Social Determinants of Health
The Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) is a framework that acknowledges that non-medical factors greatly affect health outcomes. While this concept originated long ago, the SDoH was published by the Wellesley Institute in 2011 in a concept paper, Reducing Disparities and Improving Population Health: The Role of a Vibrant Community Sector. The SDoH has been adopted and adapted by many, including leading organizations in public health, like the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease and Control. Much has been studied and written about the framework since then, but the core idea is that the conditions in which we live, work, learn, and play have a great impact on our physical and mental health. We know that these conditions are affected and shaped by the distribution of resources, money, and power at global, national, and local levels, and they can serve as either catalysts or barriers to health and well-being.
Because inequities are created when barriers exist that prevent individuals and communities from reaching their full potential to be healthy and well, the Social Determinants of Health framework is useful for identifying and addressing health inequities. The SDoH acknowledges the interconnectedness of our physical health and community conditions in which we live, and the corresponding disparities due to a lack of health equity. As stated in the Wellesley Institute publication, SDoH can be used to engage those outside of the healthcare system—the “community sector, defined as ‘the wide range of not-for-profit organizations whose mandate is to work with and provide services to communities to meet local needs.’” The SDoH framework helps stewards know how their work fits into the larger picture of health and well-being for individuals and communities, and where to prioritize efforts to to best improve and advance equitable well-being.
One of the most difficult things about leveraging the Social Determinants of Health to promote health equity is that in many cases barriers to well-being exist because of conditions that have persisted in the U.S. for years, if not decades. It’s challenging to reverse these long-standing conditions due to their pervasive nature and the way they are deeply embedded in society. For example, racism in the U.S. is systemic and has historically prevented people of color from having the same opportunities as their white counterparts for economic, physical, and mental health. Without health equity, vulnerable populations are at risk for disparate access to community resources and conditions that create well-being because of economic, cultural, racial, or physical characteristics (medical and non-medical factors). Importantly, improved overall population health is not necessarily a sign of increased health equity. Health equity is demonstrated through a decrease in health disparities—worse health outcomes in marginalized groups.
While the Social Determinants of Health framework has been around for decades, more recently various organizations, academic institutions, government agencies, etc. have adapted the framework to match their various organizational structures and workflows. One comparable framework Community Commons advances is often referred to as an updated version of the SDoH—the Vital Conditions for Well-Being Framework. This framework is similar to the SDoH in that the core principle is the acknowledgement that non-medical factors greatly influence our health, and the Vital Conditions framework categorizes these into Seven Vital Conditions that we all need all the time to be healthy and well.
Frameworks like the Social Determinants of Health and the Vital Conditions help advance equitable well-being by acknowledging the interconnectedness of our physical health to the community conditions in which we live, and in turn, how the differences in those conditions contribute to health disparities and highlight ways to improve health equity. The SDoH also encourages collective action and prompts work from stewards across systems and sectors to decrease barriers to conditions that lead to well-being. Adoption of a well-being framework like the SDoH or the Vital Conditions for Well-Being at scale catalyzes alignment across communities, networks, and even nationwide. Healthy People 2030—an initiative that sets broad, ambitious, national goals towards the health and well-being of all people and communities—is one example of this, as they’ve adopted the SDoH framework.
Resources & Tools
An Introduction to Systems Change
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Brought to you by Community Commons
Published on 12/03/2024
Bringing the Vital Conditions to Life: Basic Needs for Health and Safety
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Original
Brought to you by Community Commons
Published on 01/30/2020
All-America City Award Finalists Stewardship in Action: El Paso, Texas
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Original
Brought to you by Community Commons
Published on 09/21/2020
Commons Good Podcast: Annie Martinie and Maggie Richardson
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Brought to you by CI
Published on 12/13/2020
Loneliness Is Harmful to Our Nation's Health
Story - Written
Brought to you by Springer
Published on 03/20/2019
Network Approach to Understanding Well-Being and Growing Vital Conditions
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Brought to you by Community Commons
Published on 11/19/2024
Vital Conditions: Your Feedback
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Brought to you by Community Commons
Published on 10/18/2018
Hi-5: Health Impact in 5 Years
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Brought to you by Community Commons
Published on 10/26/2017
Bringing the Vital Conditions to Life: Lifelong Learning
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Original
Brought to you by Community Commons
Published on 11/01/2019
City Life Is Too Lonely. Urban Planning Can Help.
