Factors Affecting Social Health of an Individual

All of us are familiar with the fact that health does not just comprise of the physical well-being of a person. Instead, it deals with the overall well-being of a person and thence social health is an indispensible part of one’s general health. There are many aspects of an individual’s social health and thus there are many factors that can affect it. Social health is not just about being able t

o fit in well in a particular society and being able to gel with a particular group of people. It is a person’s ability of interact with all the members of any society and being able to thrive even if his immediate society is out of his comfort zone. It is
quite evident from this that one’s social well-being is not just about an individual but also his society. Thus, there are many factors that can drastically affect an individual’s social health. Some of the parameters that help in developing the traits of a person that help him adjust in his surroundings are:

• Background: The society the person was born in plays an integral role in determining what kind of people he will feel comfortable around.

 

• History: Apart from the people in our initial stages of life, our history also plays a very important role in helping us adapt to different surroundings. If a person has lived amongst different kinds of people in different localities, he will be able to adjust almost anywhere. Whereas, if a person is accustomed to a certain lifestyle and a specific kind of social culture, he might find it difficult to adjust with any other group of people.

 

• Work: The work culture of a person also determines the society he will find himself most comfortable with. A person who has always been a leader would have dealt with the most important people all his life. If he is suddenly demoted or his company bankrupts, he would be left with nothing. If he has to start from scratch, he would not be able to adjust with his social status then and might suffer from many kinds of social illnesses. If the situation is prolonged for a long time, it might even begin to reflect in his physical and mental state. This is very common amongst people who have achieved a lot of fame in their prime years and have had to settle with quite less with age.

 

Now, since all the concepts are clear, it is easy for us to grasp that all these factors that affect one’s social health are in turn dependent on a lot of things. They are shaped by the distribution of wealth and power in a certain area, state and even the national level. This can easily be seen in the enormous health disparities in different in different developed and under-developed nations. The best example for this change would be Canada. It is undeniable that there have been profound changes in the status of health in Canada after industrialization took place in the year 1990. There has been a great increase in longevity since then and only 10%- 15% of it is due to better medical care, the rest is due to improved social and economic status of the country.