According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the social determinants of health (SDOH) are the non-medical factors that influence health outcomes. “They are the conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live, and age, and the wider set of forces and systems shaping the conditions of daily life”.
Point 1: The entire world around you – near and far, big and small – affects your ability to be healthy.
Next, consider this series of questions about each of the stages of life mentioned by the WHO. These questions can help you: 1) more clearly understand what a social determinant is, 2) recognize the positive and negative determinants in your own life, and 3) think about others’ determinants, especially those who are not as privileged as yourself. Before you read on, keep in mind that this is not an exhaustive list and the issues represented in the following questions only represent some of the SDOH.
- Born. Did your mother have access to quality care, prenatal vitamins, birthing classes, and other resources? Did she live in a safe home during her pregnancy and have access to healthy foods? Was she positively and safely supported by her partner or someone else? Where were you born? Was that hospital properly staffed with quality medical professionals and amply supplied? Did the hospital staff prioritize three White patients before they would even look at your Black mother even though she was in distress?
- Grow. Did you have access to a quality education? Did your parents read to you and were you able to communicate in a positive way with them? Or did you walk to school in constant fear of getting shot, raped, or robbed? Did the stress of living in poverty and raising siblings practically on your own adversely affect your brain development?
- Work. Do you work and receive a living wage? Do you have transportation to get you to work on time every day? Do you have the proper clothes to wear? Is your workplace safe? Do you have childcare for your children while you’re away?
- Live. Do you have positive and supportive family, friends, and community? Are you able to participate in civic organizations and clubs, visit a local library, or walk and bike around town? Do you have broadband internet, healthy air, and clean water with fluoride? Do you have access to mental health care, birth control, preventative visits, eye exams, dental cleanings, and cancer screenings?
- Age. Do you have an entrance to your home without steps? Do you have access to quality and healthy meal delivery services, home health assistance, and transportation? Are you financially stable and able to pay your bills? Do you frequently fall, have asthma attacks, or visit the ER? Are you socially isolated and lonely? Have you been a victim of elder abuse, scams, or Medicare fraud? Are you able to live independently and age in place?
Point 2: The more positive things in your life and environment, the healthier you can be.
Sounds easy, right? Let’s tell everyone to swap their cheeseburger for a salad and we’ll be on our way to a health revolution! Well…no.
The reality is that no one can 100% control their health outcomes. And many individuals will never be able to check the boxes that bode well as social determinants because they, as an individual, simply cannot change them. It takes all of us – individually and systemically. Racism, poverty, social injustices, and accessibility are uncomfortable, complex, and wicked issues, but they’re not going anywhere. And it’s high time we embrace the uncomfortable, complex, and wicked.
Point 3: We can no longer ignore racism, poverty, social injustices, and accessibility. These are the major issues influencing our ability to be healthy and well, and nothing will change unless we all do.
Health means…increasing the proportion of children living with at least one employed parent year round, full time.
Contributor: Erin Yelland
