Overview 

Access to a social safety net means that there are a range of services, benefits, and supports available to citizens throughout their lifetime. This could include provision of supportive housing, employment support services, or childcare. Social exclusion occurs when certain groups are denied the opportunity to participate in Canadian life, which can limit access to cultural, social, and economic resources. 

When individuals experience social exclusion, it can impact their susceptibility to injury and receiving health services due to their injury, thus affecting their quality of life. 

All information pertaining to social environments and injury come from ACIP's Social Determinants of Injury Report.  

---

Social Environments and Injury 
Access to safe and supportive social environments are essential to a better overall physical and mental health status. Lower levels of social inclusion are correlated to higher levels of intentional injury including, suicide, violence and child abuse. 

Access to social environments is heavily impacted by socioeconomic status (SES) as those from a lower SES often have less access to resources and opportunities which promote social inclusion. 
An individual's intersecting identity can influence their access to social environments and risk of injury.

For instance, if someone is from a lower SES and is from the 2SLGBTQIA+ (Two-spirt, lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer or questioning, intersex, and asexual) community, and is from the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Colour) community, their access to social environments is impacted, increasing their risk of injury. 

Having less access to such opportunities often negatively impacts ones health. Likewise, overall mortality rates in communities of lower SES are 28% more likely than communities of higher SES, demonstrating the influence that SES, intersecting with access to social environments, has on an individual's risk to injury.