC public health. 12(1). p.161.
Jiang, X. & et.al., (2014). A community assessment of privacy preserving techniques for human
genomes. BMC medical informatics and decision making. 14(1). p.S1.
McMurray, A., & Clendon, J. (2015). Community Health and Wellness-E-book: Primary Health
Care in Practice. Elsevier Health Sciences.
McMurray, A. (2011). The enabling community for child and family health.
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