What factors shape a person's health and wellbeing, and how do they interact?
The factors affecting health and wellbeing: physical, social and emotional, economic, environmental and lifestyle factors, the difference between factors a person can and cannot control, and how factors interact to influence health.
A CCEA AS 3 answer on the factors affecting health and wellbeing: physical, social and emotional, economic, environmental and lifestyle factors, the distinction between controllable and uncontrollable factors, and how these interact to determine a person's health.
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What this dot point is asking
CCEA wants you to explain the factors that affect health and wellbeing, grouped as physical, social and emotional, economic, environmental and lifestyle factors. You must distinguish factors a person can control from those they cannot, and explain how factors interact rather than acting alone.
The categories of factors
Physical factors are largely outside personal control: you cannot choose your genes, your age or, often, a disability or inherited condition. Lifestyle factors are largely within personal control, which is why they are the main target of health promotion. Social, economic and environmental factors sit in between: an individual has limited control over their income or housing, but society and policy can change them, which is why they are called the wider determinants or social determinants of health.
Controllable and uncontrollable factors
The distinction between controllable and uncontrollable factors matters for fairness and for how care is planned. It would be wrong to "blame" a person for poor health caused by factors they cannot control, such as a genetic condition or growing up in poverty. Health promotion therefore focuses on the factors people can influence (lifestyle), while public health and policy tackle the wider determinants (income, housing, environment) that individuals cannot fix alone.
How factors interact
The most important idea is that factors interact and reinforce one another. A low income (economic) can mean damp, overcrowded housing (environmental), which raises the risk of respiratory illness (physical); the stress of poverty (emotional) can drive smoking (lifestyle), which compounds the risk. Protective factors interact too: a good income supports good housing, a balanced diet and access to services and leisure, building wellbeing across all dimensions. Recognising these chains explains why health inequalities persist and why effective improvement usually has to tackle several factors at once.
Try this
Q1. Name the five categories of factors affecting health and wellbeing. [5 marks]
- Cue. Physical, social and emotional, economic, environmental, and lifestyle.
Q2. Give one example of a factor a person cannot control. [1 mark]
- Cue. Genetic inheritance, age, or sex (others are acceptable).
Q3. Explain how low income can lead to poor physical health. [3 marks]
- Cue. Low income limits access to nutritious food, heating and good housing, raising the risk of poor diet, cold-related and respiratory illness.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of CCEA exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
CCEA AS 3 20186 marksExplain how economic factors can affect an individual's health and wellbeing.Show worked answer →
A 6-mark answer needs several distinct economic factors, each linked to a health effect.
Income: a low income limits access to nutritious food, adequate heating, good housing and leisure, so it can lead to poor diet, cold-related illness and stress. A higher income widens choice and access.
Employment: secure, satisfying work supports income, routine, status and social contact, all of which protect wellbeing; unemployment brings financial insecurity, loss of structure and a higher risk of poor mental health.
Working conditions: stressful, high-demand or hazardous jobs can cause physical injury and chronic stress, while safe, supportive work protects health.
Markers reward at least three distinct economic factors, each linked clearly to a physical, emotional or social health effect.
CCEA AS 3 20228 marksUsing examples, explain how factors affecting health and wellbeing can interact to influence an individual.Show worked answer →
An 8-mark answer needs the interaction idea plus a worked chain of factors.
Factors rarely act alone; they combine and reinforce one another. For example, a low income (economic) may force a family to live in damp, overcrowded housing (environmental), which raises the risk of respiratory illness (physical). The stress of poverty (emotional) may lead to smoking (lifestyle), compounding the physical risk, and the family may live in an area with poor access to services (environmental), so problems go untreated.
Conversely, protective factors interact too: a good income supports good housing, a balanced diet and access to leisure and services, which together build physical, emotional and social wellbeing.
Markers reward the interaction point and a clear, realistic chain that links several factor types to a combined effect on health.
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Sources & how we know this
- CCEA GCE Health and Social Care specification — CCEA (2016)