52
B. A. Balogun
facilities are provided and maintained within their communities. The measures taken
by these CHCs have, nevertheless, proved inadequate, because sufficient consideration is not being given to the social determinants of health (SDoH). As critical
factors that impact health inequities of communities, the SDoH constitute an important missing link for wholesome community health. The arguments of Ichoku et al.
(2013) on the subject shows that the influence of the SDoH on health inequities
among and within communities runs very deep in Sub-Saharan Africa and accounts
for the present-day inequities that we see.
According to the United States Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (cited in Friedman 2020), the SDoH refer to ‘conditions in the environments in
which people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age that affect a wide
range of health, functioning, and quality-of-life outcomes and risks’. Studies show
that the SDoH are responsible for over 80% of preventable death. Thus, improving
access to SDoH is crucial for the attainment of wholesome community health. Several
studies have buttressed the role of neighbourhood conditions as a major contributor
to the SDoH of communities. When communities are equipped with social amenities
that engender communal interactions and recreational outdoor exercises and leisure
activities, a solid avenue for the promotion of the health status of members is established (Friedman 2020; Jennings et al. 2016). SDoH have been linked to the state of
health and well-being of a people. At the inception of the World Health Organisation
(WHO) in 1946, the first drafters of its constitution acknowledged that health problems had social backgrounds (Commission on Social Determinants of Health 2005).
Since then, the organisation has gradually stepped up actions to influence nations to
prioritise those determinants. Researchers have begun to underline the huge potential in using SDoH to predict health (Ancker et al. 2018). Numerous SDoH have
been identified in this regard, but this paper is focused on recreation, one of those
social factors identified by WHO at the beginning as essential to human health. This
paper seeks to find the basis for leisure activities and recreation facilities in Nigerian
communities, identify opportunities for the promotion of such facilities, and draw
potential implications as a result.
2 Conceptual Framework
In conceptualising the idea of wholesome community health, it is a given that certain
thresholds are meant to be reached. Identifying those thresholds and attaining healthy
societies require an understanding of all the terminologies that are the key constructs
of this paper. First, what does the word ‘community’ mean? As Kravetz (2017, p. 8)
put it, it is a commonly used word that we easily assume we know. Running through
the literature, the word ‘community’ has been defined from various standpoints and,
thus, fallen short of any universally acceptable definition. Green and Ottoson (1999,
cited in Goodman et al. 2014) saw community as a group of inhabitants living in a
somewhat localised area under the same general regulations and having common
B. A. Balogun
facilities are provided and maintained within their communities. The measures taken
by these CHCs have, nevertheless, proved inadequate, because sufficient consideration is not being given to the social determinants of health (SDoH). As critical
factors that impact health inequities of communities, the SDoH constitute an important missing link for wholesome community health. The arguments of Ichoku et al.
(2013) on the subject shows that the influence of the SDoH on health inequities
among and within communities runs very deep in Sub-Saharan Africa and accounts
for the present-day inequities that we see.
According to the United States Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (cited in Friedman 2020), the SDoH refer to ‘conditions in the environments in
which people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age that affect a wide
range of health, functioning, and quality-of-life outcomes and risks’. Studies show
that the SDoH are responsible for over 80% of preventable death. Thus, improving
access to SDoH is crucial for the attainment of wholesome community health. Several
studies have buttressed the role of neighbourhood conditions as a major contributor
to the SDoH of communities. When communities are equipped with social amenities
that engender communal interactions and recreational outdoor exercises and leisure
activities, a solid avenue for the promotion of the health status of members is established (Friedman 2020; Jennings et al. 2016). SDoH have been linked to the state of
health and well-being of a people. At the inception of the World Health Organisation
(WHO) in 1946, the first drafters of its constitution acknowledged that health problems had social backgrounds (Commission on Social Determinants of Health 2005).
Since then, the organisation has gradually stepped up actions to influence nations to
prioritise those determinants. Researchers have begun to underline the huge potential in using SDoH to predict health (Ancker et al. 2018). Numerous SDoH have
been identified in this regard, but this paper is focused on recreation, one of those
social factors identified by WHO at the beginning as essential to human health. This
paper seeks to find the basis for leisure activities and recreation facilities in Nigerian
communities, identify opportunities for the promotion of such facilities, and draw
potential implications as a result.
2 Conceptual Framework
In conceptualising the idea of wholesome community health, it is a given that certain
thresholds are meant to be reached. Identifying those thresholds and attaining healthy
societies require an understanding of all the terminologies that are the key constructs
of this paper. First, what does the word ‘community’ mean? As Kravetz (2017, p. 8)
put it, it is a commonly used word that we easily assume we know. Running through
the literature, the word ‘community’ has been defined from various standpoints and,
thus, fallen short of any universally acceptable definition. Green and Ottoson (1999,
cited in Goodman et al. 2014) saw community as a group of inhabitants living in a
somewhat localised area under the same general regulations and having common