Social Determinants

I recently showed the episode of “Bad Sugar” from the video Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick to one of my classes. Here is a link to some clips from this video: 

http://www.unnaturalcauses.org/episode_descriptions.php?page=2

It can be a challenge to move analysis in the classroom from individual determinants of health to the social factors (which only mirrors how these issues tend to be dealt with in policy arenas). This video helps tremendously in illustrating how to move from individual to social.

Each time I view different episodes, I am struck by the limiting aspects of public and political discourse on health and health reform never taking in that all parts of society contribute to health and well-being. Maybe the health legislation recently passed will be revisited in Congress due to the backlash against it, but not revisited in ways that account for social determinants of health. Not considered in public and general politics  is that all policy is health policy. Just as immigration reform does not take into account the growing number of policies in other areas of law and within immigration law ( that would not necessarily be overturned by reform) that negatively impact immigrant families (See Kateel & Shahani, 2008).  Regarding health however, (and immigration law could also be viewed as a health policy too) this World Health Organization website explains the idea of social determinants of health very well.

http://www.who.int/social_determinants/en/

                                                                         Reference

Kateel, S., & Shanani, A. (2008). Families for freedom: Against deportation and delegalization. In  D.C. Brotherton & P. Kretsedemas (Eds.). Keeping out the Other: A critical introduction to immigration enforcement today (pp. 258-287). NY: Columbia University Press.