What determines health?
The majority of Canada believes that good health is determined by a quality health care system, genetics, and lifestyle choices such as good nutrition and exercise.Despite having universal access to health care, Canadians experience different levels of health.
Why?
When you think about it, we only access health care when we are already sick. Our health is determined 25% by health care and 15% by genetics. The remaining 60% is determined by factors outside of the health care system, such as:-our neighbourhood
-our schools
-our job
-our physical environments
These factors are called the determinants of health - they shape our ability to make the healthy choice, the easy choice.
This diagram shows the different factors that influence health. Remember, at SHHA, we recognize that Health is about the Big Picture, not just the treatment of illness.
To learn more, visit http://www.who.int/social_determinants/en/
