Lectures Health in Society
(201900017)
2025-2026
1
,Inhoudsopgave
Lectures Health in Society ............................................................................................................ 1
Lecture 1: Introduction to (new) public health ................................................................................ 3
What affects our health? ................................................................................................................... 3
What is public health? ...................................................................................................................... 5
What does health mean? .................................................................................................................. 6
Lecture 2: Social determinants of health ....................................................................................... 9
Public health is a political process .................................................................................................... 9
Individualism, globalisation and public health ................................................................................ 12
Social position, inequity and public health ...................................................................................... 13
Lecture 3: Health, environments & societies.................................................................................16
Environmental threats and health ................................................................................................... 16
Urbanization and infrastructure ...................................................................................................... 18
Healthy economic policies ............................................................................................................. 19
Lecture 4: Medical and behavioural perspectives on health promotion ............................................21
Medical approach ........................................................................................................................... 21
Behavioural approach to health promotion ..................................................................................... 23
Lecture 5: Enabling individuals and empowering communities .......................................................27
Creating supportive environments .................................................................................................. 27
Strengthening community action .................................................................................................... 29
Lecture 6: New public policy.......................................................................................................32
What is (public) policy? ................................................................................................................... 32
What is healthy public policy? ........................................................................................................ 34
Healthy public policy on a global scale ........................................................................................... 35
2
, Lecture 1: Introduction to (new) public health
Cholera outbreak in the UK in 1854: Dr John Snow found that the water pump in city was
the cause of the outbreak and not because of the filthy air; the water was contaminated
because of sewage. As a result, the sewage systems were developed.
→ Lessons learned from this story:
- The role of science in health
- The important influence that our environment can have on our health and well-
being
- The focus of public health on population interventions that benefit populations,
and not individuals
- The critical role of disparities along the lines of poverty and rich
- The important difference that prevention can make
- Structural factors may play a role
- Politics have an important role in health responses
What affects our health?
There is an increase in the amount of people being overweight or obese since 1975
across the globe
What explains this issue (also applicable to other health issues)? There is a
multifactorial condition: there are three factors that contribute to our health condition:
- Genetic variants
- Psycho-social factors
→ Preferences for particular foods, our lifestyles
- Obesogenic environments
→ The situation, country, place that we live in and to what extent the food is
accessible and healthy
→ Health is the outcome of biology, behaviour and environment and so public health
draws on different disciplines
Importance of social factors
Social factors are often overlooked because we tend to focus on health as an individual
issue
Example of the role of social factors: income influences whether someone has
overweight – the higher people’s risk of poverty, the more likely the higher the rates of
overweight and obesity in that income group
3
, → Our social position can influence our health outcomes
Health is a social issue
How do we talk about social differences in health? Different ways:
- Social differences in health
= Neutral way to say that there is variation between groups
- Health gap
= Common language term, has the connotation that this gap is problematic and
we want to bridge it
- Health disparity
= The difference between groups is preventable
- Health inequality
= The differences are not random, but they are socially stratified/ordered
- Health inequity
= Unnecessary and unfair social differences; the preventable and stratified
differences are unnecessary and unfair
→ Particularly used in public health
The Commission on Social Determinants of Health (WHO) concluded that a toxic
combination of bad policies, economics and politics is, in large measure, responsible
for the fact that a majority of people in the world do not enjoy the good health that is
biologically possible
→ At the societal level, it is not because of our biology that some people live longer than
others, but it is because of policy, politics and economics
→ They put forward the importance of the social determinants of health, which are the
conditions in which people are born, grow, live and age (some people live in more
deprived areas and others in more privileged areas) and the differences in power, money
and resources that give rise to these conditions (influence of policy, politics and
economics) – Not everyone has an equal opportunity in life that are influential of our
health outcomes
There is a close connection between our social conditions and quality of life and our
health (two sides of the same coin)
→ It means that if we develop health policy and interventions, they will not only
contribute to people’s health, but also to people’s social conditions and quality of health
(better health leads to better conditions and a quality of life)
→ It also means that if we develop social policy and interventions, for example to
increase minimum wage, this may have a positive effect on health
