Health as a social construct

[Music]

[Music]

this video looks at the dot point health

as a social construct your syllabus

asked you to recognize the

interrelationship of the determinants

and the challenge the notion that health

is solely individuals responsibility it

also asks you to investigate how the

determinants of health explain why some

individuals and groups have better or

worse off than others

let's start by stating that health is

not a result of individual choices only

but is actually constructed by society

and as such responsibility for health

for support not just the individual but

society as a whole health as a social

construct recognizes how an individual's

context impact upon their health status

it affirms the interrelationship of the

determinants of health and notice that

many of the determinants are either out

of the individual's control or made

difficult to change because of their

context the result is that health is the

responsibility of societies and not just

the individual every determinants of

health affects another often more than

one the four categories of deterrents

overlap with one another as they

interrelate to determine the health of

individuals for example your

geographical location can limit or

increase your employment and educational

options it can also improve your access

to health services affect your peer

group and media exposure furthermore

socioeconomic factors can determine your

peer group as you may or may not be able

to afford to do the activities around

which people socialize your education

can affect your income and your access

to health services and Technology

especially when considering elective

surgery or a similar care

your family will at various stages

affect your health by influencing your

peer group income geographic location

for genetics your attitude towards

health your religion your access to

technology or health services and so

much more finally individual factors

such as knowledge and skill levels will

greatly impact your choice of employment

and affects your level of education can

then affect your geographic location and

ability to access or navigate the

healthcare industry recognizing the

interrelationship of the health

determinants is acknowledging that

health is a more complex issue than is

often thought the fact that some health

determines our non-modifiable means that

our health is affected by things beyond

our control and therefore we are not

entirely responsible for our own health

but this does not mean we have no

responsibilities as we progressed in

life a degree of control increases and

we are responsible for the determinants

that we can modify especially those that

are more easily changed such as our

health behaviors this complex nature of

health showed us that health is a social

construct and challenges the notions

that health is solely an individual's

responsibility and helps explain why

some groups have better health than

others

this simple image helps explain why

people who have a socio-economic

disadvantages have poorer health

outcomes being born into a poor family

usually results in lower levels of

education and limited skill development

this limits job opportunities and income

these limitations result in poorer

living conditions

less access to health services and

Technology and lower levels of health

knowledge and skills

so is that the individual limbs in an

environment less conducive to good

health and is less equipped to make the

right health choices

you