Social Determinants of Health

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Social determinants of health (SDH) do not have one standard meaning. The World Health Organization (WHO) Commission on health denotes SDH as the primary conditions in which human beings emerge into the world, develop, exist, work, and mature as they become affected by families and societies, power, resources, and wealth distribution within the local, regional, national, and global levels. Policy selections at these levels also shape the conditions perceived as SDH (Viner et al. 1641). Besides this comprehensive definition, other various terminology also describes SDH. For instance, SDH can as well be the situations in which individuals live – the social, political, cultural, ecological, and economic aspects that influence the well-being of these persons. These can also be a person’s daily circumstances, ranging from the quality of family settings and peer-based connections, via housing, recreation, and food availability, to social amenities such as education. Social stratification originating from structural factors generates the proximal factors, but the community, religious, and cultural elements also generate it. The proximal factors create individual differences in susceptibility to elements compromising health (Viner et al. 1642). Young generations transform into adulthood within a series web of these influences, factors, or determinants that, in turn, shape their present and future wellness.
Social determinants also shaped my health and growth like other individuals developing into adulthood. For instance, as I experienced adolescence, I developed the urge to misuse drugs out of peer pressure. However, despite the push to engage in substance use, self-control saved me from the involvement. According to Viner et al. (1648), peer pressure inevitably occurs alon...