RISE looks at recent headlines concerning social determinants of health (SDoH).
Study: SDoH responsible for disproportionate premature deaths among Black Americans
Black adults in the U.S. have a significantly higher risk of premature death compared to white adults, and according to a recent study published by The Lancet Public Health, socioeconomic factors are a root cause.
For the study, researchers analyzed the self-reported SDoH data of 48, 170 adults ages 20-74 who participated in the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 1999 and 2018. The research team found Black adults had a significantly higher rate of premature mortality than any other racial and ethnic group included in the study. Since Black adults are more likely to experience SDoH compared to white adults, the research team sought to better understand the association between premature death and socioeconomic factors.
The study, which included eight key SDoH in the analysis, including employment, income, food insecurity, education level, access to health care, health insurance status, home ownership, and marital status or living with a partner, indicated a clear association between the number of SDoH an individual experienced and the risk of premature death. Further, when the research team adjusted for SDoH, there was no difference in premature death rates between Black and white adults.
“Addressing SDoH will require concerted efforts to initiate structural, multilevel policy interventions targeting the underlying causes of death among all people, and particularly those from historically marginalized populations,” wrote researchers. “Long-standing racial oppression and intergenerational, area-level propagation of structural racism are such underlying causes; thus, place-based, multisector, equity-oriented initiatives with government support are necessary to target SDoH improvement.”
HHS: Advancements on Language Access for Persons with Limited English Proficiency
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has released a report on the latest progress made in the initiative to address barriers in language access in health care and human services for people with limited English proficiency (LEP).
“The need for meaningful access to language services continues to grow across America and HHS is taking important action to ensure individuals with limited English proficiency can fully access federal resources and programs,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra in a statement. “As a child, I often needed to translate insurance and medical documents for my parents. That is still necessary for many families in this country today, which is why we are working so hard to ensure everyone has access to health care and advance health equity for all people.”
The department’s progress in supporting individuals with LEP includes:
- An increase in the amount of in-language online content
- Collaboration between OCR and the DHS and FEMA to provide technical assistance and address previous complaints of 19 states with limited access to COVID testing, vaccination, and treatment resources
- The addition of HHS taglines in multiple languages at the bottom of the HHS.gov homepage
The report also included the department’s future initiative efforts, which will include creating a new HHS Language Access Coordinator role, establishing a centralized language access center hub for HHS, updating HHS’s 2013 Language Access Plan, and addressing LEP complaints made against HHS in OCR investigations.
Aetna awards 10 grants to CBOs addressing SDoH
The Aetna Medicaid plan in Michigan has awarded grants totaling $250,000 to 10 community-based organizations (CBOs) throughout Michigan aiming to address SDoH and advance health equity. The donations were awarded to empower health care providers and community partners further meet the health and social care needs throughout their communities, including physical and mental health, food insecurity, workforce training, and housing stability.
“Since having low income is often linked with poor health and life expectancy, those experiencing poverty often need to choose between medicine or keeping a roof over their head,” said Teressa Smith, CEO, Aetna Better Health of Michigan, in the announcement. “By investing in local providers and community organizations, we’re supporting the State in its mission to improve the health and wellbeing of Michiganders who live and work in under-resourced communities.”
Study identifies barriers to rural Indian women’s health interventions
A recent study found several key SDoH are interfering with rural Indian women participating in health interventions aimed at improving their maternal health outcomes. With the help of community health care workers, researchers surveyed 229 rural Indian women about their reasons for not participating in a public health intervention implemented to improve their maternal health outcomes.
Key findings include:
- The most common reasons reported by the women included a lack of support from their husband (53.2 percent), followed by a lack of family support (27.9 percent), not having enough time (17 percent), and having a migratory lifestyle (14.8 percent).
- Women with lower education levels, pregnant for the first time, younger, or lived in joint family households were more likely to report a lack of support from their husband or family.
“We determined through these results that a lack of social (both spousal and familial) support, time, and stable housing were the most pressing determinants of health preventing the women from maximizing their health outcomes,” wrote researchers. “Future research should focus on possible programs to equalize the negative effects of these social determinants to improve the healthcare access of rural women.”