Health and Healing - Determinants of Health

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The topic of exploring determinants of health in action is important to fully understand the factors that influence an individual’s health and the impact they have on their life. By understanding the different components that make up the determinants of health, we can fully understand each individual’s health and quality of life. When learning about socioeconomic status and determinants of health, we can understand how they are interrelated and the effects that a high and low socioeconomic status have on an individual, and specifically on children. By learning the different determinants of health and the positive and negative characteristics due to the socioeconomic status level, we can connect how these vast differences impact children, and how to handle the complications as a nurse. The determinant of health socioeconomic status is defined as a measure of an individual’s economic and social position determined by their income, education and employment (Canadian Institute for Health Information, 2008). An individual’s income, education and employment are all interconnected with each other, each influencing the other either positively or negatively. The level of education achieved can directly determine the availability and level of employment that can be attained, influencing their income. A high socioeconomic status outlines a person with an education that provides numerous job opportunities and security of income (Reutter & Kushner, 2010). A low socioeconomic status outlines a person with little to no education that are likely to be unemployed or receiving minimum paying jobs that have an insecurity of income and experience frequent intense struggles (Reutter & Kushner, 2010). A socioeconomic status connects with controlling a person’s health through the determinants of income and social status, physical environment, and personal health practices (Reuter &

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