Issue Brief Beyond Health Care: The Role of Social Determinants in Promoting Health and Health Equity

Social determinants of health are the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age that shape health. This brief provides an overview of social determinants of health and emerging initiatives to address them. It shows:  Social determinants of health include factors like socioeconomic status, education, neighborhood and physical environment, employment, and social support networks, as well as access to health care.  There are a growing number of initiatives to address social determinants of health within and outside of the health care system. Many challenges remain to address social determinants of health, and new directions pursued by the Trump Administration could limit resources and initiatives focused on these efforts.