COVID-19 in Communities of Color: Structural Racism and Social Determinants of Health

Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) communities have a disproportionally high prevalence of COVID-19 and, subsequently, a higher mortality rate. Many of the root causes, such as structural racism and the social determinants of health, account for an increased number of preexisting conditions that influence risk for poor outcomes from COVID-19 as well as other disparities in BIPOC communities. In this article we address Structural Factors that Contribute to Disparities, such as economics; access to healthcare; environment and housing concerns; occupational risks; policing and carceral systems effects; and diet and nutrition. Further, we outline strategies for nurses to address racism (the ultimate underlying condition) and the social and economic determinants of health that impact BIPOC communities.

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Effectiveness of Narrative Messaging Styles about the Social Determinants of Health and Health Inequities in Ontario, Canada

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph182010881 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (20) ◽

pp. 10881

Author(s):

Emily Churchill ◽

Ketan Shankardass ◽

Andrea M. L. Perrella ◽

Aisha Lofters ◽

Carlos Quiñonez ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Public Opinion ◽

Social Determinants Of Health ◽

Social Determinants ◽

Health Inequities ◽

Determinants Of Health ◽

Public Understanding ◽

Structural Factors ◽

Awareness Campaigns ◽

The Social ◽

Empathetic Response

Health inequities are systemic, avoidable, and unjust differences in health between populations. These differences are often determined by social and structural factors, such as income and social status, employment and working conditions, or race/racism, which are referred to as the social determinants of health (SDOH). According to public opinion, health is considered to be largely determined by the choices and behaviours of individuals. However, evidence suggests that social and structural factors are the key determinants of health. There is likely a lack of public understanding of the role that social and structural factors play in determining health and producing health inequities. Public opinion and priorities can drive governmental action, so the aim of this work was to determine the most impactful way to increase knowledge and awareness about the social determinants of health (SDOH) and health inequities in the province of Ontario, Canada. A study to test the effectiveness of four different messaging styles about health inequities and the SDOH was conducted with a sample of 805 adult residents of Ontario. Findings show that messages highlighting the challenges faced by those experiencing the negative effects of the SDOH, while still acknowledging individual responsibility for health, were the most effective for eliciting an empathetic response from Ontarians. These findings can be used to inform public awareness campaigns focused on changing the current public narrative about the SDOH toward a more empathetic response, with the goal of increasing political will to enact policies to address health inequities in Ontario.

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Recyclable waste pickers: life and work in light of the social determinants of health

Revista Brasileira de Enfermagem ◽

10.1590/0034-7167-2020-0902 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 74 (6) ◽

Author(s):

Alexa Pupiara Flores Coelho Centenaro ◽

Carmem Lúcia Colomé Beck ◽

Rosângela Marion da Silva ◽

Andressa de Andrade ◽

Marta Cocco da Costa ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Social Determinants Of Health ◽

Social Determinants ◽

Participant Observation ◽

Determinants Of Health ◽

Labor Rights ◽

Gender Inequalities ◽

Structured Interviews ◽

Occupational Risks ◽

The Social ◽

Waste Pickers

ABSTRACT Objectives: to know how the social determinants of health relate to the context of life and work of recyclable waste pickers. Methods: a qualitative study, derived from Convergent-Care Research, conducted with waste pickers from two recycling associations in the South of Brazil. We used systematic participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and convergence groups. The analysis followed the steps of Seizure, Synthesis, Theorization, and Transfer. Results: advanced age, precarious self-care, gender inequalities, violence, and family conflicts have shown to be elements linked to the individual, behavioral, and social network determinants. Determinants connected to living and working conditions were related to poor access to education and formal work, as well as to the daily occupational risks in recycling. The lack of labor rights and public policies represented macro-determinants. Final Considerations: social and economic deficiencies are potentiated in the context of life and work of waste pickers, strongly related to their determinants.

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Exploring civil society leadership to advance action on the social determinants of health

PsycEXTRA Dataset ◽

10.1037/e515722013-001 ◽

2008 ◽

Author(s):

Susan McCunn

Keyword(s):

Civil Society ◽

Social Determinants Of Health ◽

Social Determinants ◽

Determinants Of Health ◽

The Social

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Uncovering the social determinants of health

PsycEXTRA Dataset ◽

10.1037/e673532010-001 ◽

2010 ◽

Author(s):

Lydia Buki

Keyword(s):

Social Determinants Of Health ◽

Social Determinants ◽

Determinants Of Health ◽

The Social

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Addressing the Social Determinants of Health

Southern California Quarterly ◽

10.1525/scq.2019.101.4.357 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 101 (4) ◽

pp. 357-395 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Saty Satya-Murti ◽

Jennifer Gutierrez

Keyword(s):

Twentieth Century ◽

Los Angeles ◽

Social Determinants Of Health ◽

Social Determinants ◽

Social Activism ◽

Determinants Of Health ◽

Medical Attention ◽

Community Center ◽

Early Twentieth Century ◽

The Social

The Los Angeles Plaza Community Center (PCC), an early twentieth-century Los Angeles community center and clinic, published El Mexicano, a quarterly newsletter, from 1913 to 1925. The newsletter’s reports reveal how the PCC combined walk-in medical visits with broader efforts to address the overall wellness of its attendees. Available records, some with occasional clinical details, reveal the general spectrum of illnesses treated over a twelve-year span. Placed in today’s context, the medical care given at this center was simple and minimal. The social support it provided, however, was multifaceted. The center’s caring extended beyond providing medical attention to helping with education, nutrition, employment, transportation, and moral support. Thus, the social determinants of health (SDH), a prominent concern of present-day public health, was a concept already realized and practiced by these early twentieth-century Los Angeles Plaza community leaders. Such practices, although not yet nominally identified as SDH, had their beginnings in the late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century social activism movement aiming to mitigate the social ills and inequities of emerging industrial nations. The PCC was one of the pioneers in this effort. Its concerns and successes in this area were sophisticated enough to be comparable to our current intentions and aspirations.

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Health Disparities and the Social Determinants of Health: Ethical and Social Justice Issues

The Oxford Handbook of Public Health Ethics ◽

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190245191.013.24 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 265-276

Author(s):

Sridhar Venkatapuram

Keyword(s):

Health Disparities ◽

Social Determinants Of Health ◽

Social Determinants ◽

Global Justice ◽

Social Epidemiology ◽

Social Groups ◽

Determinants Of Health ◽

Housing Conditions ◽

Early Infant ◽

The Social

The term health disparities (also called health inequalities) refers to the differences in health outcomes and related events across individuals and social groups. Social determinants of health, meanwhile, refers to certain types of causes of ill health in individuals, including lack of early infant care and stimulation, lack of safe and secure employment, poor housing conditions, discrimination, lack of self-respect, poor personal relationships, low community cohesion, and income inequality. These social determinants stand in contrast to others, such as individual biology, behaviors, and proximate exposures to harmful agents. This chapter presents some of the revolutionary findings of social epidemiology and the science of social determinants of health, and shows how health disparities and social determinants raise profound questions in public health ethics and social/global justice philosophy.

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