When caregivers provide their child with dependable and reliable information about his or her parent’s incarceration, they lay the foundation for developing resilience. The disclosure fosters a trusting relationship between the caregiver and child, creating a comfortable environment for the child to ask difficult questions while grieving his or her loss and adjusting to a new reality.
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SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH (SDoH)
In 2005, the World Health Organization (WHO) established a group to address the social factors that lead to poor health and wellbeing. The WHO defines social determinants of health as “the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age.” They concluded that social determinants of health are mostly responsible for health differences in health status seen within and between countries.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) defines social determinants of health (SDoH) as the “conditions in the places where people live, learn, work, and play that affect a wide range of health and quality-of life-risks and outcomes.”
The factors that influence the conditions of an individual’s or community’s environment are complex and fluid. For simplicity, SDoH is divided into five categories: Health & Healthcare, Education, Social & Community Context, Economic Stability, and Neighborhood & Built Environment.
Social Determinants of Health. A KidsMates Graphic. Data source: www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/social-determinants-of-health
Both structural and individual factors influence SDoH. Structural influences occur at an institutional level (including government, healthcare, education, and other institutions) and impact communities. Examples of structural influences include government programs for food assistance and housing, and school zones. Individual influences reflect the personal beliefs and backgrounds that affect relationships between people. Some examples include the interactions between doctor and patient, student and teacher, police officer and citizen, or salesperson and client.
Negative influences on SDoH permeate through the environments where people live, work, and play and lead to poor health and well-being. However, positive influences on SDoH can also lead to improvements in these same outcomes.
Understanding how different conditions can impact SDoH provides a framework for developing targeted interventions aimed at improving the long-term health and wellbeing of individuals and communities.
Social Determinants of Health. A KidsMates Graphic. Data source: www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/social-determinants-of-health