Description
You may be familiar with the social determinants of health (SDoH) from other coursework in your healthcare field. From the perspective of examining societal influences on health and well-being, take time to refresh your understanding of the five (5) “determinants” (or domains) of health, including economic stability; education access and quality; healthcare access and quality; neighborhood and built environment; and social and community context.This week, the focus is also on recognizing healthcare disparities. You will begin with a Discussion that examines the social determinants of health and how they influence and impact individual healthcare experiences. Even reading the word choices to identify each SDoH domain can bring to mind how “lack of” or “problems with” will negatively impact individuals and larger groups.To prepare:Review the Learning Resources. Pay particular attention to resources that explain the social determinants of health and related health impacts and outcomes. That includes the video resource, Societal Influences and Healthcare Disparities With Dr. Nina McCune (Walden, 2024), which features Walden’s Associate Dean of Inclusive Teaching and Learning, as well as the Healthy People 2030 (n.d.) website.Reflect on healthcare disparities that you are familiar with in your healthcare field and connections you can make to one or more social determinants of health.Post the following:Explain how social determinants of health influence individual healthcare experiences and perspectives.Describe common examples of healthcare disparities.Explain how the social determinants of health help in understanding causes of these healthcare disparities.