The social determinants of health are an integral concern that must be well taken care of for a holistic look at the health of the people and the family. This article will present an elaborate investigation of a low-income family, Family 303, which is settled in the US. With the use of an ecological approach that focuses on their economic stability, educational level, social and group life, health and healthcare, and neighborhood and built environment, as well as a consideration of their intersecting identities within the family, we aim to highlight the vast areas that determine their overall health.
Economic Stability
Family 303’s economic stability is one of the significant factors determining their general well-being level. Based on their income of $1,732 per month, they are classified as low-income, which is typical in the US context. Small income not only provides necessities but also poses a challenging situation in terms of basic financial security and upward movement. Both family peers are driver’s jobs, with limited scope for career growth and pay promotion. This will hamper their chances of wage growth, which means that no matter how hard they try, they will still depend on low-wage jobs to put food on the table. In addition to this, the fact that 80% of their food consumption comes from the food stamp program is one of the most crucial indicators of widespread food insecurity amongst the low-income population. The program provides needed help. It also illustrates the family’s financial problems and inability to have a healthy diet for their children. Economic instability may result in long-term consequences such as chronic stress, poverty, and limited access to medical help(Ridley et al., 2020). The ever-chronic anxiety about paying the bills can intensify mental health issues like anxiety and depression. If nutrition is inadequate, then a person is susceptible to chronic diseases like diabetes and hypertension. Besides, the family may be financially motivated and not be able to access preventive care or essential medications, thus further widening the gap in health disparities between them and perpetuating the cycle of poverty.
Education
The family education of Family 303 undoubtedly is the primary factor that emerges in promoting the health and well-being of the entire family. While they are opaque about what institutions they attended and their highest levels of education, they would probably be the driver category of employed people, including those who have completed high school. Despite the recent advances in the field of learning, income and social class discrepancies continue to be related to education and, later on, to health conditions. Those who are less educated in terms of knowledge are more inclined to smoke and stay immobile, which is also linked to a higher risk of disease and early death. Tax income inequality will also affect employment. Education less than or equivalent to high school graduation can be insufficient to apply for a well-paying job offer with good benefits and a secure job. (Erdogan et al., 2020). Thereby, the situation might be such that low-income families like Family 303 might end up being trapped in low-skilled jobs without any chance of career advancement, thus continuing a downward cycle of poverty and poor health. Ensure educational injustices are vital for creating health equity and disrupting the intergenerational loop of poverty. Through measures like increasing investments in early childhood education, extending education opportunities to both higher education and vocational programs, and addressing structural barriers to educational achievements, policymakers can bring interventions to the health and create conditions for the optimal development of all individuals and families.
Social and Community Context
The health outcomes and welfare of the family 303 are defined by the social sphere and the community to which they belong. They use social systems because the information provided is limited to their community. This means they could be from a neighborhood where people must cope with the same economic difficulties and are entitled to social benefits to cover the basic necessities. Social networks and community ties may be essential sources of validation, coping techniques, and resources for the family, like Family 303(Garcini et al., 2022). However, isolation, lack of support, and community disorganization can harm mental health. Suppose there are no proper safety nets in place. In that case, people can have a sense of loneliness, depression, and anxiety, which can become a vicious cycle that eventually deteriorates their state of health and general well-being. In addition, some neighborhood features, including crime rates, access to green spaces, and recreational facilities, determine the extent of physical activity, mental health outcomes, and quality of life. The possibility of stress, which is a consequence of living in a place with a high rate of crime or limited access to spaces that are safe for sports and recreation, is that the risk of chronic diseases and mental health disorders is increased.
Health and Healthcare
Access to healthcare facilities is also an essential component of health, which affects the health of Family 303 to a large extent. While they have not provided any healthcare information, a clean water supply and a washroom inside the house give them primary access to sanitation and hygiene. However, the financial issue is certainly a very big impediment to medical care, preventative care, and necessary medications. Lack of enough health insurance coverage and affordable healthcare resources can keep people from seeking medical care early(Glied et al., 2020). This worsens health conditions or ignores necessary treatments, resulting in poor health outcomes. Uneven distribution of healthcare and its quality can also contribute to the persistence of health disparities among vulnerable groups, including low-income families like 303’s family. In addition, there are also language barriers and a lack of cultural competence in receiving and offering proper healthcare.
