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[Title]
The Name of the Program
The Name of the Class (Course)
Professor (Tutor)
The Name of the School (University)
The City and State where it is located
Date Submitted
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Table of Content
Content Page no.
Title page
Introduction 3
Determinants of health 3
Health inequalities 4
Scottish priorities 4
Early year experience and health 5
Health literacy 6
Conclusion 6
References 7
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Introduction
A case was selected from the Bain Den, Robdon. A small town with the second-largest
unemployment rate as well as the notable prevalence of smoking, drug usage, unplanned teenage
pregnancy, etc. Jane’s family consisted of 5 members. She was separated from her husband and
living with her children i.e. Kelly, Chloe, and Paul. Kelly was a teen mother and having a baby
named Roxy. Paul was reported for being hanging out with troublesome boys, Chloe had also
seemed tiring, and Kelly was facing difficulty being a mom. Moreover, Jane was facing financial
difficulty and concerned about Paul’s behavior.
Determinants of Health
Health influence by many factors including, physical, social, environmental, personal, and
behavioral (World, Health Organization, 2017). U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
published a report “Healthy People 2020 framework”, which defines determinants of health as:
“Health and health behaviors are determined by influences at multiple levels, including personal
(i.e., biological, psychological), organizational/institutional, environmental (i.e., both social and
physical), and policy levels…Historically, many health fields have focused on individual-level
health determinants and interventions”. In this case, the behavioral or personal attributes along
with social factors are the determinants of health. Social determinants have consisted of the
economic and social status of a person in a community (Commission on Social Determinants of
Health, 2008). These statuses are often predicted access to money, power, and other resources
available to people (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2020). A person’s social
status is also shaped by many determinants, for example, education, employment, and wages.
These factors also affect how people engage themselves in health-related behaviors. Jane was
facing an economic burden, thus the health-related behaviors of Jane and her family will depend
on how much recourses they have to attend to their health needs.
Personal characteristic is an important role in determining health. Personality is also linked with
health-related behavior, for example, smoking, food intake, alcohol, and drug usage, etc. (Magee
et al., 2013). Health behaviors are often known as health-related behaviors and these are the
actions of people that impact the morality, health, and wellbeing of people (Tan, et al., 2020).
Such health-related actions of individuals can be planned or unplanned. In the current case,
Paul’s personality can have an impact on health-related behaviors as he chose to select hanging
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out with those boys who were smokers and drug users. Social factors such as peer pressure can
also work as a determinant of health for Paul. These two health determinants further affect the
other determinants of health, for example, medical care use (Tan, et al., 2020).
Health Inequalities
Social determinant of health is a vital approach to study health inequalities. Health equity is
described as “when everyone has the opportunity to ‘attain their full health potential and no one
is ‘disadvantaged from achieving this potential because of their social position or other socially
determined circumstance” (CDC, 2019). In the current case, poverty and low economic
opportunity can be a factor of inequality for the family. In personal or familial terms, poverty is
considered as a stream social factor that comprises of unfavorable and unequal communal (e.g.,
schooling) and financial (e.g., occupation) distribution, insufficient strategies, and unequal
demographics (e.g., living in areas with low economic or social prospects) (Price, 2018). Poverty
can determine deprived health consequences in families because of financial conditions for
instance incapability to meet the expense of medical care and treatment (Hamel, et al., 2016).
Moreover, poverty can also contribute to the development of psychological health conditions
such as anxiety, distress, aggression, resentment, and feeling of helplessness that will again
contribute towards unfavorable response and destructive coping strategies in attaining health
(Mackenbach, et al., 2018). Jane’s family had low economic opportunities which were
impacting the mental health of Paul and Chloe as they were tired and showed low interest in
educational activities. Constant worrying about economic burden can also affect the health of
Jane's mentally. She could face distress and anxiety in the future. Furthermore, limited financial
resources can also impact Jane’s family in seeking medical care and treatment thus, poverty can
play a major role in determining health-related inequalities.
