12 Determinants of Health
1. Income and Social Status
Income determines living conditions such as safe housing and ability to buy sufficient good food. The healthiest populations are those in societies which are prosperous and have an equitable distribution of wealth.
2. Social Support and Networks
Support from families, friends and communities is associated with better health. Such social support networks could be very important in helping people solve problems and deal with adversity, as well as in maintaining a sense of mastery and control over life circumstances.
3. Education and Literacy
Education contributes to health and prosperity by equipping people with knowledge and skills for problem solving, and helps provide a sense of control and mastery over life circumstances.
4. Employment/Working Conditions
People who have more control over their work circumstances and fewer stress related demands of the job are healthier and often live longer than those in more stressful or riskier work and activities.
5. Social Environment
Social or community responses can add resources to an individual's repertoire of strategies to cope with changes and foster health.
6. Physical Environments
The physical environment is an important determinant of health. At certain levels of exposure, contaminants in our air, water, food and soil can cause a variety of adverse health effects, including cancer, birth defects, respiratory illness and gastrointestinal ailments.
7. Personal Health Practices and Coping Skills
Personal Health Practices and Coping Skills refer to those actions by which individuals can prevent diseases and promote self-care, cope with challenges, and develop self-reliance, solve problems and make choices that enhance health.
8. Healthy Child Development
New evidence on the effects of early experiences on brain development, school readiness and health in later life has sparked a growing consensus about early child development as a powerful determinant of health in its own right.
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9. Biology and Genetic Endowment
The basic biology and organic make-up of the human body are a fundamental determinant of health. Endowment refers to the genetics you have received from your parents that influence the make-up of your biological body
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10. Health Services
Health services, particularly those designed to maintain and promote health, to prevent disease, and to restore health and function contribute to population health
11. Gender
Different genders face different health risks. Gender refers to the array of society-determined roles, personality traits, attitudes, behaviours, values, relative power and influence that society ascribes to the two sexes on a differential basis.
12. Culture
Some persons or groups may face additional health risks due to a socio-economic environment, which is largely determined by dominant cultural values that contribute to the perpetuation of conditions such as marginalization, stigmatization, loss or devaluation of language and culture and lack of access to culturally appropriate health care and services.
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*Click on link to view evidence of why these influence your health*
http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/ph-sp/determinants/determinants-eng.php#income
