Health in Hunter New England	Table of contents Chapter introduction On this page: Data table Commentary References Print version Downloadable files
	Social determinants of health Introduction

In this chapter

• Individual weekly income
• Socioeconomic indexes by health area

Introduction

The social determinants of health include a wide range of factors in the social environment including income, education and occupation.

There is strong and unequivocal evidence, from Australia and other developed countries, that factors such as income, socioeconomic status, employment status and educational attainment are associated with inequalities in health (see, for example: Evans et al., 1994; Marmot and Wilkinson, 1999; Turrell and Mathers, 2000). These inequalities are important from both social justice and economic perspectives - not only can they be considered 'unfair' and preventable, but they also have high direct and indirect costs on the health system (Sainsbury and Harris, 2001).

The mechanisms - at both individual and community levels - through which social and economic factors influence health, and through which health inequalities perpetuate, are only beginning to be understood. Nonetheless, there is growing interest in identifying opportunities for the health sector to act to reduce health inequalities. In response, the NSW Department of Health has developed a Health and Equity Statement (NSW Department of Health, unpublished). As well as setting out priorities for action by NSW Health, the Statement recognises that many of the factors that contribute to health inequalities lie outside the control of the health system. It emphasises the need for strong partnerships among clinicians, community and consumer groups, and other government and non-government organisations to tackle these issues, and provides guidance on how to build these partnerships.

This Chapter presents population-based data on social and economic factors that are associated with health. Trends in a range of health indicators according to a summary measure of socioeconomic status (the Australian Bureau of Statistics Index of Relative Socioeconomic Disadavantage) are explored in the chapter on socioeconomic status.

Top of page

Table of contents