Healthcare providers can address social determinants of health through five approaches—
awareness, adjustment, assistance, alignment, and advocacy
, according to a report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
Nursing and SDoH:
Asking questions, building relationships
The ability to assess a patient’s social determinants of health is one of the best ways to predict the chance of developing conditions like asthma, COPD, and diabetes, as well as determine the risk of heart attack, stroke, and cancer.
Addressing social determinants of health is important for
improving health and reducing longstanding disparities in health and health care
. There are a growing number of initiatives to address social determinants of health within and outside of the health care system.
An understanding of social factors
provides invaluable insight into improving a patient’s health status for predicting negative outcomes
. Instances such as high-risk pregnancies, early hospital readmissions, poor compliance with prescribed medications, and susceptibility to chronic disease.
Income
is perhaps the most important social determinant of health. Level of income shapes overall living conditions, affects psychological functioning and influences health-related behaviours such as quality of diet, extent of physical activity, smoking and excessive alcohol use.
Why are health care determinants not fully under your control?
Why are health care determinants not fully under your control? you can control where you live and work and if you recycle or not, but
you cannot control the quality of air or pollution
. How does your choice of friends affect your health? your friends impact the choices you make and how you act.
How can nurses address healthcare disparities?
One of the most powerful things nurses can do to reduce health disparities is to
advocate for their patients
. This may include advocating for patient rights, appropriate resources, interpreters, distress screening or even cultural-competence training in your workplace.
- Working to address food security.
- Creating affordable housing.
- Driving care access through medical transportation.
What role do nurses play in promoting health and addressing inequities?
ADVOCATING FOR POLICY CHANGE. Public policies have a major influence on health care providers, systems, and the populations they serve. Accordingly, nurses can help promote health equity by
bringing a health lens to bear on public policies and decision making at the community, state, and federal levels
.
Social determinants of health such as poverty, unequal access to health care, lack of education, stigma, and racism are underlying,
contributing factors of health inequities
. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is committed to achieving improvements in people’s lives by reducing health inequities.
How do determinants impact individual health?
Social determinants of health reflect the social factors and physical conditions of the environment in which people are born, live, learn, play, work, and age. Also known as social and physical determinants of health, they
impact a wide range of health, functioning, and quality-of-life outcomes
.
Social determinants have a major impact on health outcomes
-especially for the most vulnerable populations. Factors such as a patient’s education, income level, and environment must be considered when providing treatment and care.
In order for nurses to fulfill their potential addressing the social determinants of health, they must
receive adequate education about the SDOH, benefit from a strong team-based care approach, and have access to ample community-based resources to which they may refer their patients in need
.
- Safe housing, transportation, and neighborhoods.
- Racism, discrimination, and violence.
- Education, job opportunities, and income.
- Access to nutritious foods and physical activity opportunities.
- Polluted air and water.
- Language and literacy skills.
- Income level.
- Educational opportunities.
- Occupation, employment status, and workplace safety.
- Gender inequity.
- Racial segregation.
- Food insecurity and inaccessibility of nutritious food choices.
- Access to housing and utility services.
- Economic Stability.
- Education Access and Quality.
- Health Care Access and Quality.
- Neighborhood and Built Environment.
- Social and Community Context.
Social determinants of health refer to a specific group of social and economic factors within the broader determinants of health
. These relate to an individual’s place in society, such as income, education or employment.
The health of people is determined by numerous interrelated factors including
lifestyle, circumstances and environment
. Some determinants can be influenced, while others are more difficult to control. Some scholars categorize determinants of health into social versus other factors.
What are intermediary determinants of health?
“
Factors that directly shape individual health choices and outcomes through which the structural determinants operate
. They span material circumstances, psychosocial circumstances, behavioral factors and the health system.
What are three things you could do to address health disparities in the community health nursing setting?
- Raising public and provider awareness of racial/ethnic disparities in care;
- Expanding health insurance coverage;
- Improving the capacity and number of providers in underserved communities; and.
- Increasing the knowledge base on causes and interventions to reduce disparities.
Which action by a nurse in a community based clinic can help to address potential disparities with a large Hispanic population?
Which action by a nurse in a community-based clinic can help to address potential disparities with a large Hispanic population?
Providing translators and materials in the native language of the population being served
can best address potential biases and prejudices and thus increase health care access.
How does access to NPs impact healthcare disparities?
States that restrict or reduce NPs’ ability to practice according to their abilities through limiting licensure authority are more closely associated with geographic health care disparities,
higher chronic disease burden, primary care shortages, higher costs of care and lower standing on national health rankings
.
How do you address health care inequality?
Specifically, public health can contribute to reducing health inequities by integrating health equity considerations into policy and programs, collaborating with other sectors to address inequities, engaging with communities to support their efforts to address inequities, identifying the reduction of health inequities …
