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Health and disease as a

product of social behavior
 Health and disease
Health:
• Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not
merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
• Health is a common theme in most cultures. All communities have their concept
of health, as a part of their culture. Oldest definition of health in all communities
is “absence of disease”.

Disease:
• Any harmful deviation from the normal structural or functional state of an
organism, generally associated with certain signs and symptoms and differing in
nature from physical injury. A diseased organism commonly exhibits signs or
symptoms indicative of its abnormal state.

• Sociologists have demonstrated that the spread of diseases is heavily influenced

by the socioeconomic status of individuals, ethnic traditions or beliefs, and other
cultural factors, and other cultural factors..
 Social behavior
• Social behavior consists of conduct and actions exhibited by
individuals within society.
• In physiology and sociology, social behavior is behavior
directed towards society, or taking place between members
of the same species. Behaviors such as predation—which
involves members of different species—are not social.
• A behavior is always to be taken transitionally: i.e.., never
as of the organism alone, any more than of the
environment alone, but always as of the organic-
environmental situation, with organisms and environmental
objects taken as equally its aspect.
 Social factors affecting health
• Socio- economic conditions, such as
concentrated poverty.
• Quality schools.
• Transportation options.
• Public safety.
• Residential segregation.
• Culture (customs and traditions).
• Access to health services.
 Contt..
• Exposure to crime, violence, and social
disorder.
• stressed in our culture.
• Social support and social interactions
• Exposure to mass media and emerging
technologies, such as the internet or cell
phones.
 Social factors
• It has long been recognized that specific
behaviours are associated with increased risk
of specific diseases and related conditions. For
example, tobacco use, alcohol consumption,
inadequate physical activity, some sexual
practices, and high-fat or low-fibre diets have
all been recognized as unhealthful. Less widely
recognized, however, is the association
between socioeconomic status and health, or
the influence of social networks, current or
 Contt..
• Experience based on race or ethnic group.
• Social mobility.
• Income inequality.
• Religiosity .
• Transportation.
• conditions in homes, schools, work places, neighborhoods,
and communities, stress and family disruption (e.g., parenting
skills, parenting stress, leisure time, quality of schooling,
physical and psychosocial working conditions).
• Migration.
• Social status.
 Some factors are explained below:
Income and wealth:
• Extensive evidence documents the association between income
and mortality. Unhealthy behaviors, such as smoking, tend to be
more prevalent among low-income groups. Income or wealth
enables one to afford a nutritious.
• Income is co-related to education and occupation.
• Better health care, better housing and preventative measures
[ member of a fitness center or buying nutritious foods]
• People who are socially and economically disadvantaged tend to
have worse health.
• Illness and disability prevent one from securing and maintaing
employment →result in ↓income.
• Poor health can also impair ones ability to continue or succeed in
 Contt..
Education:
• Higher level of education →higher income →better employment
prospects. Better health literacy →gain better access to health
services →achieve healthier lifestyle.
Employment :
• Unemployment strongly related to health status.
• Higher mortality and more illness and disability.
• No money to buy health –related goods and services.
• Strong physiological and social impacts[ alienation, poor
self-esteem and stigma.
• Co-relation between occupation and health [manual and
low- skilled jobs vs. managerial).
 Contt..
Household composition:
• Household composition, which is strongly related to income and
education, can influence social factors that in turn influence health.
For example, children in low income single-parent households
experience higher rates of poverty, food insecurity, unstable
housing, and other adverse living conditions. poverty puts strains
on families and creates a greater risk of single-parent households.
Stress:
• Psychological distress that arises from any of the above social
factors, including from social rejection or exclusion associated with
racial or ethnic identification, may lead to worse health through
physiologic mechanisms involved in stress.
 Contt..

Racial and Ethnic Factors:

• In many countries, a variety of health outcomes vary
markedly by race and ethnicity. These health disparities
often mirror large differences in income, wealth,
education, occupation, and neighborhood conditions
among people of different races and ethnicities,
differences that reflect a historical legacy of
discrimination. For example, in the United States, blacks
with the same level of education as whites have lower
incomes, as well as markedly lower levels of
accumulated wealth even at the same level of income.
 Contt..
Income Inequality:
• Income inequality in a society has repeatedly been shown to be
inversely associated with good health, but there is controversy
about the health effects of relative income inequality apart from the
effects of absolute poverty or economic hardship.
• Some experts view relative inequality as a factor with independent
effects, which may touch the whole population, perhaps by
undermining social cohesion.
• The apparent association between economic inequality and poor
health could reflect other more fundamental factors that shape both
economic inequality and health, such as a society’s lack of social
solidarity. There is, however, consensus about the adverse health
implications of absolute material deprivation.
 Contt..
Media:
• Play a huge roll in shaping how we see the world
• Influences our socialization, values, development, opinions and knowledge.
• Often contradictory information that is easy to become overwhelmed.
• Important to be discerning when receiving information
• through the media.
• It can affect us when we are not fully aware that it is doing so.

Religiosity:
• It has health-enhancing benefits [ social support, a sense of meaning and
purpose , a belief system and a clear moral code]
• It can also be perceived as judgmental alienating and exclusive[ e.g
homosexual, pre material sex]
• While religion may provide many health benefits , this may not be true in
all circumstances.
 Contt..
Family:
• has a strong impact on the health and well-being
of children and their parents [ include structure]
married vs. unmarried two-parent households
vs. lone-parent households.
Peers:
• most individual have a social need for acceptance
→ seek championship, support, approval peer
pressure [positive or negative]
 Contt..
Migration:
• Migration and associated experiences and cultural traditions have
been shown to influence health and health behaviors. Almost 14
percent of the U.S. population in 2008 was born outside the United
States. Although some immigrants are at higher risk of certain
infectious diseases, most recent immigrants to the United States
generally have favorable health profiles compared with the native-
born population.
Social status:
• Income, wealth, education, and employment all have implications
for prestige and acceptance in society, and hence may affect health
through psychosocial pathways involved in perceived position in a
social hierarchy. Lower perceived social status has been associated
with adverse health outcomes in some studies even after
considering objective measures of resources and social status.
 Health as a Social Construct
• It varies from one society to another → different perspectives of
health
• A social view of health help us to understand the range of health
determinants influencing a person throughout the life stages
• Challenges the nation that health in solely an individual’s
responsibility
• Health risk cannot be attributed solely to individual risk behaviors
• A person’s health and well-being are also associated with social
institutions [ e.g. families , communities, workplaces, and the
health care system]
 Contt..
• These institutions can support or diminish the health of
individual.
• Recognizes the interrelationship of determinants.
• Health is a dynamic quality that is affected by a complex
interrelationship between the individual s and their
physical , social, economic , and political environments
• There is a need for:
• Personal skills development
• The empowerment of communities to take action to
promote health.
THANK YOU