Abstract
This chapter discusses the various social factors which determine human health. In the preceding chapter, the roles of some social factors in health and illness behaviour were discussed. This chapter provides an elaboration of the social determinants of health (SDH), dwelling more on how social factors interact to produce health or illness. The notion that health has a social context is traced to the father of western medicine, Hippocrates (460 BC–370 BC). The notion of social aetiology of health or illness is synonymous with the consideration of social factors in human health and illness. Therefore, SDH refers to the full set of social conditions and characteristics within which living and working take place, which invariably account for human health. The idea of differential social positions and conditions is summed as SDH because these factors lead to differential disease exposure and vulnerability and consequences of health conditions. The social determinants examined include gender inequality, socioeconomic status, education and health literacy, living conditions/housing, individual behaviour and lifestyle factors, employment or occupation, social alienation and discrimination, and access to health care. The crux of this chapter is the detailed explanation and provision of basic frameworks to explain how the social factors function in the determination of human health. Relevant specific situations from African contexts are provided to elaborate the points.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Albouy, V., & Lequien, L. (2009). Does compulsory education lower mortality? Journal of Health Economics, 28(1), 155–168.
Amzat, J. (2008). Lumpen childhood in Nigeria: A case of the Almajirai in northern Nigeria. Hemispheres: Studies on Cultures and Societies, 23, 54–66.
Amzat, J. (2011). Assessing the progress of malaria control in Nigeria. World Health and Population, 12(3), 42–51.
Anderson, J. W., & Conley, S. B. (2007). Whole grains and diabetes. In L Marquart, Jr. D. R. Jacobs, G. H. McIntosh, K. Poutanen, & M. Reicks (Eds.), Whole Grains and Health (pp. 29–45). Ames: Blackwell Publishing Professional.
Anderson, J. W., Baird, P., Davis, R. H. Jr., Ferreri, S., Knudtson, M., Koraym, A., Waters, V., & Williams, C. L. (2009). Health benefits of dietary fiber. Nutrition Reviews, 67(4), 188–205.
Appleton, S. (2000). Education and health at the household level in sub-Saharan Africa. CID Working Paper no. 33, Explaining African Economic Growth Performance Conference Series.
Baker, M., McNicholas, A., Garrett, N., Jones, N., Stewart, J., Koberstein, V., & Lennon, D. (2000). Household crowding a major risk factor for epidemic meningococcal disease in Auckland children. The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, 19, 983–990.
Brodish, A. B., Cogburn, C. D., Fuller-Rowell, T. E., Peck, S., Malanchuk, O., & Eccles, J. S. (2011). Perceived racial discrimination as a predictor of health behaviours: The moderating role of gender. Race and Social Problems. doi:10.1007/s12552-011-9050-6.
Brunello, G., Fort, G., Schneeweis, N., & Winter-Ebmer, R. (2011). The causal effect of education on health: What is the role of health behaviors? Discussion Paper Series, IZA DP No. 5944.
Cockerham, W. C. (2013). Bourdieu and an update of health lifestyle theory. In W. C. Cockerham (Ed.), Medical sociology on the move: New directions in theory (pp. 127–154). Dordrecht: Springer.
Cole, D. (2006). Understanding the links between agriculture and health: occupational health hazards of agriculture. International Food Policy Research Institute, Focus 13, Brief 8 of 16. Washington, D.C.: USA.
Copeland-Linder, N., Lambert, S. F., Chen, Y., & Ialongo, N. S. (2011). Contextual stress and health risk behaviours among African American adolescents. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 40, 158–173.
CSDH. (2008). Closing the gap in a generation: Health equity through action on the social determinants of health. Final Report of the Commission on Social Determinants of Health. Geneva: World Health Organization.
Cutler D. M., & Lleras-Muney, A. (2006). Education and health: evaluating theories and evidence. NBER Working paper Series. http://www.nber.org/papers/w12352. Accessed 2 June 2012.
Cutler, D. M., Lleras-Muney, A., & Vogl, T. (2006). Socioeconomic status and health: Dimensions and mechanisms, National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) Working Papers: 14333.
Delamater, P. L., Messina, J. P., Shortridge, A. M., & Grady, S. C. (2012). Measuring geographic access to health care: raster and network-based methods. International Journal of Health Geographics, 11, 15. doi:10.1186/1476-072X-11-15.
