Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) Impacts on Family Health

Family Health Assessment
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Family Health Assessment
Introduction
Social determinants of health (SDOH) are those settings where people are born, raised, stay, find employment, and develop. In essence, they are non-medical aspects that have a large impact on matters of health since they shape the conditions of daily living. Examples of these social determinants of health include access to social services, geographical location, socioeconomic status, educational background, housing, employment status, and health literacy. This essay is geared towards describing SDOHs, and how they affect family health status, their impacts on the family and the reasons for their prevalence in the family based on the information gathered through a previous family health assessment. Moreover, this essay will present age-appropriate and relevant screenings for the family members while selecting a health model for the creation of an action plan.
SDOH Impact on Family Health
Hudson (2021) states that health practitioners are required to cultivate applicable skills for the assessment of patients’ social environment and how it affects their health outcomes. By realizing and considering social determinants of health, health disparities are easily abated, thus promoting positive health outcomes and improving health equity in the community. Following the interview conducted with the family, it became clearer to establish the family’s social determinants of health. Due to the health disparities caused by inadequacy of knowledge and health literacy, the foremost SDOH was the educational background. Moreover, geographical location and socioeconomic status also rendered their access to health services and quality health care unattainable.
Raghupathi and Raghupathi (2020) perform a review based on educational attainment indicators to discover the role of education in matters of health. Here, Raghupathi and Raghupathi (2020) found that people with higher educational attainment rates showcased more positive health outcomes, with their overall life expectancy rates higher when compared to people with lower educational attainment. Furthermore, Raghupathi and Raghupathi (2020) assert that higher educational attainment influences child mortality, vaccination rates, medical enrolment, adherence to medication and treatment plans, and medical reporting. Therefore, the family’s low educational background may render negative health outcomes as their health literacy is lower than average.
Tanou and Kamiya (2019) posit that geographical location influences accessibility to health services and becomes a crucial barrier to positive health outcomes. Overcoming geographical distance to access health services ultimately requires the expenditure of effort, time, and financial resources. Due to the family’s low socioeconomic status, this expenditure of resources and time may prove too costly in case of a medical emergency, which may prove detrimental to their overall health. According to a study by Kotavaara et al. (2021), accessibility to health services is mainly diminished among populations residing within remote areas. Kotavaara et al. (2021...