The Future of Social Determinants of Health: Looking Upstream to Structural Drivers

Milbank Q. 2023 Apr;101(S1):36-60. doi: 10.1111/1468-0009.12641.

Abstract

Policy Points Policies that redress oppressive social, economic, and political conditions are essential for improving population health and achieving health equity. Efforts to remedy structural oppression and its deleterious effects should account for its multilevel, multifaceted, interconnected, systemic, and intersectional nature. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services should facilitate the creation and maintenance of a national publicly available, user-friendly data infrastructure on contextual measures of structural oppression. Publicly funded research on social determinants of health should be mandated to (a) analyze health inequities in relation to relevant data on structural conditions and (b) deposit the data in the publicly available data repository.

Keywords: LGBT+ stigma; health equity; population health; racism; sexism; social determinants of health; structural oppression.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Health Equity*
  • Health Status Disparities
  • Humans
  • Population Health*
  • Social Determinants of Health