Question

Why is it important for nurses/health professionals to understand the individual and social determinants of health?

What can you do as a health professional to contribute to the debate about the social determinants of health?’

Could you please explain them seperately, Thank You

Answer 1

It is true that conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age, known as the social determinants of health, combine together to affect the health of individuals and communities.

Person’s level of education, employment and income is the single-biggest predictor of their health status – more so than healthy behaviors, access to and utilization of clinical care, and their physical environment. These social determinants are mostly responsible for health inequities – the unfair and avoidable differences in health status seen within and between countries.

Understanding that the context of people’s lives determines their health proves that blaming individuals for having poor health or crediting them for good health won’t move our needle on outcomes on the national scale.