The Many, Many Determinants of Health

The common thread in the resources reviewed for the topic of determinants of health and/or the social determinants of health is that they all include factors and circumstances that have impact on an individual's overall heath and wellness.

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines determinants of health as, "the conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live, and age and the wider set of forces and systems shaping the conditions of daily life". In an article written for Medical News Today, Sherrell (2021) summarizes the description of the determinants of health as, "they include political, socioeconomic, and cultural factors, alongside how easily someone can access healthcare, education, a safe place to live, and nutritious food". Both definitions imply that the condition of where one lives along with services available within the vicinity help contribute to their state of health.

Sherrell (2021) adds that social determinants of health fall into five basic groups, "Healthcare, Economic Stability, Education, Social and community life, and Neighborhood", whereas WHO includes a more comprehensive list, "Income and social protection, Education, Unemployment and job security, Working life conditions, Food insecurity, Housing, Basic amenities and the environment, Social inclusion and non-discrimination, Structural conflict, and Access to affordable health services of decent quality", as, "examples of the social determinants of health which can influence health equity in positive and negative ways."

While searching for resources concerning the determinants of health in Alberta, I came across Alberta Health Services (AHS) document Population and and Public Health Transformational Roadmap compiled by the Population, Public and Indigenous Health Strategic Clinical Network™ (February, 2020). This document explains AHS's recognition of the need for improving health as an entire population, "many of the resources we need to be healthy are not distributed fairly between communities or across social groups", and, "it is as if resources for health-such as financial security, social inclusion, and safe environments-were on a supply grid or network that not everyone can access" (AHS, 2020). See link below for full document.

Population and Public Health Strategic Clinical Network Transformational Roadmap (albertahealthservices.ca)

AHS's proposed Population Health Approach is "a framework for taking action to maintain and improve the health status of the entire population and reduce inequities in health status between population groups" (2020). The broad determinants of health groups along with the many mentioned in the comprehensive list as aforementioned are addressed in this document and confirm that our healthcare system in Alberta is including the many, many determinants of health when identifying gaps in, and working to improve overall health for all Albertans.

Resources available under MHST 601 Resources Tab 'Determinants of Health'.