Determinants of Health

Week 1: Determinants of Health Professor and Class, Choose one of the five determinants and discuss its importance. This was a difficult decision as each of the five determinants of health are so closely interrelated, however I have discovered that policy making has the most widely influence on both individual and population health. In fact, policy making significantly impacts how successful and unsuccessful the additional four determinants can have on the vast majority of health outcomes. For example, it has been estimated that individual behaviors are responsible for approximately 50% of all premature deaths in the United States (McEwen & Nies, 2015). According to Healthy People 2020, tobacco use is classified under the determinant, individual behavior. Policy makers at the state level have been historically known to increase taxes on tobacco sales in efforts to reduce the number of smokers thus improving the overall population health (Healthy People 2020). Secondly, health services is by no means a stranger to the political realm as it continues to be among the top contenders of controversial debates. Fortunately, several literature have supported the correlation of access to health services and disease/illness prevention and health promotion. It was policy making efforts that enacted and signed into law The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act on March 23, 2010. This law was created to improve access to affordable, quality health insurance for all Americans (H). Still not convinced? Public safety, transportation options, and quality schools all fall under the umbrella of social determinants of health (Healthy People 2020). Unfortunately the longevity of these functions rely on funding received from the federal, state, and local levels. It was most recently in April 2018 that many marched to our Kentucky capital, Frankfort, to protest against further budget cuts towards public education during the state budget process of . This made national headlines ( Beam & Schreiner, 2018)! Discuss how a community nurse could use one of the 17 intervention categories from the Public Health Intervention Wheel to address this determinant. I have chosen advocacy for one important reason, it takes those to advocate for change to be heard at the government level! We, as professional nurses, should advocate for the general population, community, and/or individuals at the government level for an increase or preservation of current funding towards the prevention and promotion of health. This may include factors such as continued support of public education, cleaner water sanitation, continued affordable healthcare, and academic research. In conclusion, the change starts with someone, somewhere! References Beam, A. & Schreiner, B. (2018). Teacher Victory: Kentucky Lawmakers Override Budget Veto. U.S. News. Retrieved from (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.. HealthC. (2018). Affordable Care Act (ACA). USA.gov. Retrieved from Nies, M. A., & McEwen, M. (2015). Community/Public health nursing: Promoting the health of populations (6th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Saunders/Elsevier. 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