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Social Determinants of Health

Social determinants of health (SDOH) are factors that affect the health of a person or
group of people on a daily basis. These factors include financial and other resources, security,
water, housing, and education (Adler et al., 2016).
In the Hispanic family that was assessed in Family Health Assessment, there are various
social determinants of health that affect its health. One of them is financial resources. Thanks to
the father’s relatively well-paying job as an engineer, The family is a middle class one with
relative financial security. Thanks to availability of financial resources, the family is able to fund
a generally healthy lifestyle. For instance, they can afford most of the nutritious food needed for
good health.
Another important SDOH that the family has access to is education. The husband has a
university degree and the mother, though her education background is unclear, is generally well
read and well-informed. Their daughter, who is in high school, is also well educated. As a result
of this education, they know what needs to be done for the family to have good health as a
family. For instance, they know that they need to have regular physical exercises, healthy diet,
and a good night’s sleep. They also know the value of regular eye check-ups for good eyesight.
Lastly, the family has access to facilities that support good health. The father has access
to a gym, the mother a conducive space for jogging, and the daughter attends school that has
excellent facilities for physical activities.

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Thanks to access to these important social determinants of health, the family is generally
healthy. Without such access, they would likely have had far more health problems than they
currently have.
Screening for Family Members
The risk factors that people face vary based on factors such as age, environment,
genetics, and occupation (Siu, 2016). Knowing the risk factors that one is exposed to is important
in determining the screening that they should undertake. In the analysed family, the screening
that each family member should go for depends on their age and existing health problems.
The father, being around 50, should go for prostrate cancer screening. This is because the
condition is likely to affect men aged 50 and above. He should also screen for diabetes and
urinary tract infections. This is because of his frequent urination which may be an early sign of
diabetes.
The mother should go for breast cancer screening because she is above 40 (Siu, 2016). In
addition, she should screen for dementia. Such screening is important because of her declared
forgetfulness. As for the teenage daughter, she should go for hearing impairment screening. Even
though her hearing problem is mild, such screening will enable doctors determine steps to be
taken to prevent her from completely losing her hearing.
Health Model to Assist in Creating a Plan of Action
In creating a plan of action for the family the most suitable model would be behavioral
change model. This model takes a preventive approach by advocating for changing lifestyle
behaviors that may negatively affect the health of an individual or group of people. It seeks to

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have the targeted individual or family adopt positive health behaviors. It is based on the
understanding that once people have full information about their health, they are likely to take
appropriate measures to keep themselves healthy as long as they have the means to implement
such measures (Glanz et al., 2015).
For this particular family, the model is appropriate because they have the financial means
to implement whichever health advice that they may be given. Additionally, they have shown
themselves to have the discipline needed to implement healthy behaviors such as having regular
exercises and using a clock to ensure that members have enough night sleep.
Lastly, most of the family’s health challenges can be minimized or completely eliminated
through change in behavior. These include not having regular medical check-ups and the
daughter spending a huge portion of her night time chatting with friends on her smartphone
rather than sleeping. The behavioral change model is, therefore, the most effective for this
family.
Steps for Family-Centred Health Promotion
To promote a healthy lifestyle for the assessed family, the following steps are
recommended.

 Specify behaviors to change

In the case of this family, the behaviors to change are over-use of smartphone at night by the
teenage daughter and lack of regular medical check-ups by the rest of the family.

 Specify the details of the behavioral change

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The action plan proposed will require that the daughter does not sleep with her phone and the
parents seek out a family that goes for regular medical check ups. Any time the other family
goes, they will alert this family so that they too go. Behavior change aided by peers has been
found to be very effective.

 Specify the person to carry out the behavior change

Given the family hierarchical structure, the father and the mother are going to be the persons
tasked with implementing the action plan. In particular, the mother will make sure that the
daughter does not sleep with her phone.
 Duration of the plan

The plan will be implemented within a period of six months.

 Communication of the plan

Communication of the plan will be done to the whole family together. Apart from explaining the
details of the plan and the rationale for each step, the family will also be asked to make their
recommendations. The input of the family will help in refining the plan.

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References

Adler, N. E., Glymour, M. M., & Fielding, J. (2016). Addressing social determinants of health
and health inequalities. Jama, 316(16), 1641-1642.
Glanz, K., Rimer, B. K., & Viswanath, K. (Eds.). (2015). Health behavior: Theory, research,
and practice. John Wiley & Sons.
Siu, A. L. (2016). Screening for breast cancer: US Preventive Services Task Force
recommendation statement. Annals of internal medicine, 164(4), 279-296.