How Social Determinants of Health Affect You presented by Zing Health

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines social determinants of health as: “the conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live, and age, and the wider set of forces and systems shaping the conditions of daily life.”

It’s estimated that up to 80 percent of health outcomes are attributable to social determinants of health, which are generally divided into five categories:

• Economic stability: Poverty, employment, food security, housing stability
• Education: High school graduation, higher education, language and literacy, early childhood
• Social and community context: Social cohesion, civic participation, discrimination, incarceration
• Health and healthcare: Access to healthcare and primary care, health literacy
• Neighborhood and built environment: Access to healthy foods, quality of housing, crime and violence, environmental conditions

Another way of looking at social determinants of health is by dividing them into categories that correlate with the amount of influence they have on your health:

• 10% physical environment (air and water quality, housing, transit)
• 20% clinical care (access, quality)
• 30% health behaviors (diet, exercise, tobacco use, alcohol and drug use)
• 40% social and economic factors (education, employment, income, community safety, family and social support)

Doctors and public health researchers now understand more than ever the role these outside factors play in the health of not just the community, but the individuals within it.

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