Book Summary Report: Social Determinants of Health in Canada

This report provides a comprehensive summary of several chapters focusing on the social determinants of health in Canada. The chapters cover various aspects, including the impact of the workplace environment on employee health, emphasizing the correlation between income, socioeconomic status, and physical and mental wellbeing. The report also delves into the significance of early childhood education and care (ECEC) as a crucial determinant, highlighting its influence on future health and development. Furthermore, the report examines the state of Canadian public education, food insecurity experienced by a significant portion of Canadian households, and the interconnectedness of housing and health, exploring how housing conditions impact an individual's quality of life and other social determinants. The report underscores the importance of addressing these factors to improve overall public health outcomes and provides a detailed analysis of each determinant's influence on the Canadian population.

Running Head: BOOK SUMMARY
SOCIAL DETERMINANTS: CANADIAN PERSPECTIVE
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s Note

1BOOK SUMMARY
Chapter 7: The Unhealthy Canadian Workplace
This chapter focuses on the aspects of a negative workplace that influences the work
pattern of employees. The effect of employment and working conditions affects the health of
individuals in the labor market, and this chapter aims at the quality of work. The researchers who
work in the field of health found a clear association between income and socioeconomic status
and the health outcomes, which means that the financial status adds to the physical and mental
wellbeing. Different workplace experiences show a different correlation between the income and
socioeconomic status that suggests that income of the lower spectrum increases stress in jobs,
workplace hazards, and vulnerability towards physical health. Studies have also shown that
people with poor workplace environment have more reasons to feel mentally and physically
deprived. A few of the threats to a workplace are dangerous and dirty jobs, laborious and
repetitive work profiles, stressful jobs due to the virtue of the pace, exercise of arbitrary power,
and lack of social guidance and support.
Chapter 9: Early Childhood Education and care as a Social Determinant of Health
The development of a child during early childhood influences their adulthood and later
life. It decides the wellbeing of the child, such as their health, mental capacity, competence, and
character that will be experienced in their future. Prenatal conditions, nutrition, interaction,
family attributes, economic background, physical environment, civil society, and community
have an impact on the wellbeing of a person as an adult, and this makes a person content,
successful, and resilient when they go on. This chapter explains that the childhood of a person
shapes them as an adult, which includes their physical and mental health. Early childhood
Education and Care (ECEC), which is a National daycare program in Canada when given to the
child outside the family, has an impact on their upbringing. A non-toxic environment, adequate

2BOOK SUMMARY
income, and positive parenting are necessary for the growth of a child. ECEC, over the past two
decades, has planned several policy for a healthy childhood development that includes healthy
development and lifelong learning.
Chapter 11: The State and Quality of Canadian Public Elementary and Secondary
Education
This chapter shows the transformation in Canada related to education, demography,
socioeconomic status, and politics. The changes in Canadian society affect the education system
of the country, including the Canadian Public Schools. Social, political, and demographic forces
have an impact on the public elementary and secondary schools of Canada. If the government is
not able to face the challenges, then it has a negative effect on the public schools of Canada
because the central aspect of the public schools in the alteration of the values of Canadian society
puts Canada at risk. Transformation of Canada through the demographic, economic, and social
aspects has led to a positive change in people, such as late marriage in people, deciding to have
fewer children, and delaying pregnancy. New family relationships are being created by the high
separation and divorce rates, including common-law marriages, stepfamilies, single parenting,
and blended families, which affects the education system of the child living in those families.
Chapter 13: Food Insecurity
The issue of food insecurity is experienced by 13% of Canadian households, which is not
expected in a developed country like Canada. They need to understand that the people of this
country should take steps to eradicate this issue is a necessity. One of the social determinants of
health is food security, and it is also considered a fundamental human right according to the
United Nations. Food security affects life, justice, dignity, sustainable development, and health

3BOOK SUMMARY
as a social determinant. This chapter gives a detail about the issue of food insecurity and hunger
in a developed country like Canada and how it affects the wellbeing of the public. The social
history of Canada is described to assess the risk factors due to food insecurity in developing
countries, including the coping mechanism of people during a food crisis and food insecurity
dynamics. Hunger is a physiological experience, which should not be suffered by any human and
food insecurity is the major reason behind this experience.
Chapter 16: Housing and Health
This chapter focuses on the housing and health facility given to the residents of any
country as both are interrelated and defines the lifestyle of an individual. According to Article 25
of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights suggests that all humans are deserving of an
appropriate standard of living, which is the reason behind their wellbeing and health, including
their family. There are 3 questions addressed in this chapter: one of them is the effect on a
person’s health due to homelessness and housing insecurity. The second question is the effect of
poor housing standards on an individual’s health, and the last question is how the high
expenditure being spent on housing affects a person’s quality of life and other social
determinants of health. Another issue displayed in this chapter is the negligence of health
researchers and policymakers in considering poor housing a threat to a person’s health.