Did you know 75 per cent of the factors that keep us healthy are outside of the health care system?
These factors are known as the Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) and are defined by the World Health Organization as the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age. Examples of these factors include income, education, employment status, our physical environments, the quality of our experiences when we are children, social supports, housing, gender, culture and race.
Research indicates that all forms of violence are strongly patterned by social determinants such as economic, social and gender inequalities; lack of occupational and educational opportunities; ease of access to alcohol, drugs and firearms; family dysfunction; and norms and values that shape the acceptability of violence. In turn, high levels of violence can themselves amplify these social determinants in a vicious circle. Although violence occurs across the socioeconomic continuum—the risks of exposure to violence are greatest for people in the most socioeconomically disadvantaged groups and communities.
Work to address poor socio-economic circumstances and reduce instances of violence in our community is part of the mission of Moose Jaw & District’s Partners Against Violence Committee. This committee takes a collaborative approach, advocating for strategies to reduce violence which encompass not just the individual, but the individual within the context of the family, the community, and larger society.
