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This chapter begins by introducing you to how the World Health Organization (WHO) defines health, which is as a complete state of social, physical, and mental well-being. It then explains what sociologists of health mean by the social determinants of health. In general, this concept refers to the larger social factors that shape the kind of lives we lead and the health of those lives. These include the immediate factors affecting our health such as age and gender, as well as social determinants of health related to living and working conditions and general socio-economic, cultural, and environmental conditions.
This chapter also introduces you to the concept of health disparities, which it defines as the differences in health status across groups linked to social, economic, or environmental conditions. As this chapter explains, health status is measured by life expectancy, healthy life expectancy, and chronic disease prevalence. This chapter describes how these measures may vary depending on an individual’s social class, country of birth, education levels, race and ethnicity, body weight, as well as gender.
In this chapter you also learn about how health care systems provide and deliver health care and are comprised of people, resources, and institutions which vary from country to country. Canada’s system is unique and comes with its own set of standards, as well as its own set of criticisms that these standards are not being met. Failure to meet these standards leads to health disparities. Ideally, health policy would be designed to reduce these disparities and improve the health of the entire population. This must include the health of people with disabilities who experience negative health outcomes due to ableism, or the discrimination against people with disabilities.