scholarly journals Global action on the social determinants of health

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (Suppl 1) ◽  
pp. e000603 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela Donkin ◽  
Peter Goldblatt ◽  
Jessica Allen ◽  
Vivienne Nathanson ◽  
Michael Marmot
Keyword(s):  
Social Determinants Of Health ◽  
Social Determinants ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Health Sector ◽  
Determinants Of Health ◽  
Political Commitment ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
The Social ◽  
Global Action ◽  
Development Goals

Action on the social determinants of health (SDH) is required to reduce inequities in health. This article summarises global progress, largely in terms of commitments and strategies. It is clear that there is widespread support for a SDH approach across the world, from global political commitment to within country action. Inequities in the conditions in which people are born, live, work and age, are however driven by inequities in power, money and resources. Political, economic and resource distribution decisions made outside the health sector need to consider health as an outcome across the social distribution as opposed to a focus solely on increasing productivity. A health in all policies approach can go some way to ensure this consideration, and we present evidence that some countries are taking this approach, however given entrenched inequalities, there is some way to go. Measuring progress on the SDH globally will be key to future development of successful policies and implementation plans, enabling the identification and sharing of best practice. WHO work to align measures with the sustainable development goals will help to forward progress measurement.

Addressing the Social Determinants of Health

2019 ◽  
Vol 101 (4) ◽  
pp. 357-395 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saty Satya-Murti ◽  
Jennifer Gutierrez
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Los Angeles ◽  
Social Determinants Of Health ◽  
Social Determinants ◽  
Social Activism ◽  
Determinants Of Health ◽  
Medical Attention ◽  
Community Center ◽  
Early Twentieth Century ◽  
The Social

The Los Angeles Plaza Community Center (PCC), an early twentieth-century Los Angeles community center and clinic, published El Mexicano, a quarterly newsletter, from 1913 to 1925. The newsletter’s reports reveal how the PCC combined walk-in medical visits with broader efforts to address the overall wellness of its attendees. Available records, some with occasional clinical details, reveal the general spectrum of illnesses treated over a twelve-year span. Placed in today’s context, the medical care given at this center was simple and minimal. The social support it provided, however, was multifaceted. The center’s caring extended beyond providing medical attention to helping with education, nutrition, employment, transportation, and moral support. Thus, the social determinants of health (SDH), a prominent concern of present-day public health, was a concept already realized and practiced by these early twentieth-century Los Angeles Plaza community leaders. Such practices, although not yet nominally identified as SDH, had their beginnings in the late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century social activism movement aiming to mitigate the social ills and inequities of emerging industrial nations. The PCC was one of the pioneers in this effort. Its concerns and successes in this area were sophisticated enough to be comparable to our current intentions and aspirations.

Health Disparities and the Social Determinants of Health: Ethical and Social Justice Issues

2019 ◽  
pp. 265-276
Author(s):  
Sridhar Venkatapuram
Keyword(s):  
Health Disparities ◽  
Social Determinants Of Health ◽  
Social Determinants ◽  
Global Justice ◽  
Social Epidemiology ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Determinants Of Health ◽  
Housing Conditions ◽  
Early Infant ◽  
The Social

The term health disparities (also called health inequalities) refers to the differences in health outcomes and related events across individuals and social groups. Social determinants of health, meanwhile, refers to certain types of causes of ill health in individuals, including lack of early infant care and stimulation, lack of safe and secure employment, poor housing conditions, discrimination, lack of self-respect, poor personal relationships, low community cohesion, and income inequality. These social determinants stand in contrast to others, such as individual biology, behaviors, and proximate exposures to harmful agents. This chapter presents some of the revolutionary findings of social epidemiology and the science of social determinants of health, and shows how health disparities and social determinants raise profound questions in public health ethics and social/global justice philosophy.

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