Social Determinants of Health

Respond to the following in a minimum of 175 words and cite 1 reference:

Why is addressing the social determinants of health especially important as a community/public health nurse?

Respond to the following 2 discussions in a minimum of 120 words each and cite 1 reference each:

1) Social determinants are vitally important as a community health nurse since you are always assessing and seeing what your community needs. Social, economic and political factors play a huge role in what happens in the community and how the needs and wants of the community change with change. Knowing that the community you serve may be underfunded and with that comes poor education on vaccinations and prenatal care. Being a resource for these people cannot be understated and one knows that you are making such a change in their lives. The COVID 19 pandemic taught us that as a community if one is not on top of health topics to the community like diabetes education, heart education and other such topics it can be detrimental to their health. Community nurses are going out and disseminating the information on pre existing conditions and how they affect your health with this pandemic is what community nursing is made for. (Emma)

Singu, S., Acharya, A., Challagundla, K., & Byrareddy, S. N. (2020). Impact of social determinants of health on the emerging COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Frontiers in public health, 8, 406.

2) Social determinants of health as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) are the circumstances under which people are born, grow, live, work and age and the system put in place to deal with illnesses. Social health determinants are further influenced by social, economic and political factors. Examples of social determinants of health include economic stability, education, social and community context, health and health care, and neighborhood and built environment (Nies & McEwen, 2018). The nurse needs to address social determinants because they drive health outcomes. Smoking, diet, social life and economic status greatly influence the wellbeing and health status of the community. Children born of poor parents will be forced to live in untidy neighborhoods where they will easily contract diseases and will not also have access to quality healthcare services. Addressing social determinants of health is not only important for improving overall health, but also for reducing health disparities that are often rooted in social and economic disadvantages. Addressing those social determinants of health may already go a long way in preventing and solving health problems in the community. (Marcel)

Nies, M. A., & McEwen, M. (2018). Community/Public health nursing (7th ed.). Elsevier Health Sciences.

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