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Social Determinants Of Health
Social determinants of health are the conditions of the environments in which people are born, live, learn, work, play, and worship, and the impact they have on health, function, and quality-of-life outcomes. The five key areas of social determinants of health are: health care and access; education access and quality; social and community context; economic stability; and neighborhood and built environment. Social determinants of health also contribute to wide health disparities and inequities. Implementing health policy to address social determinants of health is important for improving health and reducing longstanding disparities in health and health care. Initiatives within the health care and non-health sectors seek to shape policies and practices in non-health sectors in ways that promote health and health equity. There are also multi-payer federal and state initiatives as well as Medicaid-specific initiatives focused on addressing social needs and improving health outcomes.
On this page, you will find content from Health Affairs on social determinants of health and closely related topics, such as health equity , public health , health disparities , and access to care .