M3S1 Introduction To Social Determinants Of Health (SDOH)

Question 1

Distal and proximal factors that affect health

Answer 1

Proximal
-individual cultural factors
-family enviroment
-lifestyle factors
-social and community networks in villages

Distal
-effects of being a specific social class or place within a societal social hierarchy
-social inequalities
-broader social and cultural aspects

Question 2

What are SDOH (social determinants of health)

Answer 2

-factors that influence health outcomes
-conditions which people grow, born, work and live and age and wider set of forces and systems shaping conditions of their daily life
-refer to specific features of and pathways by which social and societal conditions affect health and how theses alter by policy changes or other interventions

Question 3

Examples of SDOH

Answer 3

-social relationships and supports
-social norms
-social policies
Societal features
-political and economic stystems

Question 4

Lifestyle factors

Answer 4

-changeable ways of life and habits that have a serious impact on human health
-refers to behaviours, actions, and lifestyle choices that affect health
-connected to individual choice but imperative to understand that SDOH can have immense influence on choices that people have and make
Ex. If individual grows up in culture where smoking common, their socio-cultural surroundings may influence them to smoke and this will impact health. Same said for healthy influences like exercise

Question 5

List of healthy advice from a lifestyle perspective

Answer 5

-don’t smoke
-follow a balanced diet
-keeping physically active
-manage stress y relaxing
-drink alcohol in moderation
-cover up from sun
-practice safer sex
-take up cancer screening opportunities
-be safe on roads
-always learn first aid ABC’s

Question 6

Health advice from SDOH perspective (meant to be harsh to show hard to change)

Answer 6

Don’t be poor. If you can, stop. If you can’t, try not to be poor for long.
• Don’t have poor parents.
• Own a car.
• Don’t work in a stressful, low paid manual job.
• Don’t live in damp, low quality housing.
• Be able to afford to go on a foreign holiday and sunbathe.
• Practice not losing your job and don’t become unemployed.
• Take up all benefits you are entitled to, if you are unemployed, retired or sick or disabled.
• Don’t live next to a busy major road or near a polluting factory.
• Learn how to fill in the complex housing benefit application forms before you become homeless
and destitute

Question 7

Importance of SDOH

Answer 7

-extremely important to consider
Ex. Numerous studies suggest that SDOH account for 30-55% of health outcomes
-estimates shops that contribution of sectors outside health to population health outcomes exceed contribution from health sector