Story - Written
Brought to you by Bloomberg L.P.
Published on 12/14/2023
Becoming Stewards of a Better 'Well-Being Society' with Dr. Bobby Milstein
Story - Audio
Brought to you by NPR
Published on 05/22/2023
Getting Competitive Health Care Systems to Work Together For the Community
Story - Written
Brought to you by Shelterforce
Commons Good Podcast: Mayor Dave Kitchell
Story - Audio
Brought to you by Community Commons
Published on 02/02/2021
Cross-Cutting Themes: Working Across the Vital Conditions
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Original
Brought to you by Community Commons
An Introduction to Policy, Systems, and Environmental (PSE) Change
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Original
Brought to you by Community Commons
How Data Frameworks Can Help You Better-Understand Conditions and Take Action in Your Community
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Brought to you by IP3
Introduction: Bringing the Vital Conditions to Life through People, Place, and Possibility
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Brought to you by Community Commons
Improving Racial Equity via Emergency Rental Assistance
Story - Written
Brought to you by Shelterforce
Approaches to Collecting and Using Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) Data
Resource - Webinar
Brought to you by All In
Social Determinants of Health and Healthy People
Resource - Website/webpage
Brought to you by NACCHO
Beyond Health Care: The Role of Social Determinants in Promoting Health and Health Equity
Resource - Policy Brief
Brought to you by KFF
Action Learning Synthesis of ReThink Health’s Amplifying Stewardship Together Project
Resource - Report
Brought to you by ReThink Health
Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander Health in the United States and U.S. Territories: A Pathfinder to Resources
Resource
Brought to you by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Social Determinants of Health among Rural American Indian and Alaska Native Populations
Resource - Policy Brief
Understanding the Upstream Social Determinants of Health
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Brought to you by RAND Corporation
Resources for Social Determinants of Health Indicators
Resource - Guide/handbook
Brought to you by NACCHO
Life Expectancy by County, Race, and Ethnicity in the USA, 2000–19: A Systematic Analysis of Health Disparities
Resource - Journal Article
Brought to you by Elsevier, Inc.
Social Determinants of Health Information Exchange Toolkit
Resource
Brought to you by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Systems Thinking at the Georgia Health Policy Center
Resource - Fact Sheet
Brought to you by Georgia Health Policy Center
Mental Health and Well-being Ecological Model
Resource - Website/webpage
Brought to you by University of Minnesota School of Public Health
American Indian and Alaska Native Health in the United States: A Pathfinder to Resources
Resource
Brought to you by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Well-Being in the Nation: A Living Library of Measures to Drive Multi-Sector Population Health Improvement and Address Social Determinants
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Brought to you by Milbank Memorial Fund
Asian American Health in the United States and U.S. Territories: A Pathfinder to Resources
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Brought to you by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Healthy People 2030: Social Determinants of Health
Resource - Website/webpage
Brought to you by Healthy People
The Whole PERSON Health Score: A Patient-Focused Tool to Measure Nonmedical Determinants of Health
Resource - Journal Article
Stress and Cardiometabolic Disease Risk for Indigenous Populations throughout the Lifespan
Resource - Journal Article
Data Set Directory of Social Determinants of Health at the Local Level
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Brought to you by CDC
The Measurement of Social Capital in America: A Reassessment
Resource - Journal Article
Brought to you by Springer
Social Determinants of American Indian Nutritional Health
Resource - Journal Article
Brought to you by OUP
Understanding the Social Determinants of Health: Healthy Communities
Resource - Website/webpage
Brought to you by RWJF
Supporting Equitable Community Engagement
Resource - Guide/handbook
Brought to you by ChangeLab Solutions
Health Lens Analysis of Urban Agriculture Policy
Resource - Report
Brought to you by Metropolitan Area Planning Council
Applying Social Determinants of Health Indicator Data for Advancing Health Equity: A Guide for Local Health Department Epidemiologists and Public Health Professionals
Resource - Guide/handbook
Brought to you by BARHII
