Social environment and health.
The social environment has a far greater effect on health than is generally assumed. As part of the overall environment, it is the setting in which man and agents (including exposures and other risk factors) interact, leading to symbiosis or disease; man is not proven resistant to most influences of the social environment. The social environment shapes man's perceptions of health and disease and man's reactions to disease. Social factors, and more specifically the urban environment, are thought to play major roles in most chronic diseases. The effects of the social environment are extremely complex, and much of our present knowledge is still hypothetical. Finally, for prevention of disease, only society can change significantly the social environment.
D001294:Attitude to Health; D002908:Chronic Disease; D006262:Health; D012923:Social Class; D012931:Social Environment; D014504:Urban Health