Social Determinants in the United States

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wendy E. Parmet
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Health Disparities ◽  
Population Health ◽  
Social Determinants ◽  
The United States ◽  
Social Determinant ◽  
Public Health Agencies ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Us ◽  
Health Laws

This chapter studies the social determinants of health in the United States, focusing on one important but often overlooked social determinant: law. It explains how law influences social determinants and why law should itself be viewed as an important social determinant, one that can both magnify or diminish health disparities. Law can affect population health in numerous ways. Most obviously, laws create, empower, and restrain state, local, and federal public health agencies; regulate the delivery of healthcare; and seek to promote population health by regulating unsafe practices and activities, such as smoking. Health laws, however, are not the only laws that affect health. Laws that affect employment, income inequality, housing, the built environment, and education may also impact health. The chapter then considers some defining features of US law that may play a role in creating or perpetuating health disparities both within the US and between the US and other nations of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. It also reviews some recent initiatives in the US, many but not all undertaken via law, to address social determinants, and it looks at the barriers that remain to ameliorating social determinants through law, as well as some reasons for optimism.

scholarly journals Being a Community Health Worker Means Advocating

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 9-18
Author(s):  
Ryan I. Logan
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Health Disparities ◽  
Community Health ◽  
Health Worker ◽  
Social Determinants ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Social ◽  
New Framework

Community health workers (CHWs) participate in advocacy as a crucial means to empower clients in overcoming health disparities and to improve the health and social well-being of their communities. Building on previous studies, this article proposes a new framework for conceptualising CHW advocacy, depending on the intended impact level of CHW advocacy. CHWs participate in three ‘levels’ of advocacy, the micro, the macro, and the professional. This article also details the challenges they face at each level. As steps are taken to institutionalise these workers throughout the United States and abroad, there is a danger that their participation in advocacy will diminish. As advocacy serves as a primary conduit through which to empower clients, enshrining this role in steps to integrate these workers is essential. Finally, this article provides justification for the impacts of CHWs in addressing the social determinants of health and in helping their communities strive towards health equity.

A Critical Transnational Perspective to Asian America

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yen Le Espiritu
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Civil Rights ◽  
Asian American ◽  
The United States ◽  
Human Welfare ◽  
Vietnamese Refugees ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Status ◽  
Rights Discourse

Much of the early scholarship in Asian American studies sought to establish that Asian Americans have been crucial to the making of the US nation and thus deserve full inclusion into its polity. This emphasis on inclusion affirms the status of the United States as the ultimate protector and provider of human welfare, and narrates the Asian American subject by modern civil rights discourse. However, the comparative cases of Filipino immigrants and Vietnamese refugees show how Asian American racial formation has been determined not only by the social, economic, and political forces in the United States but also by US colonialism, imperialism, and wars in Asia.

scholarly journals Mexico: «the population explosion» and mass migration

2017 ◽  
pp. 56-62
Author(s):  
Nadejda Kudeyarova
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Mexican Migration ◽  
Mexican Migrants ◽  
Migratory Activity ◽  
Mass Migration ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Us ◽  
Demographic Processes ◽  
Migration Analysis

The debate over the Mexican migrants issue has been intensi ed by Donald Trump’s election. His harsh statements have provoked a discussion on the US policy for Mexico, as well as on the migration regulation in the United States. However, the mass migration of the last quarter of XX - beginning of XXI centuries may be also readily associated with the social and demographic processes developed in Mexico throughout the 20th century. The dynamics of migratory activity followed the demographic changes. The internal causes of the Mexican migration analysis will allow more clarity in understanding contemporary migration interaction between the two neighboring countries.

scholarly journals Social Inequality and the Future of US Life Expectancy

2021 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Iliya Gutin ◽  
Robert A. Hummer
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Life Expectancy ◽  
Social Inequality ◽  
Population Health ◽  
The United States ◽  
Annual Review ◽  
Publication Date ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Future ◽  
Extreme Longevity

Despite decades of progress, the future of life expectancy in the United States is uncertain due to widening socioeconomic disparities in mortality, continued disparities in mortality across racial/ethnic groups, and an increase in extrinsic causes of death. These trends prompt us to scrutinize life expectancy in a high-income but enormously unequal society like the United States, where social factors determine who is most able to maximize their biological lifespan. After reviewing evidence for biodemographic perspectives on life expectancy, the uneven diffusion of health-enhancing innovations throughout the population, and the changing nature of threats to population health, we argue that sociology is optimally positioned to lead discourse on the future of life expectancy. Given recent trends, sociologists should emphasize the importance of the social determinants of life expectancy, redirecting research focus away from extending extreme longevity and toward research on social inequality with the goal of improving population health for all. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Sociology, Volume 47 is July 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

Scoping Review: Social Determinants of Young Children’s Participation in the United States

2018 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 225-234
Author(s):  
Lindsay Rosenfeld ◽  
Jessica M. Kramer ◽  
Melissa Levin ◽  
Kimberly Barrett ◽  
Dolores Acevedo-Garcia
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Social Determinants ◽  
Scoping Review ◽  
The United States ◽  
International Classification Of Functioning ◽  
Meaningful Participation ◽  
The Social ◽  
Emergent Literature ◽  
Racial Ethnic

Optimal child development is supported by services, policies, a social determinants of health (SDOH) frame, and meaningful participation (as defined by the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health–Children and Youth [ICF-CY]). This scoping review describes the social determinants that may affect the participation of young children aged 0 to 3 years with developmental disabilities (DD) in the United States. Scoping review of studies including U.S. children with DD aged 0 to 3 years, from 2000 to 2016, were used. 5/979 studies met inclusion criteria. Two researchers independently coded studies to align them with both ICF-CY and SDOH. Studies found determinants of participation stemming from the child (e.g., individual) and multiple contexts: immediate, community, and policy. The emergent literature continues to primarily focus on child determinants but suggests participation of young children with DD is affected by social determinants stemming from the community and policy contexts. The literature underrepresents children from racial/ethnic minority backgrounds.

scholarly journals Social Determinants of Health among Older Korean Immigrants in the United States: A Systematic Review

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 961-961
Author(s):  
Sojeong Lee ◽  
Victoria Rizzo
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Systematic Review ◽  
Health Disparities ◽  
Social Determinants Of Health ◽  
Social Determinants ◽  
The United States ◽  
Korean Immigrants ◽  
Determinants Of Health ◽  
Inclusion Criteria ◽  
Older Korean Immigrants

Abstract The visible impact of the SDoHs on health and behavioral health as well as health disparities among minority populations is heightened due to COVID-19. One group about which little is known in relation to SDoHs is the older Korean immigrant population in the U.S. To examine the impact of SDoHs on the health, mental health, and health care utilization, a systematic review of studies focused on SDoHs for this population was conducted. Using multiple indexing terms, databases were searched for articles published in English between January 1, 2011 and December 2020. Articles were included in the search if they examined social determinants of health of older Korean immigrants defined as foreign-born Koreans aged 60 or older who live in the United States regardless of citizenship or legal immigration status. A total of 1090 articles were identified in the search. A review of abstracts for inclusion criteria resulted in 118 articles for review. Seventy-one articles were excluded during the review process. A total of 47 articles met inclusion criteria and were evaluated. The review revealed that SDoHs, including education level, financial resources, access to health insurance, level of acculturation and level of social support, influenced cognitive status, depressive symptoms, health status and quality of life. These findings validate the need for interventions to address the social care needs of older Korean immigrants and can be used to identify the role of social workers in addressing the SDoHs that result in health disparities for older Korean immigrants.

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