How much do social determinants matter to our health?
What Makes us Healthy?
We have an intuitive sense that things like what we eat, how much we exercise, the quality of our water and air, and getting appropriate health care when sick all help us stay healthy. Studies have also shown that our incomes, education, even racial identity is associated with health — so called “social determinants of health.” How much do social determinants matter? How much does the health system improve our health?
Let us know what you think makes us healthy. Play our interactive game and “connect the dots” to tell a story. Save your selection, share your journey on social media, and help us with our research.
Drivers of Health: What do we know?
In the last forty years, much has been done to quantify the contributions of various factors to health. What can we learn from this collective body of research? In an extensive literature review, we provide a historical background and summarize a selection of scholarly work on the drivers of health, including frameworks to organize social and health system determinants of health.
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From our Blog
The Infosphere as a SDOH: Leveraging Providers’ Influence to Counter Vaccine Misinformation
April 16, 2021
By Luke Testa
Read MoreBy Luke Testa, Program Assistant, The Harvard Global Health Institute In 2018, a short video circulated on WhatsApp claiming that the MMR vaccine was designed by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to stop the population growth of Muslims. Subsequently, hundreds of madrassas across western Uttar Pradesh refused to allow health departments to vaccinate their constituents.
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From our Blog
Want to Prevent Suicides? Understand Its Causes
September 28, 2020
By Luke Testa
Read MoreBy Farrokh Alemi, Professor of Informatics, George Mason University Suicide prevention is getting a bad rap. Many are frustrated by its lack of effectiveness. It seems effective in some countries and for males, but in the United States, flagship programs such as the Veteran Affairs Suicide Prevention program have been accompanied with increased suicides and
Continue Reading “Want to Prevent Suicides? Understand Its Causes”
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From our Blog
Released: Health Services Research (HSR) 2020 Theme Issue on Drivers of Health
September 28, 2020
By Luke Testa
Read MoreThe Health Services Research (HSR) 2020 Theme Issue on Drivers of Health has been released! This open-access issue includes fourteen cutting-edge, peer-reviewed articles that illuminate social determinants of health and social/health care system interventions that promote wellbeing.
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From our Blog
Confronting Structural Racism
August 14, 2020
By Austin Frakt
Read MoreEarlier this month, I participated in a plenary panel on confronting structural racism in health services research at the AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting. I believe most of what I said generalizes outside of this field of research. My opening comments are below, and I was joined on the panel by Don Taylor and Sherilynn Black (Professor
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From our Blog
SDOH Research in Health Affairs
July 1, 2020
By Kate Raphael
Read MoreThe February issue of Health Affairs featured many SDOH-related papers. Below we highlighted several of these that present evidence on the effectiveness of policies aimed at addressing health-related social needs and/or structural-level drivers of health. Read on for excerpts, and follow the links for the full read.
