World Health Organistion: Social Determinants Of Health

There is not a single way to determine the health of the public, therefor social determinants are used in order to show health and social status and give reason as to why health varies across the world (Hill et al, 2010). According to the World Health Organistion (2015), social determinants relating to health are the circumstances in which people find themselves, collectively because of where they are born, how they live, their working life and their age. It claims that these conditions are defined by the “distribution of money, power and resources”. When looking at specific social determinants, substance misuse and addiction has a big impact on society with approximately 5.7% of the worlds population, of adult age, use ‘psychoactive’ substances
(WHO, 2015).

In this assignment I am going to define what is meant by social determinants of health, discuss addiction in relation to physical health and mental health and also explain its effects on families and local communities.

Health inequalities are the “systematic differences in the health of people occupying unequal positions in society” (Graham, 2009). These are frequently a result of socio-economic differences within society. The NHS in Scotland is completely devolved to the Scottish Government and between 2012 and 2013 there was an expenditure of £5.6billion on staffing within the health system (Audit Scotland, 2013) in order to help improve health and social problems. With this vast amount of money being spent, it is understandable that some may question why there is still a vast quantity of health inequalities in Scotland. This is where the different social determinants come in to help us understand why the countries health is in the state that it is and what can be done to improve our health and wellbeing.

The physical effects of drug and alcohol addiction are widely recognised as damaging and life threatening.
As stated by Naidoo and Wills (2009), those who study the demography relating to diseases found in society have shown that depending on social determinants it is possible to predict that people’s health will be poorer than that of others in society and they may die prematurely. There is several ways in which addiction is one the social determinants, which have a detrimental effect on physical health and poorly impacts life expectancy. According to WHO (WHO**, 2015), intravenous drug use accounts for 1 in 10 diagnoses of HIV/AIDs in Europe, which, due to the illnesses complexities, severely reduces life expectancy and overall health and in the Drug Misuse Scotland Report (2012) it is reported that in Scotland specifically there were 20 new cases of HIV/AIDs among intravenous drug users in 2010 alone as well as 1,034 new cases of Hepatitis C in the same type of users. However, intravenously is not the only form of drug use, which has detrimental effects on physical health. Stimulants, for example, such as ecstasy, amphetamines and crack cocaine and the abuse of solvents can all result in organ failure, brain damage and death (Mental Health Foundation, 2015). In terms of tobacco use, smoking accounts for 80% of a lung cancers worldwide (WHO*, 2015) and between 2012 and 2013 alone (NHS, ISD, 2014), in Scotland there were around 36,000 alcohol related admissions to acute
hospitals. Although tobacco and alcohol are sold legally in the UK, these statistics show obvious physical health related concerns regarding the two drugs. When looking at babies and young children, the physical effects of the mother misusing drugs in pregnancy has severe physical health defects as well. During heavy alcohol use during the crucial stages of fetus development can result in fetal alcohol syndrome. This often results in the infant being born with obvious physical defects such as abnormalities to facial features and a severe reduction in size (Stratton et al, 1996). The baby will also often develop cognition problems and developmental delays which has adverse effects on their mental health.

As well as drug misuse during the prenatal stages, there are also many mental illnesses, which occur due to drug and alcohol misuse in life at a later stage. Those who illicitly use drugs have often had a disadvantaged upbringing, have faced homelessness or poor housing conditions and have had poor educational achievement (Bauld et al, 2010). When looking at specific types of substances, the use and misuse of amphetamines can result in drug-induced psychosis. This can have many adverse effects on a persons well being and their role in society. Audible, visual and tactile hallucinations are among some of the consequences of methamphetamine use (Omidvar, Sharifi, 2012). These symptoms are synonymous with schizophrenia, which can also be a result of illicit drug use. According to the National Institute of Mental Health (2009), 10% of schizophrenics will commit suicide, are withdrawn and often have to be treated with antipsychotic medication which can mean lengthy hospital stays (resulting in social factors like unemployment and housing often being an issue in a patients’ life). Substance induced psychosis often has these same effects. Alcohol can be just as dangerous on a person’s mental health. Korsakoff’s Syndrome is a brain condition, which is heavily related to extensive alcoholism (Alzheimer’s Society, 2012). Due to a thiamine deficiency in individuals who are alcohol dependent, Korsakoff’s Syndrome occurs (often in older age). The disease tends to present itself like a dementia and has negative impacts on a person’s ability to function normally and affects the memory in quite a severe way, much like Alzheimer’s disease.