The social determinants of what?

Excerpt

There was much excitement over the final report of the WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health (2008) and there was good reason for it. The report underscores the enormous strides made in public health research over the last 40 years. For students entering the field of public health in 2010 it may seem self-evident that social factors influence health; the rhetoric is now commonplace in many parts of the world, although not in all. We must not forget, however, that what now seems “evident”, such as the claim that socio-economic status (SES) influences health in individuals and groups, was not always common knowledge. Pioneers of the social epidemiology movement worked long and hard to convince the medical establishment, and adherents to the individual risk factor model, that social conditions matter when it comes to health. We have indeed come a long way. …