4
(201900017)
2025-2026
1
,Inhoudsopgave
Lectures Health in Society ............................................................................................................ 1
Lecture 1: Introduction to (new) public health ................................................................................ 3
What affects our health? ................................................................................................................... 3
What is public health? ...................................................................................................................... 5
What does health mean? .................................................................................................................. 6
Lecture 2: Social determinants of health ....................................................................................... 9
Public health is a political process .................................................................................................... 9
Individualism, globalisation and public health ................................................................................ 12
Social position, inequity and public health ...................................................................................... 13
Lecture 3: Health, environments & societies.................................................................................16
Environmental threats and health ................................................................................................... 16
Urbanization and infrastructure ...................................................................................................... 18
Healthy economic policies ............................................................................................................. 19
Lecture 4: Medical and behavioural perspectives on health promotion ............................................21
Medical approach ........................................................................................................................... 21
Behavioural approach to health promotion ..................................................................................... 23
Lecture 5: Enabling individuals and empowering communities .......................................................27
Creating supportive environments .................................................................................................. 27
Strengthening community action .................................................................................................... 29
Lecture 6: New public policy.......................................................................................................32
What is (public) policy? ................................................................................................................... 32
What is healthy public policy? ........................................................................................................ 34
Healthy public policy on a global scale ........................................................................................... 35
2
, Lecture 1: Introduction to (new) public health
Cholera outbreak in the UK in 1854: Dr John Snow found that the water pump in city was
the cause of the outbreak and not because of the filthy air; the water was contaminated
because of sewage. As a result, the sewage systems were developed.
→ Lessons learned from this story:
- The role of science in health
- The important influence that our environment can have on our health and well-
being
- The focus of public health on population interventions that benefit populations,
and not individuals
- The critical role of disparities along the lines of poverty and rich
- The important difference that prevention can make
- Structural factors may play a role
- Politics have an important role in health responses
What affects our health?
There is an increase in the amount of people being overweight or obese since 1975
across the globe
What explains this issue (also applicable to other health issues)? There is a
multifactorial condition: there are three factors that contribute to our health condition:
- Genetic variants
- Psycho-social factors
→ Preferences for particular foods, our lifestyles
- Obesogenic environments
→ The situation, country, place that we live in and to what extent the food is
accessible and healthy
→ Health is the outcome of biology, behaviour and environment and so public health
draws on different disciplines
Importance of social factors
Social factors are often overlooked because we tend to focus on health as an individual
issue
Example of the role of social factors: income influences whether someone has
overweight – the higher people’s risk of poverty, the more likely the higher the rates of
overweight and obesity in that income group
3
, → Our social position can influence our health outcomes
Health is a social issue
How do we talk about social differences in health? Different ways:
- Social differences in health
= Neutral way to say that there is variation between groups
- Health gap
= Common language term, has the connotation that this gap is problematic and
we want to bridge it
- Health disparity
= The difference between groups is preventable
- Health inequality
= The differences are not random, but they are socially stratified/ordered
- Health inequity
= Unnecessary and unfair social differences; the preventable and stratified
differences are unnecessary and unfair
→ Particularly used in public health
The Commission on Social Determinants of Health (WHO) concluded that a toxic
combination of bad policies, economics and politics is, in large measure, responsible
for the fact that a majority of people in the world do not enjoy the good health that is
biologically possible
→ At the societal level, it is not because of our biology that some people live longer than
others, but it is because of policy, politics and economics
→ They put forward the importance of the social determinants of health, which are the
conditions in which people are born, grow, live and age (some people live in more
deprived areas and others in more privileged areas) and the differences in power, money
and resources that give rise to these conditions (influence of policy, politics and
economics) – Not everyone has an equal opportunity in life that are influential of our
health outcomes
There is a close connection between our social conditions and quality of life and our
health (two sides of the same coin)
→ It means that if we develop health policy and interventions, they will not only
contribute to people’s health, but also to people’s social conditions and quality of health
(better health leads to better conditions and a quality of life)
→ It also means that if we develop social policy and interventions, for example to
increase minimum wage, this may have a positive effect on health
4