Delisle, H. F., Vioque, J., & Augusta, G. (2009). Dietary patterns and quality in West-African immigrants in Madrid. Nutrition Journal, 23(8), 3. doi:10.1186/1475-2891-8-3.
Fathalla, M. F. (2000). When medicine rediscovered its social roots. Bull World Health Organ [online], 78(5), 677–678.
Fonseca, R., & Zheng, Y. (2011). The effect of education on health: Cross-country evidence. Working Paper, RAND WR–864.
Govender, T., Barnes, J. M., & Pieper, C. H. (2010). Living in low-cost housing settlements in Cape Town, South Africa—the epidemiological characteristics associated with increased health vulnerability. Journal of Urban Health: Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine, 87(6), 899–911.
Grant, U. (2005). Health and poverty linkages: perspectives of the chronically poor. Background paper for the chronic poverty report 2008–09. Manchester: Chronic Poverty Research Center.
Gulliford, M., Figueroa-Munoz, J., Morgan, M., Hughes, D., Gibson, B., Beech, R., & Hudson, M. (2002). What does ‘access to health care’ mean? Journal of Health Services Research & Policy, 7(3), 186–188.
Hausmann, L. R. M., Jeong, K., Bost, J. E., & Ibrahim, S. A. (2008). Perceived discrimination in health care and health status in a racially diverse sample. Medical Care, 46(9), 905–914.
Heise, L., Germain, A., & Pitanguy, J. (1994). Violence against women: The hidden health burden. World Bank Discussion Paper, No 255. Washington. D.C: The World Bank.
Irwin, A., Valentine, N., Brown, C., Loewenson, R., Solar, O., Brown, H., Koller, T., & Vega, J. (2006). The Commission on social determinants of health: Tackling the social roots of health inequities. PLoS Medicine, 3(6), e106.
Jackson, J. S., Knight, K. M., & Rafferty, J. A. (2010). Race and unhealthy behaviors: Chronic stress, the HPA axis, and physical and mental health disparities over the life course. American Journal of Public Health, 100, 933–939.
Kalekin-Fishman, D. (2006). Studying alienation: Toward a better society? Kybernetes, 35(3/4), 522–530.
Kawachi, I., & Wamala, S. (2007). Globalization and health (pp. 122–137). New York: Oxford University Press.
Kickbusch, I. S. (2001). Health literacy: Addressing the health and education divide. Health Promotion International, 16(3), 289–297.
Kranz, S., Brauchla, M., Slavin, J. L., & Miller, K. B. (2012). What do we know about dietary fiber intake in children and health? The effects of fiber intake on constipation, obesity, and diabetes in children. Advances in Nutrition, 3, 47–53.
Lairon, D., Arnault, N., Bertrais, S., Planells, R., Clero, E., Hercberg, S., & Boutron-Ruault, M. C. (2005). Dietary fiber intake and risk factors for cardiovascular disease in French adults. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 82(6), 1185–1194.
Lancaster, K. J., Watts, S. O., & Dixon, L. B. (2006). Dietary intake and risk of coronary heart disease differ among ethnic subgroups of black Americans. The Journal of Nutrition, 136(2), 446–451.
Li, Y. C., Huang, H. J., Zhang, Z. L., & Qi, X. Y. (2008). Effects of occupation on health of traffic policemen in a city. Chinese Journal of Industrial Hygiene and Occupational and Diseases, 26(3), 165–7.
Lochner, L. (2011). Non-production benefits of education: Crime, health, and good citizenship, Working Paper 16722, National Bureau of Economic Research.
Mackenbach, J. P., Stirbu, I., Roskam, A. R., Schaap, M. M., Menvielle, G., Leinsalu, M., & Kunst, A. E. (2008). Socioeconomic inequalities in health in 22 European countries. The New England Journal of Medicine, 358(23), 2468–2481.
Marmot, M. (2005). Social determinants of health inequalities. Lancet, 365, 1099–1104.
Mokhtar, N., Elati, J., Chabir, R., Bour, A., Elkari, K., Schlossman, N. P., Caballero, B., & Aguenaou, H. (2001). Diet culture and obesity in northern Africa. The Journal of Nutrition, 131(3), 887S–892S.
Moomal, H., Jackson, P. B., Stein, D. J., Herman, A., Myer, L., Seedat, S., Madela-Mntla, E., & Williams, D. R. (2009). Perceived discrimination and mental health disorders: The South African stress and health study. South African Medical Journal, 99(5 Pt 2), 383–389.
