M2 · Health Complexity
M2
Slide 3
CONTENT
Physical Illness as a Socially Determined Condition
The WHO Social Determinants of Health framework helps explain this pattern.
Health is shaped by:

Economic stability

Housing quality

Access to healthcare

Social inclusion

Education

Public policy

Homelessness represents breakdown across several of these determinants simultaneously. Material deprivation and unstable living conditions affect health in direct ways:
Exposure to extreme temperatures increases risk of hypothermia and heatstroke.
Overcrowded shelters increase transmission of infectious disease.
Irregular meals contribute to metabolic disorders.
Poor sanitation increases dermatological and wound complications.
Health inequalities among homeless populations are therefore not incidental — they are structurally produced.