Reasons behind health problems plaguing specific groups
Health authorities are tackling five areas where they hope to improve the quality of life for various groups.
The focus is on jobs, education and neighborhoods. The five areas are:
• healthcare access and quality
• education access and quality
• social and community context,
• economic stability
• neighborhood and built environment.
Examples
More specifically, they include such areas as safe housing, transportation, and neighborhoods; unpolluted air and water; and access to nutritious foods and physical health opportunities.
They are part of a World Health Organization effort to reduce the impact of social determinants of health in a set population by 2030.
Your health doesn’t depend on genes alone.
“Social determinants are the nonmedical factors that influence health outcomes. They are the conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live, worship, and age. These conditions include systems that shape daily life such as economic policies and systems, development agendas, social norms, social policies, and political systems.”
The U.S.
The Centers for Disease Control, a participant in the effort in the United States, says these factors have a greater influence on health than either genetic factors or access to healthcare services.
“For example, poverty is highly correlated with poorer health outcomes and higher risk of premature death.”
The effects of racism – slavery, Jim Crow and other factors – are “key drivers of health inequities within communities of color. The impact is pervasive and deeply embedded in our society, creating inequities in access to a range of social and economic benefits—such as housing, education, wealth, and employment. These inequities put people at higher risk of poor health.”
The project is known as Healthy People 2030.
CDC, the federal government's primary public health agency, is focusing on areas where public health investments can be more effective.
One example: it is working to reduce chronic diseases for specific racial and ethnic groups in urban, rural, and tribal communities. It tries to cut tobacco use, improve access to healthy foods, make changes that promote physical activity, and connect people to clinical care.
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