Determinants Of Health

Determinants Of Health

Topic 2 DQ 1 . BY 3/6
Social Determinants Of Health (SDOH) are conditions in the environments in which people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age that affect the health, functioning and quality of life- outcomes (Healthy People, 2020). Five key areas of SDOH were developed by Healthy People 2020- such as economic stability, education, social and community contact, health, and health care; and neighborhood and the built environment.

Human beings are social creatures, deeply influenced by how we participate in society, and our social and physical surroundings. The SDOH includes mostly the conditions of the environment- social and physical in which we spend our lives that affect our health, functioning, and quality of life.

The external factors such as a person’s income and socio-economic status are directly affecting his/her health. Higher-income allows for basic material consumption that is important for health including nutrition, safe housing, recreation and access to medical care (White Paper, 2018).

The chain of infection model is used to understand the process of disease transmission. The spread of infection is described as a chain with six links. They are a pathogen, a reservoir, a port of exit, mode of transmission, a port of entry, and a host. A break in any link of the chain of infection can prevent the occurrence of a new infection. Following the standard rules of contact isolation, using the personal protective equipment the right way, following safe injection practices are some of the ways the nurse can break the infection chain.

Reference

Social Determinants of Health. (2020). Retrieved from https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/social-determinants-of-health?topicid=39

White Paper. (2018). Social Determinants of Health: The barriers between us and better health. Retrieved from https://www.ahip.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/social-determinants-of-health-2018.pdf