An Introduction to Health and Health Services Practice, and the Social Determinants of Health

This chapter notes that the Report of the Special Rapporteur presented to the Human Rights Council of the United Nations General Assembly in June 2017 stated that ‘Everyone, throughout their lifetime, requires an environment that supports their mental health and wellbeing; in that connection, we are all potential users of mental health services.’ It is explained that a conceptual shift has enabled us to understand the importance of the social determinants of health to explain inequalities of health within and between communities and countries. Further, when people have access to fewer economic resources this directly impacts the amount of social participation possible and can lead to social exclusion, a barrier to wellbeing of concern to social workers. How social workers can respond to this is outlined.