Social Determinants Of Health Research Paper

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Pages: 2

“The social determinants of health are the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age. These circumstances are shaped by the distribution of money, power and resources at global, national and local levels.”(World Health Organisation, 2017). Social determinants have resulted in health inequities which are the avoidable and unfair discrepancies in health status seen in and between countries. The Dahlgren and Whitehead model developed by Göran Dahlgren and Margaret Whitehead in 1991, offers a realistic picture of the different layers of the social determinants of health and displays the link between an individual, their heath and their environment. The individual is placed in the centre and is surrounded by different factors that influence health for example lifestyle factors and living and working conditions. The first layer of the model is individual lifestyle factors and includes personal choices which may promote or damage the individual’s health for example smoking. The layer that follows is how society and the community assist in providing help and support for the members within the community who are living in disadvantaged circumstances. The final layer of the model is the general socioeconomic, cultural and environmental conditions that effect the individual like housing and the conditions that the person lives and works in. (Economic and Social Research Council 2017). This essay …show more content…
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