Even before we're born there are factors
at play which influence our health and well-being the conditions in which we're born grow and live can affect us and our health in different ways we also react to them in different ways poverty and stress lack of adequate housing education unemployment and poor access to transport a nutritious food are some of the things that can affect our health and life expectancy the World Health Organization recognizes that health and well-being is strongly influenced by social economic and environmental factors known as the social determinants
of health the environments in which we
are born grow live work and age can have stronger influences on our health than our genetic family history or behavioral risk factors a person's social and economic circumstances affect their health throughout their life the relationship between income and health is on a gradient this social gradient means that even a little "bit" of wealth can increase your likelihood of being healthier a stable source of healthy food appropriate affordable and secure housing education and employment relief from financial distress access to transport and services loving and stable relationships and being able to make choices about our lives means we are less likely to experience chronic conditions such as diabetes cardiovascular disease depression anxiety and other mental illness how we are treated by and interact with others also has a huge impact stressful circumstances over a long time that make people feel anxious are unable to cope discrimination racism social isolation or just being treated as less than equal can lead to poor health and the interplay between these factors and a person's socio-economic circumstances can compound the situation experiencing a lot of stress and feeling unable to change things can also lead to poor health but as health clinicians there are things that we can do to make a difference will could be on the illness to see the whole person and try to understand the reality of their daily situation ask them what they think would make a difference to their lives and really listen it may be that taking care of their health in the way you suggest won't be easy it may make things more stressful for them so try and see what other support you can offer advocate with them and give them knowledge on where to turn for help off the transport options for people to come to your service consider food vouchers to families who are struggling or talking to nutritionists who can work with people to cook a healthy meal unlimited income offer education about making better lifestyle choices to encourage healthy eating but remember that all the advice on good nutrition will be a challenge if people are living on a limited budget offer medications for longer periods of time for people who can't get to a pharmacy easily and refer people to other services like counseling or housing assistance help improve their health literacy by encouraging and working with them to better understand their illness and be more active in their Healthcare even one small action like really listening and being compassionate can go a long way to improving their health changing your practice even ever-so-slightly won't mean the world of difference to someone you
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