Social Determinants of Health
Name
Institution
Instructor
Course
Date
Social Determinants of Health
Social determinants of health are factors linked with the economic, political, and social aspects, which are distributed in a given population, which influence individual or group health status (Maurer & Smith, 2012). This involves the surrounding environment and conditions which has an impact in the promotion of health for different individuals or groups. Social determinants of health are important in enabling health practitioners in providing effective healthcare to different individuals and groups from different population regions (Maurer & Smith, 2012). Some of social determinants of health may include employment, the working conditions of different individuals, food, education, and political ideologies. Social determinants of health contribute to the development of illness by influencing the environments, which surround different individuals (Maurer & Smith, 2012).
This may affect diverse health aspects which include the quality of life, exposure to certain risks, and the body functioning (HealthyPeople.gov, 2018). These social, political, and economic aspects are attributed to have an influence on health outcomes of different individuals (HealthyPeople.gov, 2018). These aspects also impact important resources which are indicated to affect the health status of individuals and groups (HealthyPeople.gov, 2018). Some of these aspects include access to education and information related to the safety of individuals, healthy habits, and exposure to risk factors, which may contribute to the development of certain illness (HealthyPeople.gov, 2018). A communicable disease chain involves the transmission of an infectious disease from one person to another or by a vector (Webber, 2016).
This process involves the agent leaving its reservoir through different media, which is based on the mode of transmission and enters another susceptible host causing an infection (Webber, 2016). A nurse can take certain steps to break a link within the communicable disease chain, which include eliminating the infectious agent before it exits its reservoir or preventing the agent from entering the host through implementing measures to protect all points of entry (Webber, 2016). One of the ways to break this link would be to vaccinate against diseases, which can be prevented, or separating infected individuals from other individuals (Webber, 2016).
References
HealthyPeople.gov. (2018). 2020 Topics and Objectives. Social Determinants of Health. Retrieved from https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/social-determinants-of-health?topicid=39
Maurer, F. A., & Smith, C. M. (2012). Community/public health nursing practice: Health for families and populations (5th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Saunders Elsevier. ISBN-13: 9781455707621
Webber, R. (2016). Communicable diseases. Wallington: Cambridge Publishing.