Nutbeam, D. (2000). Health education as a public health goal: A challenge for health education and communication strategies into the 21st century. Health Promotion International, 15(3), 259–267.
Obrist, B., Iteba, N., Lengeler, C., Makemba, A., Mshana, C., Nathan, R., Alba, S., Dillip, A., Hetzel, M. W., Mayumana, I., Schulze, A., & Mshinda, H. (2007). Access to health care in contexts of livelihood insecurity: A framework for analysis and action PLoS Medicine, 4(10), e308. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0040308.
Paradies, Y. A. (2006). Systematic review of empirical research on self-reported racism and health. International Journal of Epidemiology, 35(4), 888–901.
Pascoe, E. A., & Richman, L. S. (2009). Perceived discrimination and health: A meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin, 135(4), 531–554.
Peters, E., Bakers, D. P., Dieckmann, N. F., Leon, J., & Collins, J. (2010). Explaining the effect of education on health: A field study in Ghana. Psychological Science, 21, 1369–1376.
Picker, L. (2012). The effects of education on health. http://www.nber.org/digest/mar07/w12352.html. Accessed 2 June 2012.
Sánchez-Barriga, J. J. (2012). Mortality trends from hypertension in Mexico by socioeconomic region and state, 2000–2008. Revista panamericana de salud pública, 32(2), 109–116.
Sen, A. (2003). Missing women—revisited: Reduction in female mortality has been counterbalanced by sex selective abortions. BMJ, 327, 1297–1298.
South Australian Council of Social Services (SACOSS). (2008). The social determinants of health. SACOSS Information Paper December 2008. Australia.
Tarlov, A. (1996). Social determinants of health: The sociobiological translation. In D. Blane, E. Brunner, & R. Wilkinson (Eds.), Health and social organization (pp. 71–93). London: Routledge.
UNESCO. (2010). EFA Global monitoring report: reaching the marginalized. Paris: Oxford University Press.
UNFPA. (2004). Child marriage advocacy programme: Fact sheet on child marriage and early union.
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). (2009). Overcoming barriers: Human mobility and development. NY.
United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT). (2003). The challenge of slums: Global report on human settlements. London: Earthscan Publications Ltd.
Vandemoortele, J., & Delamonica, E. (2002). Education vaccine against HIV/AIDS. Current Issues in Comparative Education, 3(1), 6–13.
Volkers, A. C., Westert, G. P., & Schellevis, F. G. (2007). Health disparities by occupation, modified by education: A cross-sectional population study. BMC Public Health, 7, 196.
Waters, A. (2001). Do housing conditions impact on health inequalities between Australia’s Rich and Poor? Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) Positioning Paper No. 2.
Whelton, S. P., Hyre, A. D., Pedersen, B., Yi, Y., Whelton, P. K., & He, J. (2005). Effect of dietary fiber intake on blood pressure: A meta-analysis of randomized, Controlled Clinical Trials. Journal of Hypertension, 23, 475–481.
WHO. (2009). Ten facts on women’s health. http://www.who.int/gender/documents/10facts_womens_health_en.pdf. Accessed 11 Feb. 2013.
WHO. (2010). Ten facts about tobacco and gender. http://www.who.int/gender/documents/10facts_gender_tobacco_en.pdf. Accessed 11 Feb. 2013.
WHO. (2000). African submit on roll back malaria. Geneva.
Williams, D. R., & Mohammed, S. A. (2009). Discrimination and racial disparities in health: Evidence and needed research. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 32:20–47.
Williams, D. R., Gonzalez, H. M., Williams, S., Mohammed, S. A., Moomal, H., & Stein, D. J. (2008). Perceived discrimination, race and health in South Africa. Social Science & Medicine, 67(3), 441–452.
Williams, D. R., Neighbors, H. W., & Jackson, J. S. (2003). Racial/ethnic discrimination and health: findings from community studies. American Journal of Public Health, 93(2), 200–208.
World Bank. (2011). World Development Report 2012: Gender equality and development. Washington DC: World Bank.
Yusuf, O. B., Adeoye, B. W., Oladepo, O. O., Peters, D. H., & Bishai, D. (2010). Poverty and fever vulnerability in Nigeria: A multilevel analysis. Malaria Journal, 9, 235. doi:10.1186/1475-2875-9-235.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Amzat, J., Razum, O. (2014). Social Determinants/Context of Health. In: Medical Sociology in Africa. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-03986-2_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-03986-2_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-03985-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-03986-2
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawSocial Sciences (R0)