Neighborhood and Built Environment
Family 303, like others, lives in a rented 2-bedroom house complete with the main amenities: electricity, water supply, and indoor toilet facilities. Although they are appreciative of their kitchen, it seems that the small size bathroom is the one that points to the boundaries of the environment and may affect their overall vitality. Neighborhood attributes like safety, nearby green spaces, and closeness to essential facilities such as healthcare providers and grocery stores are critical determinants of health issues. Living in neighborhoods with higher crime rates or toxic environments often leads to stress, which may ultimately impact the mental health of residents(George et al., 2023). Also, the limited availability of nutritious food choices and recreational facilities worsens the health disparities associated with obesity, heart disease, and other chronic conditions. The absence of public transport or affordable accommodation in safe neighborhoods can only make the problem of unequal life expectancy in low-income families more acute, the case with a family just like 303. Such environmental issues must be mitigated, and the neighborhood infrastructure needs to be improved to guarantee good health and fairness for everyone.
Intersecting Identities
Family 303 features those of different personalities with low-income status, working as a driver and using food stamps. This ties in with the parent roles and being an individual. Furthermore, their racial or ethnic background may affect their interactions and access to community resources if not regarded only as an additional note. Intersectionality considers how people’s privilege or disempowerment is affected by social relations that incorporate categories of race, gender, class, and sexuality. Recognizing the intersections of identities is inevitable to unmasking and tackling the health disparities and inequalities in great numbers among and in impoverished segments of the population. Family 303 may experience worse health consequences as they end up due to systemic injustices and are also less able to access the required resources and chances for their social mobility. This is where policymakers, healthcare providers, and community stakeholders can play a role by seeing through and tackling the intersectionality of identities.
Impact on Health Status
The economic instability of the family, education, social context and the community, access to healthcare, neighborhoods, and built environment eventually determine the well-being of the low-income family. Health problems such as food insecurity, substandard housing, and healthcare access can occur as a result of economic instability and low educational attainment, thus affecting the health outcomes of affected people. Besides, lack of social support or noise doing crimes can be other factors that may explain the insufficient health of the family. Moreover, crossing identities such as poverty and drivers may augment the impacts of determinants of health on health outcomes, which in turn may cause wider gaps in health status, access to healthcare products, and service delivery. It is crucial to take note of the intricate relationship between the social determinants and the overlapping identity issues to formulate unique solutions and policies that will address the inequalities in health and provide equity in health for the whole population. Through the tribal eradication of health’s social and structural determinants, we can achieve healthier, more equitable communities where everybody has an equal chance to blow and prosper.
Conclusion
In summary, the health and well-being of Family 303 is indissoluble from several social determinants, including economic stability, education, social and community contexts, availability of healthcare, and neighborhood and built environment. Beyond dealing with the outcomes of premature mortality and poor health, it is also essential to tackle the underlying determinants that contribute to significant health disparities among predisposed groups. By realizing how multiple social identities and social factors intermingle, policymakers, healthcare professionals, and community-based stakeholders can formulate focused interventions and make policies that support health equity and afford opportunities for all to thrive.
References
Erdogan, B., Karakitapoğlu‐Aygün, Z., Caughlin, D. E., Bauer, T. N., & Gumusluoglu, L. (2020). Employee overqualification and manager job insecurity: Implications for employee career outcomes. Human Resource Management, 59(6), 555-567.https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/hrm.22012
Garcini, L. M., Rosenfeld, J., Kneese, G., Bondurant, R. G., & Kanzler, K. E. (2022). Dealing with distress from the COVID-19 pandemic: Mental health stressors and coping strategies in vulnerable Latinx communities. Health & social care in the community, 30(1), 284-294.https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/hsc.13402
George, G., Webb, E. K., & Harnett, N. (2023). Neighborhood-level factors in the development and treatment of trauma and stress-related disorders. Current Treatment Options in Psychiatry, 10(3), 181-198.https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40501-023-00300-x
Glied, S. A., Collins, S. R., & Lin, S. (2020). Did The ACA Lower Americans’ Financial Barriers To Health Care? A review of evidence to determine whether the Affordable Care Act effectively lowered cost barriers to health insurance coverage and health care. Health Affairs, 39(3), 379-386. https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/abs/10.1377/hlthaff.2019.01448
Ridley, M., Rao, G., Schilbach, F., & Patel, V. (2020). Poverty, depression, and anxiety: Causal evidence and mechanisms. Science, 370(6522), eaay0214.https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.aay0214
write