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# Long description

This interactive diagram illustrates the five layers of the social determinants of health. These layers are:

Layer 1: general socio economic, cultural and environmental conditions. The macro-policy environment, which includes structures and policies (for example tax and benefit systems), determines the distribution of income, wealth and levels of poverty in a society and across societies.

Layer 2: living and working conditions include the level of unemployment, the work environment, the home environment, and health services.

Layer 3: the meso-level of social and community relationships includes social networks, the local sense of commonality and cooperation, and the sense of belonging that people feel.

Layer 4: the micro-level of lifestyle factors includes drinking, smoking, diet and levels of physical activity.

Layer 5: the innermost layer includes individual factors such age, gender and constitutional factors.