The 4th Realm of Health: Social Determinants of Health – The Undiagnosed Condition

Communities across the United States are looking for better ways to manage mental and behavioral health disorders, with the recognition that Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) are inextricably linked with an individual’s mental health status. This is particularly true among individuals with comorbid medical conditions. Broadly put, SDOH are the complex political, socioeconomic, and cultural circumstances into which individuals are born and live their lives, that impact health and well-being. The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stress that effective chronic disease management must address the physical or built environment; access to healthcare, education, transportation, nutrition; social support and safety in tandem with medical care to have a substantive and sustained impact on healthcare and health outcomes. SDOH not only contribute to the development of obesity, diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, and depression, among many other diseases, SDOH stratify our communities, further contributing to health inequities and emotional distress, which in turn become risk factors for chronic disease feeding this vicious cycle.

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