What Are Examples of Social Health?

Examples of social health programs include those designed to reduce the incidence of drug and alcohol abuse and prevent unhealthy habits, such as teen smoking. Social health typically addresses health concerns of an entire population, especially an underserved population.

According to the CDC, social health is defined by five key variables: a person’s biology and genetics, behavior, social environment, physical environment and access to heath services. The CDC indicates that sex, age and behavior play a part in receiving specific health services. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention adds that the goal of social health is to attain health equity, or give people the opportunity to “attain their full health potential” without discrimination based on social position or circumstances. Subjects such as discrimination, income and gender are often addressed in establishing a community or social health program.

A person’s living conditions impact social health as well. For this reason, social health programs extend to addressing conditions such as overcrowding.

According to the CDC, the availability of health services in a community is also a major concern. Addressing the health needs of people without health insurance and providing quality health care for the indigent are two primary examples of social health initiatives.

Health literacy, or how the availability of health services are communicated or understood, is another consideration of social health programs. Information, according to the CDC, needs to be clearly defined so people can make informed decisions about their health.