Kontakt 2013, 15(4):406-412 | DOI: 10.32725/kont.2013.048

Conception of ten social determinants of healthHealth and Social Sciences - Review

Iva Brabcová^1,*, Jitka Vacková²

¹ Jihočeská univerzita v Českých Budějovicích, Zdravotně sociální fakulta, katedra ošetřovatelství a porodní asistence

² Jihočeská univerzita v Českých Budějovicích, Zdravotně sociální fakulta, katedra sociální práce

Each human should have the opportunity to live a fully-fledged life. Nevertheless, there exist differences among people as for their attitude to health and health care use. The roots of this inequality often lay in social-economic conditions. The conception of ten social determinants of health looks for the primary causes of these differences and suggests strategies that lead to rising equality in the society. Among important social determinants that influence the health of an individual belongs the social gradient (social grade of an individual in the society) or their life conditions in childhood. There are several factors that contribute to the appearance of different diseases like the level of stress, anxiety and fear that we face in the course of our life. Poverty and social marginalization also have a negative impact on human health. Last but not least, the standard of nutrition (it means its lack or excess) belongs among those social determinants that have an important impact on human organism. The issue of social health determinants has been treated in the long term by World Health Organization (WHO). The Czech Republic is involved in a number of international projects which deal with the interconnection between the social situation and health of the majority and minority population (e.g. Determine and Mighealthnet project). It is the Faculty of Health and Social Studies of the University of South Bohemia that deals with the interconnection between the health condition and the social and economical situation. The present article is a general study aiming to determine theoretically the conception of ten social determinants of health, to provide evidence for the currency of given conception, and to develop a discussion about reaching the strategic goals of this conception. At the same time, it points out its possible risks and limitations. During the research, the following databases were used: ScienceDirect, Scopus, PubMed and Wiley.

Keywords: framing; social inequality of health; social determinants of health

Received: September 19, 2012; Accepted: June 17, 2013; Published: December 20, 2013  Show citation