Social determinants of health (SDOH) have long been known to contribute to the health of individuals and groups. However, there are mixed reviews on how much nursing education exposes future healthcare workers to this topic (Colburn, 2022). SHOD includes things like; poverty, employment, education level, etc. These things can impact access to healthcare, therefore impacting one’s health. While not a new theme, the Covid19 pandemic further highlighted the systemic inequality in health care (Colburn, 2022). The New England Journal of Medicine article Covid’s Color Line- Infectious Disease, Inequality, and Racial Justice; reviews how in metropolitan areas Black and Latin people had significantly higher Covid19 incidences and age-adjusted death rates compared to White populations (Evans, 2020). Part of the argument for why; people from those populations often live in highly dense areas where infectious diseases spread faster, and where access to medical care or coverage for medical care is limited.
Braveman and Gottlieb (Braveman & Gottlieb, 2014) explain that a researcher who studied death records from the mid 19th century through to the 1960’s, attributed the increase in life expectancy to primary improved social and living conditions; nutrition, sanitation, clean water etc. That article argues that social influences may play a larger role, or at least an underrated role, in the health of communities.
Social determinants of health should play a large role in the educations of those in the helping fields. As noted by other students in this course; the biopsychosocial approach helps put into perspective what factors contribute to our health.
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