This essay aims to define and discuss relevant concepts and terms. It will discuss the context of social determinants of health and wellbeing from a United Kingdom perspective with relevance to wider international agenda. Additionally the essay will outline the reasons why emphasis and action on social determinants is necessary for individual, community and wider population using international, national and local policy or strategy. It will explore a diverse range of influences on health and wellbeing including discrimination and social inequalities. Furthermore we will identify a range of community assets or resources that might be beneficial to improving health and wellbeing in relation to case scenarios.
Health is defined as the absence of disease. (Taylor 2008). It is a mode of being physically, mentally and socially well and is a multidimensional resource for everyday life. It is not the intended purpose of living (WHO 1946). Thus it is not determined by biological factors alone but by a collective set of conditions which include, but is not limited to the environment we live in, social status, economic policies, culture, psychological factors and global policies and strategies which affect the health of the population; such factors are referred to as social determinants of health and wellbeing (SDH). (Marmot & Wilkinson 1999: Taylor 2008).
Furthermore wellbeing is a conceptualisation of health. It focuses on how people feel. It is about how well people are doing in life and can be separated from the objectively measured health or disease status of people (Liamputtong, Fanany and Verrinder 2011).
Essentially, there are five key stages in human lives which have relevance to health and wellbeing. These are pre-birth, childhood, adolescence, working age and older age. International statistics show that people who are educated have a high life expectancy than those that are not. This is understandable since it is