Social inequalities in health

Indigenous peoples around the world continue to experience and have to cope with the effects of colonial policies and historical trauma on their health and development. The determinants of health approach holds promise for reducing the social health inequalities experienced by Indigenous populations, as the magnitude and severity of these inequalities call for intersectoral public health initiatives based on a thorough understanding of all the individual, collective, and structural factors…

In Québec, the deprivation index was created first and foremost to overcome the lack of socioeconomic data in most administrative databases. Developing an ecological proxy was the only way to monitor social inequalities related to important health issues such as mortality, hospitalization and the use of health services.

This paper provides a comparative analysis of several mental health indicators and determinants by language of instruction. All data discussed in this analysis is from the Québec Health Survey of High School Students 2016–2017.

This document begins with a review of how housing can influence the health and quality of life of its occupants. It then presents the findings on the impact of housing on the health of the Québec population during the COVID-19 period. As a response to this impact, this report proposes strategies for improving housing conditions and reducing social inequalities in health, starting with specific actions that can support households whose housing conditions have become increasingly unstable…

For ministries and organizations to be better positioned to collaboratively design new ways to reduce social inequalities in health (SIH), there is a need to clarify the pivotal role of reducing social inequalities across all levels of government and cross-sectoral efforts in preventing negative impacts on population health, and the potential contribution of multiple sectors to improving the health and well-being of the Québec population.​

The health of the population is…

“The social determinants of health are the circumstances in which people are born,grow up, live, work and age, and the systems put in place to deal with illness. These circumstances are in turn shaped by a wider set of forces: economics, social policies, and politics” (World Health Organization’s Commission on Social Determinants of Health [CSDH WHO], 2016).

“The underlying social structures and processes that systematically assign people to different social…

This document is intended to enable public health actors to more easily distinguish between the most widespread policy approaches that have been proposed to reduce health inequalities. The approaches that we will discuss are:

Health inequalities^…

Intersectionality is a way to think about and act upon social inequality and discrimination. It offers a promising approach to these issues within public policy and within public health. This briefing note briefly explains intersectionality and explores the potential of an intersectional approach to reducing health inequalities.¹

Work in the field of public health has recognized for some time that the social location² of…

Health in All Policies (HiAP) is an increasingly important approach for systematically addressing the social determinants of health at all levels of government. HiAP refers to “an approach to public policies across sectors that systematically takes into account the health implications of decisions, seeks synergies, and avoids harmful health impacts in order to improve population health and health equity”.

In Canada, HiAP is on the radar of several governments, organizations and…