Common Social Determinants of Health
The social determinants of health are the conditions in which we are born, live, work, play, and age, and which can affect a broad range of health outcomes including the likelihood of contracting a disease or of dying by a certain age. In public health contexts, these conditions are often referred to as the “places” that impact health.
While there are many social determinants of health, the factors are commonly grouped into five main categories:
Neighborhood: This area refers to the actual place in which an individual lives, and includes factors such as crime and violence rates, the quality of housing and infrastructure, access to ample and nutritious foods, and various other environmental considerations.
Health and Healthcare: This area refers to various factors related to an individual’s health, which includes their level of health literacy, access to primary care and specialists, and access to healthcare in general.
Social and Community Context: This area refers to factors related to an individual’s community and social support system, such as their level of civic participation, whether or not they face or have faced discrimination, whether they are or have ever been incarcerated, and the degree of social cohesion in their communities.
Education: This area refers to both educational resources—including access to early childhood education and development, up-to-date textbooks and course materials, student-to-teacher ratios, etc.—and educational outcomes—including language skills and literacy, high school graduation rates, enrollment rates in higher education, etc.
Economic Stability: This area refers to the various economic factors that may impact health outcomes, such as employment rates, poverty levels, food insecurity, housing instability, etc.