My health and well-being are shaped by multidimensional social factors encompassing identity, access, relationships, and environment. While specific determinants like family stability and education afford me privileges, behaviors tied to things like stress, diet, inactivity, and work-life balance remain within my control to improve through proactive self-care steps (Ferrer, 2023). Still, other determinants around age, race, and genetics persist largely beyond my locus of influence. Assessing my social determinants holistically empowers targeted action where possible alongside acceptance where change is unattainable.
I am fortunate that several key social determinants provide stability and access that positively impact my health. I come from an educated, middle-class family who raised me in safe neighborhoods with ample resources. I benefitted from high-quality schools, regular healthcare, nutritious food, and enrichment activities. My race and ethnicity as a white American afforded me specific unearned advantages as well. I grew up in a home free from adversity with parents who modeled healthy behaviors and could afford health insurance, gym memberships, and preventative wellness exams (Ferrer, 2023). Also, English as my native language eliminates barriers I would otherwise face in medical settings or health education.
At the same time, social factors increase my health risks. My highly demanding graduate program and part-time job lead to high stress. As a young adult, peer pressure around things like alcohol use remains prevalent (Ferrer, 2023). I also struggle with anxiety, which inhibits my sleep and self-care routines even in a privileged environment. However, I have strong mental health support and am actively working to mitigate these current challenges through counseling, balanced scheduling, maintaining social connections, and self-compassion practices.
I have become more conscious of my nutrition and adopted a predominantly plant-based diet full of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and plant-based proteins. Limiting processed food intake has increased my energy levels and general well-being. I meal prep healthy options and keep my kitchen stocked with nutritious snacks to support good choices. In addition, I prioritized building regular exercise into my schedule by joining a gym near my apartment (Milne-Ives et al., 2020). I mix strength training and cardio 3-4 times a week, substantially reducing my stress and improving my sleep quality. Finding forms of movement I genuinely enjoy keeps me consistent.
I have also optimized my work-life balance and schedule to deprioritize overwork and compulsively checking emails after hours. Protecting periods of rest and leisure enhances my productivity when I am working. I am getting outdoors more as well, which boosts my mood. Practicing mindfulness through meditation apps, yoga, and journaling promotes my mental health by curbing anxiety. Avoiding unhealthy coping mechanisms like emotional eating or alcohol is easier with these outlets.
Specific social determinants of health are difficult or impossible for me to change. Specifically, core aspects of my identity, including my age, race, ethnicity, gender, and family background, are fixed or deeply engrained factors influencing my health outcomes. For example, my age and stage of life make me susceptible to risks that vary across the lifespan, like increased injury risk from more active hobbies or the potential for age-related illnesses down the road (Milne-Ives et al., 2020). My ethnicity as Asian American also correlates to higher rates of certain diseases. My race and gender shape health outcomes in complicated ways through issues like stress from discrimination or avoiding medical care due to stigmatized cultural values around self-reliance and stoicism. Coming from a family with a strong history of mental illness makes me predisposed genetically despite my otherwise privileged background.
While raising awareness to improve health equity across identities is essential, I cannot change the inherent likelihood I face, for instance, potentially developing depression based on my family or experiencing subtle prejudice based on my ethnic name. These core social determinants are primarily outside my locus of control. The most agency comes from proactively monitoring my health and well-being while advocating for inclusive systems-level changes through allyship with marginalized groups, even as some risk tied to my demographics persists (Milne-Ives et al., 2020). With radical acceptance, I can channel my energy toward focusing on supportive behaviors and environments rather than changing immutable traits.
In evaluating the spectrum of personal social determinants influencing my health positively and negatively, I am compelled towards greater self-awareness, personal accountability, and systemic advocacy. I can nurture individual and collective wellbeing by leveraging my agency in healthy decision-making while recognizing the impact of embedded structural barriers facing marginalized groups. Regular self-reflection also sustains motivation for personally sustainable change. While certain social factors lie outside one’s control, our power rests in crafting healthy environments for our whole, intersectional selves through enlightened understanding.
References
Ferrer, R. L. (2023). Social determinants of health. In Chronic illness care: Principles and practice (pp. 527-545). Cham: Springer International Publishing.
Milne-Ives, M., Lam, C., De Cock, C., Van Velthoven, M. H., & Meinert, E. (2020). Mobile apps for health behavior change in physical activity, diet, drug and alcohol use, and mental health: systematic review. JMIR mHealth and uHealth, 8(3), e17046.
write