Social Determinants of Health Essay

Social Determinants of Health Essay

Social Determinants of Health Essay

Social determinants of health (SDOH) are the non-medical factors in which individuals are born, grow, live, and work, which affect their health and health outcomes, and influence their daily life. Singu et al. (2020) note that the social determinants of health also impact how individuals are affected by a health crisis or event. Given the advancement of technology and its application in healthcare, it is vital to consider whether technological accessibility should be included in key factors of the SDOH. In this discussion, I will provide my views on whether or not broadband access should be added to the key areas of the social determinants of health and how telemedicine can impact and be impacted by the social determinants of health.

Broadband access should be added to the primary factors in the social determinants of health. The provision of healthcare services is slowly shifting to the virtual space. According to Rodriguez et al. (2020), most healthcare services, including consultations and monitoring, can be provided remotely; thus, the need to consider technological factors that can limit the accessibility of healthcare services. Broadband access refers to technologies that provide internet access and is important for the accessibility of telehealth and telemedicine services (Alford-Teaster et al., 2021). Therefore, incorporating it into the SDOH factors is important.

Telemedicine considerably impacts and is impacted by the SDOH. According to Justvig et al. (2022), telemedicine can help increase healthcare access to individuals in a community, thus improving their SDOH. For example, through telemedicine, people unable to access healthcare services due to geographical distance can access the services easily. In addition, factors such as unemployment, poverty, and other social and economic factors that form the social determinants of health may affect telemedicine since individuals from poor backgrounds may be unable to access the internet, thus unable to use telemedicine services (Justvig et al., 2022).

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Due to the advancement of technology in healthcare, it is essential to add broadband access to the critical social determinants of health. Most healthcare technology requires internet access, thus vital to consider technological facilitating factors. Telemedicine impacts and is significantly impacted by the social determinants of health, as discussed above.              

References

Alford-Teaster, J., Wang, F., Tosteson, A. N. A., & Onega, T. (2021). Incorporating broadband durability in measuring geographic access to health care in the era of telehealth: A case example of the 2-step virtual catchment area (2SVCA) Method. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association: JAMIA, 28(11), 2526–2530. https://doi.org/10.1093/jamia/ocab149

Justvig, S. P., Haynes, L., Karpowicz, K., Unsworth, F., Petrosino, S., Peltz, A., Jones, B. L., Hickingbotham, M., Cox, J., Wu, A. C., & Holder-Niles, F. F. (2022). The Role of Social Determinants of Health in the Use of Telemedicine for Asthma in Children. The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice, 10(10), 2543–2549. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaip.2022.07.005

Rodriguez, J. A., Clark, C. R., & Bates, D. W. (2020). Digital Health Equity as a Necessity in the 21st Century Cures Act Era. JAMA, 323(23), 2381–2382. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2020.7858

Singu, S., Acharya, A., Challagundla, K., & Byrareddy, S. N. (2020). Impact of Social Determinants of Health on the Emerging COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States. Frontiers in Public Health, 8, 406. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2020.00406

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Introduction: Use school White paper or the CDC

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2022), “Social determinants of health (SDOH) are the nonmedical factors that influence health outcomes. They are the conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live, and age, and the wider set of forces and systems shaping the conditions of daily life… SDOH are one of three priority areas for Healthy People 2030, along with health equity and health literacy. Healthy People 2030 sets data-driven national objectives in five key areas of SDOH: healthcare access and quality, education access and quality, social and community context, economic stability, and neighborhood and built environment. Some examples of SDOH included in Healthy People 2030 are safe housing, transportation, and neighborhoods; polluted air and water; and access to nutritious foods and physical health opportunities”.

https://www.cdc.gov/about/sdoh/index.htmlLinks to an external site.

To Prepare:

Reflect on the concept of social determinants of health as presented in the resources.

Contemplate whether digital inclusion or broad band access should be added to the 5 key areas of social determinants of health.

Using the optional outside resources or other peer reviewed journal articles, consider how electronic health records, mobile health, patient portals, or telemedicine can impact and be impacted by the social determinants of health.

Write a description of your views on whether or not digital inclusion or broad band access should be added as a key area to the social determinants of health.

Be specific and provide examples that support your position.

Explain how electronic health records, mobile health, patient portals, or telemedicine can impact and be impacted by the social determinants of health.

Support your explanation with the required or optional resources.