Week 1 Discussion: Determinants of Health

Purpose

This week’s graded topics relate to the following Course Outcome (CO).

CO 1: Apply principles of nursing theory to the public health system by analyzing determinants of health and the public health intervention wheel. (PO 1)

Discussion

What are some factors that make some people healthy and others ill? Healthy People 2020 identifies five determinants of health that influence the health of individuals and populations. Healthy People 2020 describes them as “a range of personal, social, economic, and environmental factors that influence health status” (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2018, About Determinants of Health, para. 1). Determinants fall into five categories, including (a) policy making, (b) social factors, (c) health services, (d) individual behavior, and (e) biology and genetics.

Go to the Determinants of Health link at https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/about/foundation-health-measures/Determinants-of-Health, and click on each determinant to read about it.
Choose one of the five determinants other than individual behavior (as we are all aware of how individual behavior impacts health). In your post, describe this determinant and its importance.
Discuss how a community health nurse (CHN) could use one of the 17 intervention categories from the Public Health Intervention Wheel to address this determinant (Nies & McEwen, 2019).

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. (2018). Healthy People 2020: About Determinants of Health. Retrieved from https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/about/foundation-health-measures/Determinants-of-Health