The primary influence of social and economic factors
May 10, 2005
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The Edmonton Social Planning Council releases today a DISCUSSION PAPER
on the social determinants of health. Creating Social and Health
Equity: Adopting an Alberta Social Determinants of Health Framework is
intended to contribute to the discussions on health reform and
innovation being initiated by the Alberta government.
The paper summarizes the well-documented research and analysis into the
factors outside of medicine and health care that contribute to our
health and well-being – “the causes behind the causes of ill health”
(World Health Organization).
A Statistics Canada report published May 9 is the latest confirmation
that socio-economic factors have considerably more influence on our
health than do even personal behaviours such as smoking and physical
inactivity. “Among middle-aged adults aged 45 to 64,” says the National
Population Health Survey: Healthy Aging, “socio-economic
characteristics such as the education level and household income were
more important determinants of healthy aging than healthy behaviours.”
In our paper we discuss the implications of this perspective on
government policy, especially as it relates to health reform. We
develop a social determinants of health framework that would help shape
government policy and priorities by placing more emphasis on the
socio-economic realities of Albertans. We point to countries such as
Sweden that have adopted health strategies with a goal of “creating
social conditions which ensure good health for the entire population.”
We propose that Alberta will need to take several steps to make this
possible including: 1) increasing awareness among Albertans and key
decision makers about the social determinants of health, 2) breaking
down the barriers between sectors, government ministries and
jurisdictions in order to integrate the broad scope of the
determinants, and 3) adopting legislation entitling Albertans to basic
social and economic rights based on the social determinants.
Health and Wellness Minister Iris Evans, at the conclusion of the
recent International Health Symposium, stated that “Alberta is well on
its way to being Canada’s innovation leader.” We believe that any
innovations in health care must include a social determinants of health
approach or the province’s drive toward health care reform – “making
our system the best it can possibly be” – will fail.
The DISCUSSION PAPER is now available on our website.
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Sunday, 05 February 2012 
