HOW DO SOCIAL FACTORS AFFECT THE ADULT HEALTH

Health and well-being is a broad term that involves many factors that indicate a steady or unsteady state. We are aware of the basic rules or habits of health and hygiene that can keep us healthy. It is not only the food we eat or the amount of water that we intake that keeps us healthy. The environment and people also have an impact on our well-being. There are many determinants of health that can either take the needle towards the positive side or negative.

We all have been hearing the phrase that man is a social animal. It is true to the core that we cannot survive alone. Even if we fit among people or not, but we need a society full of people to live and survive. Co-dependency is one of the significant factors that has helped communities to sustain over the years. We get an education to get a job and support our family. There are many determinants, such as genetic inheritance, accessibility to health services, personal behaviors, education, income, and environment.

The social factors impact our health in many ways, and we do not even feel a change in our health. We try to get treatments for our physical and mental ailments, but we barely think of changing the factors that might be affecting our health. We can only claim ourselves to be healthy if we have mental, physical, and social alignment. Our brain is just like the core of our bodies. If our synapses go rabid, we well feel physical symptoms and hence a plethora of diseases. There are many reasons our brain van gets tired or acts in unusual ways.

Let us admit that we spend the right amount of our time glued to our mobile screens. We all love to socialize through social media. But little do we care that it can also affect our mental peace. If your news feed is showing all the negative and depressive posts, it will affect you soon, and social media and mental health are kind of directly proportional. And if you are following positive and educational pages, the effect will be otherwise. Youngsters are more prone to undergo such mental strains due to the negative impact of social media, which comes from excessive screen time.

Let us see how what are the social factor and how they affect our health as adults.

Lack of Education

Education is one of the necessities of life that is more of a social need that a physical one. Knowledge enables a person to develop a sense of right and wrong and enhanced cognitive ability. When you possess the experience, you can question things and decide if it is right for you or not. Studies show that educated people can live longer as they can make better decisions about their health than those who are less aware. Studies suggest that education has a relation to health outcomes. It may not be vividly observable, but people who have less than 12 years of schooling fall victim to poor health decisions.

Financial Security

We get an education to find a sustainable career that can help us support our families. Your training and skills decide the income that you will get from your job. If you are well educated and have proficient skills, you can place yourself on a high designation with a handsome salary. Earning five or six digits salary means that you can easily afford your daily essential and live a happy life. When having nothing to worry about food or medical bills, the person appears to be healthy, and in case of an ailment, they can afford treatments. On the other hand, people earning a minimum salary are unable to provide medical bills or healthy food and often spend their life on bed falling sick.

Accommodation

Who do you think will have better health? A person living in a slum with poor hygienic conditions or living in a furnished society with optimum living conditions? We can state the obvious that living in a clean environment will improve our health. A home free of all kinds of microbial invasion will have a better health environment than the one loaded with it. It is not the only house that affects health, but the neighborhood plays its role as well. Residents of a peaceful community are more stress-free and less anxious. If an area has crimes and violent practices going on, the residents will be in stress and mentally frustrated.

Availability of Health Care

How much easy it is for you to avail of healthcare facilities is another determinant of your health. Many people have health insurance that can cover their medical bills and let them visit doctors regularly. The visits can get them screening and preventive treatment that will keep chronic diseases at bay. Many people cannot afford to register for a health insurance plan or do not have enough finances to cover their visits. These issues lead to delayed visits to hospitals and worsened medical conditions.

Psychosocial Environment

Our working environment also plays a significant role in determining our health outcomes. Work stress is widespread among working individuals. Many people face burnout or severe anxiety, and they often ignore it. If you are not mentally at peace while doing your job, it will affect your health in one way or another. A person who works on daily wages can get stress due to sudden strikes or lockdowns for an extended period. A person on payroll might be a victim of working more than its capacity.

Conclusion

Many factors affect our health. Many times we are unaware of what is bothering us, or sometimes they are psychosomatic indicators. It is necessary to look for the socioeconomic factors that can affect our well-being. The state or government can design policies to provide at least netter living conditions to people living in slums to reduce the occurrence of health issues. Community members can help set up a charitable hospital or counseling for people who cannot afford their treatment. Social factors indeed affect our health, but it is also our responsibility to help the unfortunate towards better health.