Social Determinants of Health Inequities and Human Development: Is there a role for mHealth in overcoming health inequities?
ABSTRACT: The spread of the pandemic in recent years has disproportionately affected people who are unable to access the basic resources needed to survive. Such resources include but are not limited to food, shelter, capital and the ability to find the information they need to stay healthy. These socioeconomic factors influence the manner in which people and communities are able to recover. This paper investigates the relationship between social determinants of health and human development and the role of mHealth in overcoming health inequities. Data was collected for 27 variables from 189 countries through the United Nations, World Bank and the World Health Organization’s databases. Following an analysis of a model comprising of indices created to test a set of hypotheses, this paper offers unique insight into the social determinants of health that can be overcome through mHealth. The contribution of this paper is in uncovering the social determinants of health that are related to human development and how mhealth access is related to social determinants of health and the Human Development Index. This has implications for how inequalities may be addressed through mobile health applications to bring about human development.
Keywords: Health equity, Social determinants of health, mHealth, Health inequity
