Impact of Social Determinants on Health in Primary Health Care

This essay provides an overview of the social determinants of health (SDH) and their impact on primary health care. It identifies five key factors: policymaking, education, health services, early childhood development, and gender, explaining how each influences community health and well-being. The essay discusses how policymaking can positively or negatively affect health through taxation and regulations, while education empowers individuals to navigate health services effectively. It also addresses disparities in health service access, the vulnerabilities of children from disadvantaged backgrounds, and gender inequalities impacting healthcare. The conclusion emphasizes the significance of SDH in shaping public health strategies and promoting health equity. Desklib provides access to similar solved assignments and study tools for students.

Running head: Primary health care
Primary health care

Primary health care
Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................3
Social determinates of health......................................................................................................................3
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................5
References...................................................................................................................................................6
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Introduction
The paper talks about the Social Determinants of Health (SDH) which broadly refer to
the conditions in which people are born. The major five factors of social determinates of health
such as policy making, education, health services, early childhood development and gender have
been explained in the task. These factors play a vital role in the life community. These factors
also affect the economic and condition of the environment. Further detail of the task has been
stated below.
Social determinates of health
social determinates of health are connected to the social, economic conditions and their
distribution among the people which may influence group as well as individual differences in
health status. The social determinates of health include income, wealth, power and influence.
Apart from this, the social determinates of health include income, food security, housing, early
childhood development, working conditions, unemployment and job security (Yeates, 2014).
They are responsible for promoting and encouraging the health of an individual which are
connected with living as well as working conditions. The social determinates of health is an
effective approach to attain health equity. These factors are closely related to the public policy
and easily understandable by the public (Bircher & Kuruvilla, 2014). The social determinates of
health are the structural conditions and determinates in which people are grow, work, live and
age. These factors also help to shape the situations of daily life. Furthermore, these factors are
responsible for health inequalities (Edelman, Mandle & Kudzma, 2017). The five most important
social determinates of health which may influence community have been detailed below.
Policy making
Policy making gives a chance to solve the problems relating to health for the people. It
can be a positive as well as negative factor for the community. The policies made in order to
create awareness among the people. This policy can favor the community by decreasing taxes,
increasing the income, improving the health of the population and various other factors. Also, the
negative factors associated with the community can include imposing high taxes on tobacco
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which can create disharmony among the people and the government as well. Some policies affect
the socio cultural techniques of the community like regulating standards for motor vehicles and
highways. The policies are made keeping in mind the accessibility of the community as a whole.
It does not leave a negative impact on the society. The importance of making policy is to take
care about the rights of the people (McMurray & Clendon, 2015).
Education
Education is very important factor which increases the knowledge of the people. It is a
medium which helps in solving the problems in a systematic way. For a community, the
education is a major concern in the world as it is related to health. Education serves a medium of
providing easy access to health services by knowing about the community. It is a way which
helps the community to understand how the process of health services takes place. Knowing
about the medications can be welfare for the community as it saves time and energy of the
people. Each and every person today needs to have a proper education. The educated community
is much more accepted than the illiterate one. The educated people can serve society better as
compared to illiterate (World Health Organization, 2013).
Health services
Health services can differ from time to time. The health services provided to the people
living in high standards does not equalize with the services provided to others. This becomes an
issue in social determinant of health. Lack of health services greatly affects the status of
individual's health (Naidoo & Wills, 2016). It is recommended to have a medical insurance so
that they can give their active participation in preventing the health related problems. Health
becomes a major concern for the people in today’s modern world. Therefore, they require
services related to health frequently. The service provided to them like free health checkups;
social campaigns, basic humanity concern services, etc. become beneficial for them. The health
of the community is taken care by the government very well. Therefore, these health services are
an action taken to give a proper care to the part of society which cannot afford to provide
themselves (Caruso, 2017).
Early Childhood Development
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Children area is raised at an early age in order to fulfill the demands of the family. The
impacts could be seen on their health. Childhood development can affect the health of children
and this makes them vulnerable. The impact could be mainly seen on the children belongings to
the poor families. Their development takes place from an early age. They are the medium of
providing source of money to their family. This also harms the psychological insight of the
children. The regular health check up centers is made for these children so that they can look
after their health related problems. Early development makes the children mature before their
age. This is the reason why the numbers of young lives are taken away at an early age
(McMurray & Clendon, 2015).
Gender
Gender issue has been a problem for all over the world. The inequality in gender could be
seen on a wide scale. In today’s world, the gender roles have not minimized, females and males
are treated separately. In the community, gender becomes a concern as it depends from person to
person that what services should be provided to them that can be beneficial. Gender can be
termed as a sex based social structure which gives identity to an individual. Gender becomes a
factor which can be seen with the eyes of community as it is the one which makes gender
possible (Barer, 2017).
Conclusion
On the above mentioned study, it has been concluded that social determinates of health
play a significant role to maintain the life of people. These SDH factors also provide several
types of information related to social cultural forms. The social determinates of health include
education, health services, education, gender and health services. Along with this, various
economic, social and political changes bring through social determinates of health factors.
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References
Barer, M. (Ed.). (2017). Why are some people healthy and others not?. Routledge.
Caruso, G. D. (2017). Public health and safety: The social determinants of health and criminal
behavior.
Edelman, C. L., Mandle, C. L., & Kudzma, E. C. (2017). Health Promotion Throughout the Life
Span-E-Book (9th edition). Elsevier Health Sciences.
McMurray, A., & Clendon, J. (2015). Community Health and Wellness-E-book: Primary Health
Care in Practice (5th ed., pp.5-8). Elsevier Health Sciences.
Naidoo, J., & Wills, J. (2016). Foundations for Health Promotion-E-Book. Elsevier Health
Sciences.
World Health Organization. (2013). The economics of social determinants of health and health
inequalities: a resource book (Vol. 3700). World Health Organization.
Yeates, N. (Ed.). (2014). Understanding global social policy (2nd edition). Policy Press.
Bircher, J., & Kuruvilla, S. (2014). Defining health by addressing individual, social, and
environmental determinants: new opportunities for health care and public health. Journal
of Public Health Policy, 35(3), 363-386.
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