Social Determinants of Health and Implication for Adult Education in Ghana: A Conceptual Study

The recognition that social factors have an important impact on people’s health has a long-standing history. However, there was a renewed interest when the Commission on Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) was established by World Health Organization (WHO) in 2005 to support countries and global health partners in addressing the social factors leading to ill health and health inequalities. Since then, the concept of SDOH and its applications have evolved and expanded as researchers have examined the dynamic socio-cultural and economic roots and routes to experiences of health and wellbeing in society. This paper explores how, where and to what benefit the social determinants of health concept has been applied to date, and how such applications have contributed to its critical evolution as a relevant and useful concept in health research, education and practice. This paper summarizes the key themes identified in the literature, broadly in keeping with the core material, social, cultural and economic dimensions of the concept with examples from Ghana, Africa. Through this process, this paper identifies strength and limitations of the concept and its implications for adult education, as well as knowledge gaps and future directions for work in this field, contributing to wider interdisciplinary discussions and debates around social determinants of adults’ health. The research model is crucial for adult educationalists when they design course curriculum for educational institutions.