Impact of Social Determinants of Health as Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Disease in Australia

Running head: HEALTH PROMOTION
Health Promotion
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
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1HEALTH PROMOTION
Determinants of health can be described as the factors that are main causes of staying
healthy or to become ill. There are several that exist in our working conditions and the everyday
living conditions. All these contribute to the circumstances in which people age, work, live and
grow. The social determinants of health are the factors that include the social support,
employment, education and income. The health of a particular person is influenced by the
different types of the biomedical factors and are thus the part of a person's genetic makeup and
the individual lifestyle. The factors have a negative effective effect on the health of a person. In
the year 2014, it has been noted that the 23 percent of the adults have the high blood pressure and
this has resulted into several diseases like the chronic kidney diseases, heart failure and stroke
(Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2018). This study will be based on the impact of the
social determinants of health as risk factors for Cardiovascular Disease in Australia.
Social determinants of health- The different social determinants of health that directly
contribute to the cardiovascular diseases are the material conditions that depend on the wealth
and the income of a person; health; education; political voice; social connections; environment;
physical insecurity that includes both violence and crime; access to the personal activities. It is
important to note that the lower levels of education are associated with the occurrence of the
cardiovascular risk factors. The rates of the cardiovascular diseases are the most among the
among the person that lack literacy and numeracy. Income and the income inequality is studied
in relation to the cardiovascular diseases. It is noticed that the inequalities in income have a
direct relationship with the education of a person. It has been found that the families that have
good income and wealth, such families experience less cardiovascular morality. The
occupational status/employment has connections with the cardiovascular diseases but it is not
clear (Havranek et al., 2015). Whereas it is easy to establish a link between the cardiovascular

2HEALTH PROMOTION
disease and unemployment. There are more of a psychological effect on a person that has a
biological like with the development of the cardiovascular disease. The poor socioeconomic
condition is a major risk in the development of the children and the early life factors play a major
role in the development of cardiovascular disease in the later part of life. There is a consistent
evidence of social determinants and its association with the several risk factors like alcohol
consumption, physical activity, smoking, fibrinogen, body mass index, lipid levels, blood
pressure. Access to healthcare itself is a complex aspect that has its roots with the cardiovascular
disease. it incorporates the characteristics like the appropriateness, affordability, accommodation,
availability, acceptability, approachability. The residential environments or the living conditions
that vary with the time, place, a person has led to the variance in the cardiovascular disease
among the individuals (Havranek et al., 2015).
The risk factors of the cardiovascular diseases- There are many risk factors that are
related to the cardiovascular diseases. The main issues of the cardiovascular diseases are the
smoking, obesity, physical activity, hypertension (hypertension). These risk factors have the risk
factors associated with them. High-fat diets, eating high-calorie foods are the major contributors
to obesity and this causes the cardiovascular diseases. The recent trend shows that in Australia
the scenario of overweight and obesity is up. Inactivity has been considered to be the major
contributor of obesity and high rates of obesity have been seen to be associated with the
cardiovascular diseases. Unhealthy eating, sedentary lifestyle is the major social determinates of
health that contribute negatively to the health of the Australians (Australian Medical Association,
2018). Thus, it is seen that the inactivity and obesity both contribute positively to hypertension
like the smoking does. Smoking is also found to be contributing positively to atherosclerosis and
this is the main cause of cardiovascular disease. Smoking is also a social determinant of health