Social Determinants Of Health Essay

The Social Determinants of Health would negatively affect Mr. Jones’ ability to self-manage his chronic disease. The Healthy people 2020 initiative lists the main social determinants of health as economic stability, education, social and community context, health and health care, and neighborhood and built environment.
Mr. Jones does not meet many of the criteria for the social determinants of health, from his statement that he has given it can be concluded that he does not have availability of resources to meet daily needs. He is supporting his family with two jobs that do not pay sufficiently and have limited job security. We do not know if his housing situation is stable but we know, from his statement, that he has limited access to transportation. Limited transportation, as well as location, can be an inhibiting factor for getting healthier foods and other supplies. These aspects of his life could be major stressors for Mr. Jones, Stress combined with drinking and smoking has negative implications to his coronary artery disease.
Given Mr. Jones and his situation he could be placed on the physiological or base level of Maslow’s hierarchy

of needs and because of this survival mode he is not concerned with wellness or prevention of his disease.
The article Health Care’s Blind Side states, “If physicians had the power to write prescriptions for social needs, they would prescribe fitness programs, nutritional food, and transportation assistance.” These are all things that would greatly benefit Mr.

Jones and help him to manage his condition in a more healthy and productive way. The Healthy People 2020 Initiative helps to describe Mr. Jones by saying that, “The conditions in which we live explain in part why some Americans are healthier than others and why Americans more generally are not as healthy as they could be.” Being able to give prescriptions based on social needs is a great thought but realistically, for Mr. Jones and others like him, he might not be able to afford any type of medication or prescribed therapy within the health care system in its current

form.
In Claire Pomeroy’s Ted Talk about improving the health care system, she points out that we as healthcare providers have the ability to change what is going on and how funds are allocated to help people in these situations feel cared for and valued as part of the world. This could be an accurate thought but the two systems, one more profit driven and the other patient driven, cannot exist simultaneously which is what Claire’s meaning of change is, replacing one system with another.
With Mr. Jones and his condition there could be a strain or added stress to the health care team. The lack of availability to certain medications and treatments combined with mismanagement of his disease could inhibit the formation of an effective team to care for Mr. Jones. Without all participants functioning properly the team could become stuck in one of the stages of team formation and this could lead to team breakdown or burn out. It is not only in the interest of Mr. Jones and patients everywhere to understand and implement the importance of social conditions on patient well-being but to also understand these conditions determine the effectiveness of the health care team and their environment. It could be considered that we are all connected in a feedback loop.