Sociocultural determinants

• Family

  One of the greatest influence on your health decisions. They influence the value you place on health and your behaviours in regards to risk and protective behaviours.
• Positive family influence

  • Help young people cope with stress
  • Healthy and protective behaviours: organised sport, healthy cooking
• Negative family influence

  • Children living in situations of violence, abuse and neglect are at risk of immediate physical injury and emotional distress
  • Children living in households where someone smokes are more likely to take up smoking themselves
• • Peers: have a powerful influence on health choices and type of behaviours they undertake

  1. Positive

  • Peers who encourage behaviours like playing team sports and helping each other study = positively impact physical health

  1. Negative

  • Peer pressure towards risk behaviours like partying
• Media: shaping the value we put on our health, through promotion campaigns or advertisements Positive: Health advertising Negative: Body image Misinformation about lifestyle
• • Culture: traditions, values and behaviours - foods and activities

  1. Positive: 

  • Sense of connection to culture improves social health
  • Traditional diets and meals can have positive effect such as Mediterranean diets are high in healthy fats and vegetables which limit CVD

  1. Negative

  • Language difficulties and cultural beliefs can create barriers such as unfamiliarity with the Australian healthcare system, lack of fluency in english or cultural insensitivities can prevent or hinder migrants from accessing the appropriate health care
• • Religion

  1. Positive: good spiritual health because of a sense of purpose. Rules such as no drinking, no sex before marriage and others that promote protective behaviours
  2. Negative: limit choices in healthcare. (e.g. Seventh Day Adventists will refuse a blood transfusion as it is against their beliefs)