Social Determinants of Health

Social determinants of health are the nonmedical factors that influence health outcomes, many times in ways that we may not be even aware of. Even though we often consider the medical risk factors that affect the health of individuals, we can ignore the role that social and environmental factors, such as housing conditions and access to healthcare and education, can play.

In this episode, we present the podcast version of the Social Determinants of Health brick developed by MeSAGE, the Medical Student Alliance for Global Education, and explore the ways in which social determinants impact health outcomes. We discuss how factors such as income, education levels, access to healthcare, and living conditions all affect the overall health of an individual or a population. We also explain the importance of recognizing these social determinants in order to develop successful interventions that improve health outcomes.

This is just one of the free and open Bricks that MeSAGE developed for the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion collection.  Through this collection, we aim to generate awareness and provide support for health care students and educators to learn more about cultural competency and social determinants of health. We hope that these resources will help provide a foundation for educators, students, and healthcare providers to better understand how social determinants can influence the health outcomes of their patients and communities.

If you enjoyed this episode, we’d love for you to leave a review on Apple Podcasts.  It helps with our visibility, and the more med students (or future med students) listen to the podcast, the more we can provide to the future physicians of the world.

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