What are SDOH (Social Determinants of Health)?
As healthcare cost continue to rise. It is important for the healthcare industry to get comprehensive data on the conditions in local communities. SDOH are those conditions that impact where a person lives and the impact that environment has on an individual and population.
Examples of Social Determinants of Health include factors such as education, healthcare and access, economic stability, neighborhood and social and community engagement. All of these factors can have various impacts on community health. With better insights into local community SDOH factors, health outcomes can be improved for individuals and overall population health as well as reduce health disparities.
While the direct impact of social determinants of health are not always obvious. Understanding the environment and social aspects where people live is important to improving patient health and decreasing medical spend.
Education and health literacy are core elements to improved lifetime health. Education leads to increase job opportunities and higher wages along with company sponsored healthcare options. Having the ability to see doctors when necessary with good insurance reduces long term health issues when properly used. If people do not know when to see a doctor or what conditions could be silently impacting them. Then their overall health will be negatively impacted regardless of other conditions.
The graphic below lists the common core determinants of health and groups lower level conditions into 5 Determinants of Health.
- High School Graduation
- Language
- Literacy
- Early Childhood Education
- Access to Primary Care
- Access to Pharmacy
- Access to Urgent/ER Care
- Health Knowledge
- Employment
- Housing Instability
- Food Instability
- Poverty
- Crime
- Environmental Conditions
- Housing Conditions
- Access to Food
- Transportation
- Social Network
- Incarceration
- Discrimination
Understanding SDOH Needs
Social determinants of health data is widespread and hard to collect and manage. Healthcare organizations have a wealth of information on their members or patients and the conditions that they have. Combining the data from an organization with external SDOH data can help you understand and improve overall population health.
In order to improve health equity. You need to interpret the data for a local community and what specific issues does that area need to help improve healthcare. The more detailed the information in a geographical area the better you will be able to target your outreach. What are determinants of health?
Examples of core determinants of health include:
- Access to PCP
- Access to Urgent Care or ER
- Access to education
- Availability of health food options
- Availability of safe housing
- Access to child care
- Language Barriers
- Literacy Issues
- Environmental conditions
- Transportation options
- Public safety
- Schools and recreational
The more insights you can gain on your member or patients regarding their determinants of health the more targeted approach you can deliver. Healthcare organizations need to identify local social services that can help improve their population by decreasing health disparities.
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What are – Social Determinants of Health
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