Introduction
Health determinants are often used to explain why some people become ill while others remain healthy. Specifically, a health determinant refers to a factor or event that influences human health throughout life. While professionals may seek reasons for health and illness based on their training, a wealth of evidence now supports the notion that the socioeconomic circumstances of individuals and groups are equally or more important to health status than medical care and personal health behaviors, such as smoking and eating patterns. The pathways from social experience to biological change are not fully established, but evidence is beginning to emerge.
Acute and chronic illness, injury, and even genetically mediated disorders develop because of social, economic, and environmental conditions that exist in the places where the person has lived, and as a result of the ways that a person has chosen, or been allowed to live his or her life. Through complex processes not fully...
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Low, M.D., Low, B.J. (2012). Health Determinants. In: Loue, S., Sajatovic, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Immigrant Health. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-5659-0_5
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