Innovating for Equity, Inspiring Well-Being
Social and Structural Drivers of Health (SSDoH)
Well Informed Consulting is dedicated to assisting both non-profit and for-profit organizations in making a positive impact on the social and structural determinants of health in their communities.
What are the Social Determinants of Health (SDoH)?
The social determinants of health (SDoH) are the non-medical factors that influence health outcomes. They are the conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live, and age, along with the wider set of forces and systems shaping the conditions of daily life. These forces and systems include economic policies, development agendas, social norms, social policies, and political systems. SDoH can be grouped into five key areas:
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This includes factors such as employment, income, expenses, debt, medical bills, and support services. Economic stability impacts an individual's ability to afford housing, healthy food, and healthcare services, which in turn affects their health.
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Education level influences health in several ways, including the potential for higher income and job security, knowledge about healthy lifestyles, and access to resources for making healthier choices.
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This determinant encompasses the availability of primary care, specialty care, dental care, mental health services, and health insurance. Barriers to accessing healthcare, such as cost, transportation, and lack of insurance, can lead to unmet health needs, delays in receiving appropriate care, inability to get preventive services, and hospitalizations that could have been prevented.
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Factors include the quality of housing, access to transportation, availability of healthy foods, air and water quality, and safety. Living in a safe, healthy, and supportive environment contributes to physical and mental health well-being.
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This includes social integration, support systems, community engagement, discrimination, and stress. Social connections and feeling valued in society can have a significant positive impact on health.
What is the difference between SDoH and SSDoH?
The Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) and the Structural and Social Determinants of Health (SSDoH) are both pivotal in understanding health outcomes and disparities, but they focus on different aspects of influence on health. SDoH encompass conditions like housing, education, and access to healthcare, which directly impact individual and community health.
On the other hand, SSDoH, which Well Informed emphasizes, extend beyond immediate factors to address the root causes of health inequities. This includes systemic issues such as racism, discrimination, and policies, highlighting the importance of addressing power dynamics and systems of oppression that underlie social determinants. By focusing on SSDoH, Well Informed aims to tackle the structural and systemic barriers to health equity, promoting sustainable change at the foundational level of societal structures and policies.
Healthy People 2030, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. Retrieved March 2024, from https://health.gov/healthypeople/objectives-and-data/social-determinants-health
medical access
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healthy food
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job security
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emotional support
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health education
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advocacy
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community resilience
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medical access • healthy food • job security • emotional support • health education • advocacy • community resilience •
Digging a little deeper
Within each SSDoH realm, numerous areas offer potential for meaningful impact. At Well Informed Consulting, we are particularly passionate about focusing on the following topics with our clients.
Harnessing Faith Communities
Building Healthy Family Systems of Support
Improving Maternal Health
Optimizing Early Childhood Development
Reducing Adverse Childhood Experiences
Increasing Healthy Food Access
Addressing Psychosocial Factors
