Various social factors, such as education, income, work, living environment, housing, lifestyle and access to services, determine an individual’s state of health. These interact in varying combinations throughout the life course. Inequitable distribution of these factors, or health determinants, among groups generates considerable health differences among people within a community or a country, or between countries. The gaps, or unequal distribution of health status, linked to these determinants within a population are referred to as social inequalities in health (SIH). These inequalities are not inevitable and could be reduced, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The problem of social inequalities in health is vast and complex: unequal power dynamics and exclusion, as well as certain policies and social norms and practices, generate social and health disparities.
Data on the scope of SIH in Québec speak for themselves. The differences between socioeconomic gro…