Social Determinants Of Health Essay

Words: 480
Pages: 2

This assignment will be explaining what is meant by the term ‘Social Determinants of Health’. The main topic which will be explained is how smoking can affect a person’s physical/mental health and how this impacts on individuals, families and communities. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) the social determinants of health (SDH) are the conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live, and age, and the wider set of forces and systems shaping the conditions of daily life. These forces and systems include economic policies and systems, development agendas, social norms, social policies and political systems. (World Health Organisation (WHO), 2015). Social determinants of health are factors which affect a person’s physical or mental health, Examples of these are; Housing, Education, Unemployment, Access to health services, Transport, Lifestyle factors etc. These social factors may lead to stress, insecurity, isolation, anxiety and loss of control of work, health status or home life. These factors contribute to the development of illness through their influence on health-promoting behaviours. …show more content…
Similarly, poor mental health can negatively impact on physical health, leading to an increased risk of some conditions. (Mentalhealth.org.uk, 2015). Smoking has a negative impact on both mental and physical health, Smoking is one of the biggest causes of death and illness in the UK. Every year around 100,000 people die from smoking, with many more deaths caused by smoking-related illnesses. (NHS.UK), 2015). Nicotine is the addictive drug in tobacco smoke that causes smokers to continue to smoke, there are 7,000 chemicals in cigarettes that can trigger damaging changes within this body. Tobacco smoke contains over 60 known cancer-causing chemicals, Smoking damages nearly every organ in the body, causing many diseases and reducing general