National Impact

Social Determinants of Health

According to Healthy People 2030, 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:

 

  • Health care access and quality (accessibility and health literacy);
  • Neighborhood and built environment (food deserts, quality of housing, safety);
  • Social and community context (social cohesion, discrimination, incarceration);
  • Economic stability (poverty, employment, food security, housing stability); and
  • Education access and quality (high school graduation, enrollment in higher ed, language and literacy).

What is Healthy People 2030?

Healthy People, funded through the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, identifies public health priorities to help individuals, organizations, and communities across the United States improve health and well-being. Healthy People 2030, the initiative’s fifth iteration, builds on knowledge gained over the first 4 decades.