Social Determinants

Advocacy > Social Determinants of Health

Healthy People Campaign

Health starts in our homes, schools, workplaces, neighborhoods, and communities.

We know that taking care of ourselves by eating well and staying active, not smoking, getting the recommended immunizations and screening tests, and seeing a doctor when we are sick all influence our health. Our health is also determined in part by access to social and economic opportunities; the resources and supports available in our homes, neighborhoods, and communities; the quality of our schooling; the safety of our workplaces; the cleanliness of our water, food, and air; and the nature of our social interactions and relationships. The conditions in which we live explain in part why some Americans are healthier than others and why Americans more generally are not as healthy as they could be.

Healthy People 2020 highlights the importance of addressing the social determinants of health by including “Create social and physical environments that promote good health for all” as one of the four overarching goals for the decade.  This emphasis is shared by the World Health Organization, whose Commission on Social Determinants of Health in 2008 published the report, Closing the gap in a generation: Health equity through action on the social determinants of health. The emphasis is also shared by other U.S. health initiatives such as the National Partnership for Action to End Health Disparities and the National Prevention and Health Promotion Strategy

https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/social-determinants-of-health

https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/law-and-health-policy/topic/healthy-people-2030

CDC – Social Determinants of Health: Know What Affects Health

https://www.cdc.gov/socialdeterminants/index.htm

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