The U.S. Playbook to Address Social Determinants of Health
Provided by the Domestic Policy Council Office of Science and Technology Policy, November 2023.
Improving health and well-being across America requires addressing the social circumstances and related environmental hazards and exposures that impact health outcomes, often referred to as social determinants of health (SDOH). The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services defines SDOH as “the conditions in the environments where people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age that affect a wide range of health, functioning, and quality-of-life outcomes and risks.”1 These community-level factors influence a variety of individual health-related social needs such as financial strain, housing instability and poor quality, food insecurity, lack of access to health care, and inadequate educational opportunities. An inability to meet these social needs puts individuals at higher risk for exacerbating health conditions such as heart disease, stroke, depression, cancer, and diabetes.