Social Determinants of Health in Rural Anhui

This paper is based on a study exploring the social determinants of health of rural residents in Anhui, China; which is sponsored by the Lupina Foundation. The study looks into the main health determinants such as living condition, social security, healthcare access, and rural-urban migration’s impact on Anhui villagers’ health and overall wellbeing. It attempts to identify the problem areas in order to develop strategies for the improvement of the reality.

Compared with urban residents, villagers in rural areas tend to be vulnerable in terms of social programs’ entitlement and access various resources, including healthcare. In an age of rapid urbanization (of populations), the left-behind family members tend to be lack of childcare, eldercare and family support. Both questionnaire survey and qualitative data from the project reveal that rural Anhui has developed into a stage, which requires new social infrastructure and social policies.