HLT515 Social Behavior and Cultural Factor in Public Health

Week 1 Discussion

DQ1

What are social, behavioral, and cultural determinants? How do social, behavioral, and cultural determinants impact public health? Present specific examples within your answer as well as justifying your rationale with evidence. Respond to three other class members’ posts specifically peer-reviewing their answers.

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What are social, behavioral, and cultural determinants?

Introduction

Social, behavioral, and cultural determinants help explain differences in health outcomes among people in different populations. These factors include social conditions such as income inequality and discrimination; physical environments such as poor air quality or lack of access to healthy foods; and personal experiences like stress or violence.

Social determinants of health

Social determinants of health are the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age. These include:

• The distribution of money, power and resources at global, national and local levels;

• The quality of housing;

• Access to basic services like education for all children;

• Gender equality (the rights of women); and much more.

Behavioral determinants of health

Because behavioral determinants are a key factor in the health and well-being of individuals, it’s important to understand them. Behavioral determinants are behaviors, such as smoking or drinking alcohol, that affect one’s health. They can also include unhealthy habits that don’t directly cause disease but may lead to poor health outcomes (such as obesity).

The most common types of behavioral determinants include:

• Health behaviors – These include things like getting medical care for an injury or illness; eating balanced meals; exercising regularly; getting enough sleep; taking prescribed medications as directed by a doctor or pharmacist.

• Unhealthy behaviors – These include overeating, smoking cigarettes/tobacco products/weed plants (cannabis), using illicit drugs like heroin/cocaine etc., spending money on entertainment instead of buying groceries for your family when times get tough at home financially

Cultural determinants of health

Culture is the shared beliefs, values, and norms that characterize a group or population. Culture can influence health in many ways, including through social norms that promote or discourage healthy behaviors.

Social determinants of health include the conditions in which people live (e.g., income level) as well as their access to resources such as education and clean water; these factors are related to higher rates of disease among certain groups with lower socioeconomic status than others.

Social, behavioral, and cultural determinants help explain differences in health outcomes among people in different populations.

Social, behavioral and cultural determinants help explain differences in health outcomes among people in different populations. Social determinants are the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age. They include income, education, employment status (full-time or part-time), gender identity/expression (including race or ethnicity), disability status (including hearing loss) as well as other characteristics that influence a person’s health. Health outcomes may be affected by social factors such as poverty level or lack of access to quality care services; poor nutrition; low levels of exercise; obesity; smoking cigarettes/tobacco use; alcohol abuse/binge drinking

Conclusion

Social, behavioral, and cultural determinants help explain differences in health outcomes among people in different populations. This is an exciting time to be an epidemiologist who wants to know how these factors affect our health and well-being. The future promises new methods for understanding how our lives are shaped by the social conditions that surround us—and how we can change them for the better!