The Social Determinants of Health inside and outside the household: capturing a new approach

ABSTRACT

The aim was to understand the Social Determinants of Health (SDH) in the outskirts of a Brazilian capital, from the perspective of social and political actors in the region. It was based on the qualitative methodological approach, with 45 participants including health workers of the regional administrative headquarter, councilors, religious leaders, and representatives of organized entities from Grande Bom Jardim – Fortaleza (CE). We used document analysis, focus group, and semi-structured interview. The content analysis was carried out, encompassing the SDH categories and the general themes ‘inside the household’ and ‘outside the household’, analyzed based on social representations. In the results, the positive changes were evident on the theme ‘inside the household’ of residents: nourishment, improvements resulting from benefits of social assistance policies, an increase in water and electricity supply. On the theme ‘outside the household’, the negative influence on health was evidenced by the low level of basic sanitation coverage, insufficient supply of public transport, and insecurity. It is proposed to include the themes of security, electricity, urban mobility, social assistance, and basic sanitation to support new studies on social determination and the development of measures that contribute to the promotion of health and social equity in urban territories.

KEYWORDS
Social Determinants of Health ; Public policies ; Sociocultural territory ; Health promotion