Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) that affect Johnson’s family

Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) that affect Johnson’s family

There are different Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) that affect Johnson’s family. World Health Organization (WHO) defines SDOH as complicated settings that people are born and live in that affect the health of their health status. The SDOH includes political, socioeconomic, cultural constructs, accessible healthcare, safe environment, health food availability, and education. The first SDOH factor affecting the Johnson family is alcoholism. As it was noted in the interview, both Johnson and his wife are alcoholics. Addiction has a lot of impacts on individuals and the family. It is even worse in this family as both parents are engaged in the act. Alcoholism is expensive as it depletes the financial status of families. Alcohol affects family life due to a lack of family time. Alcoholism has negative impacts on the health of an individual. Drinking has been associated with chronic diseases like heart attack, liver disease, stroke, and hypertension. Even though Johnson and his wife have not been diagnosed with any of the diseases, immediate interventions will help in their prevention. Taking into consideration that both Adriana and Nancy are adolescents, parental is a necessity at this stage. This can cause stress and depression in both Adriana and Nancy, which can deteriorate their health.

Access to healthy food is another SDOH affecting this family. As noticed in the interview, the family is exposed to an unhealthy diet through ready-made meals on both lunch and supper. As Kanzler notes in his research, salt levels in ready-made foods exceed the recommended levels. Also, Alkerwi, Crichton, and Herbert note that cholesterol levels are high in ready-made meals. These result to health complications like hypertension and obesity. The behavior of depending on ready-made food may be attributed to the alcoholism behaviors of the parents.

Another SDOH noted in the interview is the lack of physical exercise in the family. This is very harmful to their health, especially considering that they take ready-made meals. The meals may have high levels of cholesterol. Exercising helps in burning calories or body fats, reducing the chances of suffering from obesity.

The last SDOH is the presence of sickle anemia in the family tree of Mary, Johnson’s wife. As a result, Adriana is affected by the disease since birth. Adriana needs extensive care and awareness of the disease to ensure that he does not engage activities which will deteriorate his health. Generally, the family needs counseling to cope with the implications of the disease.

The family members need to attend various screenings to determine their health status. This is because there are numerous health issues that they may be associated with. Despite their difference in age, the family members need to undergo cholesterol screening to determine the fat levels in their bodies. Ready-made foods are associated with high cholesterol levels, and also, the family members do not engage in physical exercises, which help reduce fat levels in their bodies. Both Johnson and Mary need to undergo the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). This is a screening developed by WHO assess drinking behaviors, alcohol consumption, and alcohol-related problems. Johnson should be screened against prostate cancer due to his age. This is because prostate cancer affects men with 40 years and above. Mary should be screened on breast lumps, which are indicators of breast cancer for early treatment. Adriana should be screened for symptoms associated with sickle anemia.

The Health Belief Model (HBM) can significantly impact the process of helping Johnson’s family. The model was developed by social scientists in the 1950s at the US Public Health Service. According to the model, a person tends to adopt health-related behaviors for preventive measures. The model argues that health-related behavior depends on several factors. The factors are perceived susceptibility, perceived benefits, cues to action, perceived severity, self-efficiency, and perceived benefits. The model shows that people will engage in healthy behaviors to avoid related risks in the future.

Most of the Johnson family’s health issues are behavior related. Adopting health-related practices will prevent health complications that they may be associated with. If the family understands the risks of eating ready-made meals, it will consider engaging in healthy meals to avoid the risks. Snetselaar argues that this model has been used to help people with unhealthy eating habits. Likewise, creating awareness on the health and social risks associated with alcoholism can impose fear on them, thus quitting drinking. Also, education on the importance and risks associated with physical exercise will help the family.

There are essential steps that must be followed in this model. The first step is to establish the reasons why Johnson’s family is engaged in unhealthy behaviors. For instance, Johnson and his wife can share their ideas for their practice of drinking. They may give reasons like stress. In such cases, it is essential first to counsel them to cope with stress or other factors that may be leading to unhealthy living. The second step is to create awareness of the risks associated with harmful behaviors. This step also involves educating the family on the benefits of adopting healthy living. The third step is creating strategies that the family can use to forget or not have the temptation to exercise unhealthy activities. The last step is to implement the steps outlined in step three. During this step, the family members should keep a watch on each other to ensure that no one backslides.