In my work with the Nova Scotia Provincial Health Council, 'social
determinants' encompassed all of this. Society is intimately
interrelated with its' environment, and creates its' health services.
both are constructed or affected in a manner that reflects the values of
the dominant society, or, more accurately I suppose, in the manner that
reflects the value of the environment and health services. The
traditional societal view of relative importance and relative potential
benefit to the progress of society is what regulates the creation and
amount of emphasis given to our relationships to the environment, as
well as all other determinants.
I think we all can agree that a re-evaluation of the fundamental
assumptions about what is important, in a very broad sense, is what it
will take to truly change our relationship to the things that determine
health.
David Mercer



David F. Mercer
Research and Statistical Officer III
Performance Measurement and Health Informatics
Nova Scotia Department of Health
Phone: (902) 424-2911
Email: [log in to unmask]

>>> [log in to unmask] 9/14/2004 10:12:33 AM >>>


The problem is in the term 'social determinants'.  Does it include or
exclude environmental determinants? Health services determinants? As
is
increasingly recognized, social determinants usually assume an
individual model of influences rather than a societal one. According
to
dictionaries. 'social' is usually defined as something to do with
interrelationships between the individual and the group. This is the
point of all of this discussion---that 'social' does not mean
'societal'
and it is the latter which is generally neglected in this turn toward
'social determinants'...





Barbara Starfield

**********

-----Original Message-----
From: Social Determinants of Health [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf
Of
Barbara Langford
Sent: Monday, September 13, 2004 9:33 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [SDOH] Ignored Socio-Economic Determinants of Health




You may also like to look at the Guide to Health Impact Assessment: a
policy tool for New Zealand, developed by the NZ Public Health
Advisory
Committee.  It uses our indigenous model of health which is very broad
and the social determinants are the basis for the HIA tools suggested.
The document can be accessed at
http://www.nhc.govt.nz/PHAC/publications/GuideToHIA.pdf

Barbara Langford
Senior Advisor, Public Health
National Health Committee and Public Health Advisory Committee
PO Box 5013
Wellington



DDI: 04 496 2084
Mobile: 021 265 7216

www.nhc.govt.nz

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