Shushpanov D. Education as a social and economic determinant of health

Abstract

The place and the role of education in the social and economic determinants of population health and the necessity of working out of the directions of improvement the literacy in the field of health preservation in Ukraine are substantiated in the article. The peculiar properties of education as a determinant of health are found out.  They are connected with the impact on health directly through the availability of knowledge about the health risks, the possibility of disease prevention and ways of their treatment, and indirectly through the ability to obtain a higher employment status, income, expanding of  social contacts. The materials of a sociological survey "Current status and determinants of health of the population of Ukraine", conducted by the author in August 2015 are also partially analyzed and covered.  The results of the work showed a correlation between the level of education of respondents, their social status and income, which again confirmed the necessity of a systematic and complex study of these issues. The dependence between human development in early life (till 16 years), the education, received at this age, and the state of his health in the future is presented. The importance of education for the formation of social capital and health preservation is substantiated. The relationship between the level of education and the presence of chronic diseases among the population is demonstrated. The measures for the improvement of literacy in the sphere of health preservation among the population of Ukraine are proposed