Individual Factors
Individual factors focus on a person’s current thoughts and beliefs about health. When looking at individual factors in the social environment, we think about a person’s social and demographic features. This includes things like their gender, age, language, religious identity, race or ethnic background, sexual orientation, and how much money they have. These traits often shape what people think, believe, and know about staying healthy and getting better health. This can affect their health behaviors and overall health outcomes. It’s also important to consider federally-protected classes of people when looking at the health needs of a community. Federally-protected classes are certain groups of people. The government gives them special attention to prevent discrimination. Examples include age, race, and ethnicity, where you’re from (national origin), and whether you have a disability.
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