Social Determinants of Health and Response to Disease Associated With Health Outcomes of American Indian and Alaska Native Patients
Resource - Journal Article
Brought to you by JAMA
The Culture is Prevention Project: Adapting the Cultural Connectedness Scale for Multi-Tribal Communities
Resource - Journal Article
How Public Health Practitioners Can Expand on the Vital Conditions Framework
Resource - Webinar
Brought to you by Build Healthy Places Network
Decolonizing Health Care: Reconciliation Roles and Responsibilities for White Settlers
Resource - Website/webpage
Addressing the Social Determinants of Health in the Aftermath of COVID-19: Lessons From the 2008 Great Recession
Resource - Journal Article
Brought to you by APHA
ReThink Health Toolbox Webinar: Cultivating Belonging and Civic Muscle
Resource - Webinar
Brought to you by ReThink Health
ICYMI: ADM Rachel L. Levine's Remarks from the American Public Health Association Annual Meeting
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Brought to you by ODPHP
Published on 12/12/2023
Drinking Water Quality and Social Vulnerability Linkages at the System Level in the United States
Resource - Journal Article
The First Community Health Center in Mississippi: Communities Empowering Themselves
Resource - Journal Article
Place as a Social Determinant of Health: Narratives of Trauma and Homeland Among Palestinian Women
Resource - Journal Article
Brought to you by OUP
Equity and Enhanced Individual and Community Resilience Are Integral to a Meaningful Recovery
Resource - Blog
Brought to you by ODPHP
Hispanic/Latino Health in the United States: A Pathfinder to Resources
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Brought to you by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Neighborhood Context, Homeownership and Home Value: An Ecological Analysis of Implications for Health
Resource - Journal Article
Brought to you by MDPI
Black/African American Health in the United States: A Pathfinder to Resources
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Brought to you by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Adoption of Social Determinants of Health EHR Tools by Community Health Centers
Resource - Case Study
Spirituality as a Determinant of Health: Emerging Policies, Practices, and Systems
Resource - Journal Article
Brought to you by Health Affairs
Pandemic-Driven Health Policies To Address Social Needs And Health Equity
Resource - Policy Brief
Brought to you by Health Affairs
Published on 03/10/2022
How Is Colonialism a Sociostructural Determinant of Health in Puerto Rico?
Resource - Case Study
Brought to you by AMA
Targeted Universalism Bibliography
Resource - Data Bank/repository
Brought to you by Othering and Belonging Institute
Action Guide for Building Socially Connected Communities
Resource - Guide/handbook
Brought to you by Foundation for Social Connection
Understanding Legal Authority to Address Social Determinants of Health
Resource - Guide/handbook
Brought to you by ChangeLab Solutions
Reclaiming Indigenous Health in the US: Moving beyond the Social Determinants of Health
Resource - Journal Article
Prevention Science and Health Equity: A Comprehensive Framework for Preventing Health Inequities and Disparities Associated with Race, Ethnicity, and Social Class
Resource - Journal Article
Brought to you by Springer
Systemic And Structural Racism: Definitions, Examples, Health Damages, And Approaches To Dismantling
Resource - Journal Article
Brought to you by Health Affairs
Issue Brief: Coordinated Whole-Person Care that Addresses Social Determinants of Health
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Brought to you by DASH
Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation: The U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory on the Healing Effects of Social Connection and Community
Resource - Report
Brought to you by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Examples of How the Social Determinants of Health Can Be Addressed Through the 10 Essential Public Health Services
Resource - Guide/handbook
Brought to you by CDC
JAMA Forum: Using Community Health Trusts to Address Social Determinants of Health
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Brought to you by JAMA Forum
AIMS: A Care Coordination Model to Improve Patient Health Outcomes
Resource - Journal Article
Brought to you by Health Soc Work
The Mitigating Toxic Stress Study Design: Approaches to Developmental Evaluation of Pediatric Health Care Innovations Addressing Social Determinants of Health and Toxic Stress
Resource - Journal Article
Brought to you by NLM
Race/Ethnicity, Socioeconomic Characteristics, Coethnic Social Ties, and Health: Evidence From the National Jewish Population Survey
Resource - Journal Article
Brought to you by APHA
Data & Metrics
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