Scottish Priorities
Several Scottish priorities have been developed over the past few years. According to the
Scottish Government (2018), six health priorities were elaborated which will increase the social,
economic, and physical conditions of the public as well as help people in taking effective
decisions related to their health. The fourth priority, “A Scotland where we reduce the use of and
harm from alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs” is fundamental to discuss in this case. Paul was
reported for being hanging out with boys who were drug users known for stealing things. As the
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Scottish Government showed their concern related to the use of drugs and alcohol in the teen
population, they are trying to reduce the risks caused by smoking, alcohol, and other drugs in
Scotland. The Scottish Government (2018) mentioned that the harsh economic and social
situation can drive the population towards the increased intake of a substance across Scotland.
This high intake of drugs is contributing significantly to unnecessary illness in Scotland. The
government is trying to tackle this situation to give the younger population a country where they
will be less exposed to smoke or commercial influences to smoke for this purpose, local
government along with drugs integrated authorities, law enforcers, prison faculties and
community planners are contributing in establishment of approaches that will reduce this issue.
The Scottish Government has presented judicial procedures to reduce the risk of smoking and
drinking with a motive to make “tobacco-free Scotland” by [Link], this legislation can reduce
the risk of Paul engaging in smoking and drinking.
Early Year Experience and Health
The health of the family is not only determined by genes or biological factors but the functioning
and experience of the family such as, the capability of people to cope with internal or external
challenges can also impact health. Positive functioning of the family in promoting health include
care, belonging, and effective performance of roles within the family can also enhance the health
of other family members. Roxy was a baby and suffering from bouts of colic. Her mother. Kelly
was dependent on her grandmother, Jane for seeking medical care for Roxy. Jane's family’s
experience can impact the health of Roxy in many ways. According to Elder’s Life Course
Theory (1998), scheduling of life events during development can have a positive or negative
biopsychosocial impact that can modify health courses during whole life (Cheng, et al., 2016).
This theory claims that the development of humans has consisted of interconnection between
biological changes at different stages and psychological and social factors occurring at the time
of development (Daines, et al., 2021). Hence, early year experience, for example, inappropriate
functioning of the family, and separation from caregiver, violence, physical or emotional abuse,
availability of care, and resilience of parents can contribute to determining the mental and
physical health of a child (Burton-Jeangros, et al., 2015). As, early year difficulties yield
“distinct patterns of disadvantage or privilege” in adulthood (Burton-Jeangros, et al., 2015),
similarly, positive life events can also enhance well-being over time (Skodol, et al., 2007). In the
current case, Roxy was in her developmental period with a physical condition. If she did not
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access proper care, and treatment, this would impact the health of Roxy in adult life. Moreover,
Roxy’s mother was a single teenage parent trying to pursue her education, thus there was a
chance that Kelly’s neglected behavior would also impact the physical and mental health of
Roxy.
Health Literacy
For the past few years, researchers have been trying to explain the importance of health literacy
through several different pieces of evidence. Health literacy is defined as “the cognitive and
social skills which determine the motivation and ability of individuals to gain access to,
understand, and use information in ways which promote and maintain good health” (Nutbeam,
1998). According to Ishikawa and Kiuchi (2019), health literacy is “the achievement of a level of
knowledge, confidence, and personal skills that enable an individual to take actions to improve
personal and community health by changing personal lifestyles and living conditions” (p.1).
Many researchers have shown the connection between literacy and health-related outcomes.
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2015), the higher level of
health literacy is correlated with positive health-related behaviors, which further leads to increase
the use of services related to disease prevention, enhance health results related to chronic illness,
and reduce the risk of hospitalization and death. Furthermore, another study explained that lower
health literacy can increase the poor outcomes of health, and the potential marker of low health
literacy is poverty (DeWalt et al., 2010). Poverty and the inability to gain health care can also
increase the chances of negative health outcomes, for example, a high risk of mortality (Singh, &
Aiken 2017). Promoting health literacy among Jane’s family can help to enhance health-related
behaviors and reduce the cost of medical care with would also reduce the financial cost of their
living. Thus, health literacy is vital in Jane’s case.
Conclusion
Social and behavioral determinants are the major contributor to Jane’s family’s health. Low
socioeconomic opportunities can lead to negative health outcomes as well as negatively affect
the child during the developmental period. However, the Scottish priorities are trying to
overcome health-related inequalities among the public. Moreover, increasing health literacy can
also positively impact health in general.
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