Title: Conceptions about the social determinants of health and the origin of diseases

Appearance of new disease

Q: How probable is it for new infectious diseases to appear nowadays?
- Totally unprobable, new infectious diseases don't emerge anymore.
- Slightly probable, new infectious diseases emerge quite rarely anymore.
- Quite probable, new infectious diseases are constantly emerging.

Origin of new diseases

Q: You hear on the news about a disease that appeared in Central Africa due to a new virus.
- It probably originated from a variant of an older human disease.
- It probably originated from an animal disease that passed to humans.
- It probably originated from the natural environment (e.g. contaminated soil or water).

Contact with animals

Q: Do you think that intensive farming and hunting of wild animals could cause the emergence of new diseases?
- Yes, it seems quite probable.
- Maybe, in rare cases.
- No, it seems unprobable.

Habitat loss

Q: Do you think that the loss of tropical forests and urbanisation could cause the emergence of new diseases?
- Yes, it seems quite probable.
- Maybe, in rare cases.
- No, it seems unprobable.

Determinants of health

Q: On which of the following do you think human health depends?
- On the biological features of people (e.g. age, heredity, physical exercise).
- On the social conditions (e.g. profession, language, place of residence).
- On the emotional and psychological state of people (e.g. stress, depression).
- On the environmental conditions (e.g. environmental pollution, solar radiation, noise).

Social determinants of health

Q: To what degree do social conditions (e.g. profession, language, place of residence) affect someone's health condition?
- They don't affect somenoe's health condition, with very few exceptions, maybe.
- Usually to a low degree.
- To a considerable degree, but not as much as someone's biological features (e.g. heredity, age, physical conitions).
- To the largest degree, more than any other factor.

Medical information

Q: Could you think of a social group with exceptional difficulty of getting informed about medical affairs, in comparison to the rest of citizens?

Comprehension of medical information

Q: Could you think of a social group with exceptional difficulty of understanding the medical information that reads or listens to, in comparison to the rest of citizens?

Exposure to chemicals

Q: Could you think of a social group with exceptionally severe exposure in harmful conditions, such as toxic chemicals?

Exposure to pathogens

Q: Could you think of a social group with exceptionally severe exposure in harmful conditions, such as dangerous pathogens?

Complication risks

Q: Could you think of a social group with exceptionally high risk of severe complications of diseases, because they don't have easy access to doctors and hospitals?

Educational level

Q: Do you think that educational level affects health condition?
- Yes, higher the educational level, better the health condition.
- Yes, poorer the educational level, better the health condition.
- We cannot draw generic conclusions, it depends to the person.
- No, educational level has nothing to do with health condition.

Economic condition

Q: Do you think that economic condition affects health condition?
- Yes, better higher the income, better the health condition.
- Yes, lower higher the income, better the health condition.
- We cannot draw generic conclusions, it depends to the person.
- No, income has nothing to do with health condition.

Digital literacy

Q: Do you think that ease with digital tecnhologies (e.g. computers, smartphones) affects health condition?
- Yes, greater the ease, better the health condition.
- We cannot draw generic conclusions, it depends to the person.
- No, ease with digital tecnhologies has nothing to do with health condition.

Life span

Q: In a society, we observe that many immigrants have lower life span than the locals.
- The difference must be due the difference in their origin.
- The difference must be due to their different lifestyles and life conditions.
- The difference must be accidental.

Poor health condition

Q: Could you think of another reason that someone would be of a rather higher risk of a poor health condition?

[Image: This programm has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under grant agreement No 101006468]