Social Determinants of Health and Transtheoretical Model

Of the many forms of health available, I find social determinants of health to be the most
significant. Social determinants of health refer to the conditions in which a person was born,
grew and lived in that affect his health either positively or negatively (Braveman & Gottlieb,
2014). In most cases, the availability of resources, power, and money shape these conditions.
The social determinants are the most important form of determinants of health because they
affect the health of people directly since people are born, grow and live with them. Various
social determinants of health exist but the most notable once include literacy levels, healthy
behaviors, income levels, and employment. All the examples of social determinants of health
above can affect the health of people negatively or positively. For example, people with
unhealthy behaviors such as poor eating habits are at high risk of getting lifestyle diseases such
as diabetes and obesity. This is so because poor eating habits are risk factors of weight gain
which leads to obesity and type 2 diabetes ( Garg et al., 2015). However, people with healthy
behaviors such as healthy eating habits have lower risks of getting lifestyle diseases. Also,
people with low levels of income are at high risk of getting lifestyle diseases such as overweight
and obesity. This is so because the only types of food that poor people are exposed to are foods
with a high caloric intake which increases their chances of becoming obese. On the other hand,
people living in affluent areas can afford a balanced diet food which enables them to live healthy
lives.
After going through the theories learned this week, I find the transtheoretical Model to be
the most significant theory. This theory was developed by Prochaska and DiClemente to explain
the stages that people go through to change their unhealthy behavior (Kowalski, Jeznach, &
Tuokko, 2014). This theory believes that there are six stages that people go through in an
attempt to change their unhealthy behavior (Mastellos et al., 2014). One of these stages is