In Module 2, you’ll deepen your understanding of the Social Determinants of Health:
- What they are.
- How they impact health.
- How they manifest across various sectors.
You’ll examine health disparities across diverse populations, considering both clinical and non-clinical factors. The module will guide you in exploring the structural drivers behind these disparities and introduce both clinical and system-level interventions. You’ll also learn strategies to address social determinants of health at individual, community, and policy levels.
The module concludes with an exploration of the physician’s role in advocating for changes that address social conditions influencing health.
Module 2
What are the SDoH?
- Social determinants of health. World Health Organization (WHO). NOOR. Arko Datto.
- Social Determinants of Health (SDOH). CDC. Accessed June 2025.
- Societal factors. American Hospital Association. Accessed June 2025.
Healthy People 2030: Five domains of the social determinants of health.
- Economic stability.
- Economic Stability. Healthy People 2030. Accessed June 2025.
- Economic Stability. CDC. Last reviewed March 27, 2023. Accessed June 2025.
- Economic Stability. The Network for Public Health Law. Accessed June 2025.
- Education.
- Education Access and Quality. Healthy People 2030. Accessed June 2025.
- Why Education Matters to Health: Exploring the Causes. Center on Society and Health. Virginia Commonwealth University. February 13, 2015. Accessed June 2025.
Education and cardiovascular disease.
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- Magnani JW, Ning H, Wilkins JT, Lloyd-Jones DM, Allen NB. Educational Attainment and Lifetime Risk of Cardiovascular Disease. JAMA Cardiol. 2024 Jan 1;9(1):45–54. doi: 10.1001/jamacardio.2023.3990. PMID: 37910110; PMCID: PMC10620672.
- Li H, Adair T. Analysing premature cardiovascular disease mortality in the United States by obesity status and educational attainment. BMC Med. 2024 Nov 14;22(1):533. doi: 10.1186/s12916-024-03752-x. PMID: 39543580; PMCID: PMC11566442.
- Healthcare Access and Quality. Healthy People 2030. Accessed June 2025.
- Neighborhood, built environment, and housing.
- Neighborhood and Built Environment. Healthy People 2030. Accessed June 2025.
- Quality of Housing. Healthy People 2030. Accessed June 2025.
- Social and Community Context. Healthy People 2030. Accessed June 2025.
Other
- Food insecurity.
- Adverse childhood experiences/ child development.
- Vital Signs. CDC. Accessed June 2025.
- About Adverse Childhood Experiences. CDC. Accessed June 2025.
- Obesity and underweight.
- Health Equity.
- Beyond Health Care: The Role of Social Determinants in Promoting Health and Health Equity. KFF. Accessed June 2025.
- Health Equity Education Center. Accessed June 2025.
- Surgeon General’s Report: Eliminating Tobacco-Related Disease and Death: Addressing Disparities. CDC. Archived March 20, 2025. Accessed June 2025.
- Health Disparities by Race/Ethnicity.
- Key Data on Health and Health Care by Race and Ethnicity. KFF. Accessed June 2025.
- Macias-Konstantopoulos WL, Collins KA, Diaz R, Duber HC, Edwards CD, Hsu AP, Ranney ML, Riviello RJ, Wettstein ZS, Sachs CJ. Race, Healthcare, and Health Disparities: A Critical Review and Recommendations for Advancing Health Equity. West J Emerg Med. 2023 Sep;24(5):906–918. doi: 10.5811/westjem.58408. PMID: 37788031; PMCID: PMC10527840.
- Health Disparities by Housing. Accessed June 2025.
- Health Disparities by Gender
- Gender Based Disparities. The Commonwealth Fund. Accessed June 2025.
- Gender Disparities in Healthcare. Cedars-Sinai. YouTube. Accessed June 2025.
- LGBT+ People’s Health Status and Access to Care. KFF. Published Jun 30, 2023. Accessed June 2025.
- Health Disparities by geography.
- The Lancet: Deeply entrenched racial and geographic health disparities in the USA have increased over the last two decades—as life expectancy gap widens to 20 years. Published November 21, 2024. Accessed June 2025.
- About Rural Health. CDC. Published May 16, 2024. Accessed June 2025.
- Rural Health Disparities. Rural Health Information Hub. Accessed June 2025.
- Health Disparities: United States vs. Global.
- U.S. Health Care from a Global Perspective 2022: Accelerating Spending, Worsening Outcomes. The Commonwealth Fund. Published January 31, 2023. Accessed June 2025.
- Mapping Health Disparities in 11 High-Income Nations. Published July 7, 2023. Accessed June 2025.
- How does the quality of the U.S. health system compare to other countries? Published October 9, 2024. Accessed June 2025.
- MD role in addressing SDoH.
- Maani N, Galea S. The Role of Physicians in Addressing Social Determinants of Health. JAMA. 2020;323(16):1551–1552. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.1637
- Andermann A; CLEAR Collaboration. Taking action on the social determinants of health in clinical practice: a framework for health professionals. CMAJ. 2016 Dec 6;188(17-18):E474-E483. doi: 10.1503/cmaj.160177. Epub 2016 Aug 8. PMID: 27503870; PMCID: PMC5135524.
- Ted A. James, MD, MHCM. Physicians as Advocates for Social Change. Trends in Medicine. Harvard Medical School. Published November 10, 2020. Accessed June 2025.
- Kevin Sherin, MD, MPH, FAAFP, FACPM; Tolulope Adebanjo, MD, MPH, FAAP; Asim Jani, MD, MPH, FACP. Social Determinants of Health: Family Physicians’ Leadership Role. Am Fam Physician. 2019;99(8):476–477.