Use County Health Rankings’ model of health to explore the measures that influence how long and how well we live.
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Social and economic factors, such as income, education, employment, community safety, and social supports can significantly affect how well and how long we live. These factors affect our ability to make healthy choices, afford medical care and housing, manage stress, and more.
The social and economic opportunities we have, such as good schools, stable jobs, and strong social networks are foundational to achieving long and healthy lives. For example, employment provides income that shapes choices about housing, education, child care, food, medical care, and more. In contrast, unemployment limits these choices and the ability to accumulate savings and assets that can help cushion in times of economic distress.
Social and economic factors are not commonly considered when it comes to health, yet strategies to improve these factors can have an even greater impact on health over time than those traditionally associated with health improvement, such as strategies to improve health behaviors.
Across the nation, there are meaningful differences in social and economic opportunities for residents in communities that have been cut off from investments or have experienced discrimination. These gaps disproportionately affect people of color – especially children and youth.
Social determinants of health (SDOH) are the conditions in the environments where people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age that affect a wide range of health, functioning, and quality-of-life outcomes and risks.
SDOH can be grouped into 5 domains:
Economic Stability
Education Access and Quality
Health Care Access and Quality
Neighborhood and Built Environment
Social and Community Context
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Healthy People 2030, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. Retrieved [date graphic was accessed], from //health.gov/healthypeople/objectives-and-data/social-determinants-health
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Social determinants of health (SDOH) have a major impact on people’s health, well-being, and quality of life. Examples of SDOH include:
- 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
SDOH also contribute to wide health disparities and inequities. For example, people who don't have access to grocery stores with healthy foods are less likely to have good nutrition. That raises their risk of health conditions like heart disease, diabetes, and obesity — and even lowers life expectancy relative to people who do have access to healthy foods.
Just promoting healthy choices won't eliminate these and other health disparities. Instead, public health organizations and their partners in sectors like education, transportation, and housing need to take action to improve the conditions in people's environments.
That's why Healthy People 2030 has an increased and overarching focus on SDOH.
How Does Healthy People 2030 Address SDOH?
One of Healthy People 2030’s 5 overarching goals is specifically related to SDOH: “Create social, physical, and economic environments that promote attaining the full potential for health and well-being for all.”
In line with this goal, Healthy People 2030 features many objectives related to SDOH. These objectives highlight the importance of "upstream" factors — usually unrelated to health care delivery — in improving health and reducing health disparities.
More than a dozen workgroups made up of subject matter experts with different backgrounds and areas of expertise developed these objectives. One of these groups, the Social Determinants of Health Workgroup, focuses solely on SDOH.
Explore Research Related to SDOH
Social determinants of health affect nearly everyone in one way or another. Our literature summaries provide a snapshot of the latest research related to specific SDOH.
Read SDOH literature summariesLearn About Other Efforts to Address SDOH
Across the United States, people and organizations at the local, state, territorial, tribal, and national level are working hard to improve health and reduce health disparities by addressing SDOH.