Racism Is a Disruptor of Health & Wellness

Question of the Hour: What are social determinants of health?

Discussion: Introduction to Social Determinants of Health Conceptual model

2017 Publication: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

"Health equity is the state in which everyone has the opportunity to attain full health potential and no one is disadvantaged from achieving this potential because of social position or any other socially defined circumstance. Health equity and opportunity are inextricably linked. Currently in the United States, the burdens of disease and poor health and the benefits of well-being and good health are inequitably distributed."

A trauma-informed approach to care acknowledges that health care organizations and care teams need to have a complete picture of a patient’s life situation — past and present — in order to provide effective health care services with a healing orientation. Trauma-informed care shifts the focus from “What’s wrong with you?” to “What happened to you?”

Trauma-informed care must be antiracist.

Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity defines 9 social determinants of health

1. Physical Health
2. Public Safety
3. Social environment
4. Transportation
5. Education
6. Employment
7. Health Systems & Services
8. Housing
9. Income & Wealth

"The social determinants of health, while interdependent and complex, are made up of mutable factors that shape the conditions in which one lives, learns, works, plays, worships, and ages."