The Social Determinants of Health: Why Should We Care?

American Journal of Bioethics 15 (3):25-36 (2015)
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Abstract

A growing body of empirical research examines the effects of the so-called “social determinants of health” on health and health inequalities. Several high-profile publications have issued policy recommendations to reduce health inequalities based on a specific interpretation of this empirical research as well as a set of normative assumptions. This article questions the framework defined by these assumptions by focusing on two issues: first, the normative judgments about the fairness of particular health inequalities; and second, the policy recommendations issued on this basis. We argue that the normative underpinnings of the approach are insufficiently supported and that the policy recommendations do not necessarily follow from the arguments provided. Furthermore, while many of the policies recommended—such as improving people's living conditions and reducing inequalities in wealth and power—are justified in their own right, the way these recommendations are tied to health is problematic

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Author Profiles

Adina Preda
Trinity College, Dublin
Kristin Voigt
McGill University

Citations of this work

Democratic Ethical Consumption and Social Justice.Andreas Albertsen - 2022 - Public Health Ethics 15 (2):130-137.
Justice, inequality, and health.Gopal Sreenivasan - 2009 - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Why We Should Care About the Social Determinants of Health.Norman Daniels - 2015 - American Journal of Bioethics 15 (3):37-38.
Psychopathy: Morally Incapacitated Persons.Heidi Maibom - 2017 - In Thomas Schramme & Steven Edwards (eds.), Handbook of the Philosophy of Medicine. Dordrecht: Springer. pp. 1109-1129.

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References found in this work

A Theory of Justice: Revised Edition.John Rawls - 1999 - Harvard University Press.
Just Health: Meeting Health Needs Fairly.Norman Daniels - 2007 - Cambridge University Press.
Health, Luck, and Justice.Shlomi Segall - 2009 - Princeton University Press.
Smoking and Social Justice.Kristin Voigt - 2010 - Public Health Ethics 3 (2):91-106.
Health care and equality of opportunity.Gopal Sreenivasan - 2007 - Hastings Center Report 37 (2):21-31.

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