Is Health a Choice? What are The Social Determinants of Health?
Unfortunately too many people believe that one's health is determined solely by personal choice. Research supports that this is not the case, but rather, that the social conditions into which one is born into and lives are inextricably connected to how they experience health. This is not common knowledge but it should be. Health Is Not Just About Choice The idea that health is solely determined by willpower or lifestyle is comforting because it suggests that everyone starts from the same place and has the same opportunities. But that simply is not true. Canadians do not enter life on a level playing field, and they do not move through it with equal access to income, housing, safety, or opportunity. When someone is working two precarious jobs, struggling to pay rent, or living in overcrowded or unsafe housing, “choosing” to eat well, rest, or exercise is not just hard, it is often impossible. The stress of these conditions does not just feel bad; it literally gets...