Social Determinants of Health Essay

Social Determinants of Health Essay

Social determinants of health refer to the environments in which individuals are born, live, grow and work that influence their health. They refer to factors that promote health and not individual risk factors like genetics and behavioral risks that increase the risk of contracting disease or vulnerability to injuries or diseases. The social determinants of health are affected by the social policies observed in a particular area.

Social Determinants of Health – an introduction

Categories Of Social Determinants Of Health

The major identified social determinants of health are grouped into six categories including education, economic stability, food, social and community context, health care system, and physical and neighborhood environment.

Under economic stability, factors that influence health includes employment, level of income earned by individuals and medical bills support. Under education category, factors that influence health of individuals are literacy level, vocational training, and availability of higher education, language proficiency and early childhood education.

Health care system adopted in a country also affects the residents through availability of health care provider, cultural and linguistic competency of the provider, quality of care availed and health coverage. On the other hand, stress, community engagement, social integration and discrimination are the main aspects considered under social and community context.

Lastly, availability of housing, parks, playgrounds, transportation and geographical landscape are the main factors considered under physical environment and neighborhood. Considering the above social determinants of health is critical for improving health status and decreasing enduring inequalities in health care and health

Initiatives to address social determinants of health

In order to address social determinants of health, various initiatives have been initiated. The initiatives are both outside and within the health care system. Initiatives within the health care system have been pioneered by different agencies including federal and state government and Medicaid agencies. Examples of such initiatives include payment reform initiatives, care plans to screen and provide referrals for social needs and Medicaid delivery systems. Initiative outside the health care systems sought to pass practices and policies that improve health equity and health.

There is a growing appreciation of the significance of social factors to health results. As such, numerous initiatives have been started both outside health care system and within the health system. Collaboration among different agencies has helped to achieve the desired goals. Such agencies include states government, federal government and Medicaid.

Social Determinants of Health Essay