Social Determinants of Health

The only text that accessibly examines the social determinants of health from a Canadian, contemporary, and comparative perspective

Featuring thought-provoking Canadian and international examples throughout, this text takes a macro-level look at the many ways in which social factors - such as income, education, employment, gender, and support systems - interact to determine health across the lifespan.

Table of Contents

Introduction: The Conventional Understanding of Health and Its Alternative
How We Understand Threats to Our Health
A New Perspective on Our Health: Rise of an Alternative View
Health Inequalities
The Basis of Health Inequalities
What Lies Ahead
1. Thinking about Individual and Population Health
Synopsis
Levels of Analysis
Individual-Level Analysis of Health and Disease
Origins of Population Health
Some Notes on Terms
Theoretical Considerations
Summary
Critical Thinking Questions
Annotated Suggested Readings
Annotated Websites
2. Health Care Services and Health Research Methods NEW
Synopsis
Health Care as a Determinant of Health
Health Care or Health?
Issues of Access and Equity
Public Health
Health Research Methods
Theoretical Considerations
Summary
Critical Thinking Questions
Annotated Suggested Readings
Annotated Websites
3. Population Health and Social Epidemiology
Synopsis
The Emergence of the Field Social Epidemiology
Geoffrey Rose and the Population-Health Perspective
The Impact of Recent Studies on Thinking about Health
The Gradient in Health
The Building Blocks of Theory
Theoretical Considerations
Summary
Critical Thinking Questions
Annotated Suggested Readings
Annotated Websites
4. Income, Inequality, and Health
Synopsis
Income and Health
The Gradient in Health
Understanding the Complex Relationship between Income and Health
The Inequality Hypothesis: Preston, Rodgers, Kaplan, and Wilkinson
The Inequality Hypothesis Under Assault
What Are We to Make of the Literature on Inequality and Health?
The Importance of Keeping Materialist Arguments Separate from Ones about Hierarchy and Control
Other Explanations for the Correlation between Social Inequality and Health
Income and Income Distribution
Wealth
Public Programs and Services
Poverty and Its Mitigation
Poverty Mitigation: Social Assistance or Welfare
Lower Taxes or More Public Spending?
Theoretical Considerations
Summary
Thinking Questions
Annotated Suggested Readings
Annotated Websites
5. Childhood and the Transition to Adulthood
Synopsis
Early Childhood
Animal Studies
Contributions from Psychology
Early Childhood Policy
A Note on the Public School System
Older Children and Teens
Theoretical Considerations
Summary
Critical Thinking Questions
Annotated Suggested Readings
Annotated Websites
6. Gender and Health
Synopsis
The Health of Women and Men
The Convergence of Health-Related Behaviour
The Effects of Stable Long-Term Relationships on Health
Distress Among Women
Gender Equity
Education and the Health of Women and Their Communities
Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender People
Intersex People
Theoretical Considerations
Summary
Critical Thinking Questions
Annotated Suggested Readings
Annotated Websites
7. Social Support, Social Capital, Social Exclusion, and Racism
Synopsis
Social Norms, Predictability, and Human Health
Social Networks
Social Support and Health
Social Isolation among Older Adults
Social Cohesion
Social Capital
Sense of Community Belonging
Social Exclusion
Racism
Theoretical Considerations
Summary
Critical Thinking Questions
Annotated Suggested Readings
Annotated Websites
8. Health of Indigenous Peoples
Synopsis
Who Are the Indigenous Peoples?
The Health of Indigenous Peoples
Understanding the Determinants of Indigenous Health
A Story of Dramatic Improvement
Theoretical Considerations
Summary
Critical Thinking Questions
Annotated Suggested Readings
Annotated Websites
9. Employment, Working Conditions, and Health
Synopsis
The Centrality of Employment to Adult Health
Health and Jobs
Unemployment and Health
Changes in the Nature of Employment
Working Conditions and Health
Policies Affecting Employment, Earnings, Job Benefits, and Working Conditions
Theoretical Considerations
Summary
Critical Thinking Questions
Annotated Suggested Readings
Annotated Websites
10. Housing and Neighbourhood
Synopsis
Homes and Health
Neighbourhood and Health
Urban Design, the Built Environment, and Physical Activity
Housing Policy and Health
Theoretical Considerations
Summary
Critical Thinking Questions
Annotated Suggested Readings
Annotated Websites
11. Food, Food Insecurity, Nutrition, Obesity, and Health
Synopsis
Diet and the Health of Populations
What Is a Healthy Diet? Canada's Food Guide
The Relative Cost of Healthy Foods
Obesity
Diet and Health
Policies and Programs
Theoretical Considerations
Summary
Critical Thinking Questions
Annotated Suggested Readings
Annotated Websites
12. The Environment and Health NEW
Synopsis
Climate Change
Natural Disasters
Modern Food Production: Factory Farming
Air Pollution
Lead, Mercury, and Arsenic
The Household Environment
Plastics
Theoretical Considerations
Summary
Critical Thinking Questions
Annotated Suggested Readings
Annotated Websites
13. Social Patterning of Behaviour
Synopsis
Human Behaviour and Its Context
Substance Misuse
Healthy Lifestyles
Theoretical Considerations
Summary
Critical Thinking Questions
Annotated Suggested Readings
Annotated Websites
14. The Politics of Population Health
Models of Health
Globalization and Human Health
Population Health and Politics
Annotated Suggested Readings
Annotated Websites
Glossary
References
Index

Alan Davidson, Associate Professor Emeritus, University of British Columbia Okanagan Campus

Alan Davidson is associate professor emeritus in the Health and Social Development department in the School of Health and Exercise Sciences at UBC-Okanagan.