Social Determinants And Healthcare

Running head: case study
Social determinants and healthcare
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Authors Note

Social determinants and healthcare1
Introduction
According to the World Health Organization, in the circumstances in which a person
grows up, lives and works is related to his or her socio economic wellbeing and mental
health. The factors which ensure a person’s lifestyle, health and economic status are related to
the income, education, behavior, awareness, condition of employment, social support acts and
housing(Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2020). The above factors determine
socio-demographic condition of a person. Inequality and financial crisis determine the social
gradient of health. This essay will help to understand social determinants and the related
issues which affect an individual. This essay will critically analyze the effect of socio
demographic factors in case study of Carla and will address one of the most prominent factor
in the case study. Moreover, essay will give an outline how to address the social determinants
with the help of health professionals.
Discussion
The case study has shown that Carla had a hard early life and now her children are
facing the hardships to access the basic needs of life. Carla is an orphan and a single mother
with two children. He got pregnant in her teens and worked in a grocery shop. However,
closure of mines, decreases the opportunities of income and she started struggled to earn. Her
teenage daughter is pregnant and is diagnosed with gestational diabetes. Her boyfriend wants
to earn more and for that he is planning to leave the job.
Socio-demographic characteristic
Socio-demographic characteristic defines the quality of health and access of essential
commodities. Age, ethnicity, gender, education level and income are considered under the
socio demographic characteristics. Lack of education, income and cultural diversity due to
the birth place can be detected in the case study. People with poor socioeconomic position are

Social determinants and healthcare2
more likely to exposed to the risk factors of poor health (Mohammadi et al., 2020). Lack of
educational attainment, occupation and income is prominent in this case study. Early life of a
person will affect someone’s life in a greater way. The cognitive, physical, social and
emotional wellbeing are affected by hardships faced in early life. Employment and work are
the factors which are the basics of financial status of a person, In this case, issues have been
identified in this case study. Both Carla and Jason faced difficulties in the profession. Jason is
suffered from unemployment due to his disabilities. Residential environment is another factor
for poor socio economic factor which determines the behavior, safety with physical and
psychological well-being (Mirowsky et al.,2017). In this case study lack of work safety and
quality in the occupation has been observed. For example when Jason was injured he did not
inform any one about the injury and left the injury untreated. For above discussed factors,
social exclusion can be occurred. Lack of education and awareness will influence
management of chronic illness.
Impact of key social determinants
Lack of education is prominent in the case study as Carla’s Aunt could not read.
Therefore she faced problem in studying. Her son has also passed the 12th grade. Her
daughter did not complete the education. Josh was also planning to leave the school and
trying for the permanent job. Health literacy is also very poor among the family. Due to lack
of health literacy, Carla’s daughter has diagnosed with gestational diabetes which might be
avoided by health literacy and awareness. Education will help an individual to grow his
financial status and empower societal status of an individual (Schertz et al.,2016). The
primary health care access is also very poor in financially weak people. Health literacy helps
a person in the managing and evaluating the emergency health condition. Poverty is one of
the prominent demographic factor in this case study. According a report people with absolute
poverty show higher mortality rate than others(Larsen et al., 2017). Absolute poverty means