Social determinants of health impact people around the world every day. It is important for health professionals to understand how social determinants of health affects the people they come into contact with, whether it is in a hospital or in the community. The World Health Organization (2009) defines social determinants of health as “the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age and the wider set of forces and systems shaping the conditions of daily life”. This puts forward the idea that personal characteristics, standard of living and the background in which a person is born and raised into affects their everyday life.
Dahlgren & Whitehead (1991) discussed the layers of influence on health through the Social Model of Health Diagram. The diagram shows the link between the person, the location in which they live in and their illness. At the centre of the diagram is the individual with their fixed genes such as age and sex, these are the individual’s personal characteristics. The individual is influenced by everyday life …show more content…
The perspective of the discussion will be from a family’s point of view and how unemployment affects the physical and mental health of the whole family. An unemployed person is an individual who is not currently at work, but are willing and looking for employment. Research from Canada had evidence that malnourishment, cardiovascular diseases and feelings of stress and worry were higher in those unemployed than those of employed (World Health Organization 2009). 1,630,000 people were unemployed in the UK in May to July 2016 (Office for National Statistics 2016). 171,000 people were unemployed in Scotland from December 2015 to February 2016 (Scotland Office 2016). Office for National Statistics (ONS) released data showing that the unemployment rate in Scotland is 6.2%, which raises concern due to the rate being greater than all of the UK
Dahlgren & Whitehead (1991) discussed the layers of influence on health through the Social Model of Health Diagram. The diagram shows the link between the person, the location in which they live in and their illness. At the centre of the diagram is the individual with their fixed genes such as age and sex, these are the individual’s personal characteristics. The individual is influenced by everyday life …show more content…
The perspective of the discussion will be from a family’s point of view and how unemployment affects the physical and mental health of the whole family. An unemployed person is an individual who is not currently at work, but are willing and looking for employment. Research from Canada had evidence that malnourishment, cardiovascular diseases and feelings of stress and worry were higher in those unemployed than those of employed (World Health Organization 2009). 1,630,000 people were unemployed in the UK in May to July 2016 (Office for National Statistics 2016). 171,000 people were unemployed in Scotland from December 2015 to February 2016 (Scotland Office 2016). Office for National Statistics (ONS) released data showing that the unemployment rate in Scotland is 6.2%, which raises concern due to the rate being greater than all of the UK