Social Determinants of Health
This domain includes factors like income, employment, and financial security that influence overall health.
What is economic stability?
This term describes the differences in health outcomes among population groups that are often linked to social, economic, or environmental disadvantages.
What are health disparities?
This term refers to the ability of healthcare providers and organizations to understand and respect diverse cultural backgrounds to provide effective care.
What is cultural competency?
Unlike explicit bias, which is conscious and intentional, this type of bias operates unconsciously and can influence medical decisions without a provider realizing it.
What is implicit bias?
The “digital divide” (limited access to technology and internet) is a social determinant that can impact health information access.
True.
Access to quality schooling—from early childhood to higher education—impacts health literacy and lifelong well-being.
What is Education?
Differences in disease prevalence, treatment outcomes, and mortality rates among various racial and ethnic groups highlight these disparities.
What are racial/ethnic disparities?
Providing medical interpreters and translated materials helps overcome this major obstacle to effective healthcare communication.
What are language barriers?
Implicit bias can contribute to disparities in pain management, with studies showing that this racial group is less likely to receive adequate pain treatment.
Who are Black/African American patients?
Early childhood experiences do not have long-term effects on health across the lifespan.
False.
This determinant covers the availability of preventive services, timely treatment, and culturally competent care.
What is healthcare access?
This type of disparity arises when variations in income, education, and employment result in unequal access to healthcare and overall well-being.
What are socioeconomic disparities?
Understanding and incorporating a patient’s beliefs, traditions, and values into their treatment plan is an example of this approach.
What is culturally appropriate care?
Women’s symptoms, particularly for this life-threatening cardiac event, are more likely to be dismissed or misdiagnosed compared to men.
What is a heart attack?
Health literacy is primarily determined by an individual's intelligence and has minimal connection to social determinants.
False.
Factors such as safe housing, clean water, and access to nutritious food in a community fall under this social determinant.
What is environment?
This category of disparity examines differences in health outcomes and access to care between men and women, often influenced by biological and social factors.
What are gender-based disparities?
Unconscious attitudes or stereotypes that affect a provider’s understanding, actions, and decisions are known as this.
What is implicit bias?
This type of training helps healthcare professionals recognize and address their unconscious biases to improve patient outcomes.
What is Unconcious bias training?
Studies show that many providers dismiss pain and concerns from pregnant individuals of this racial background, leading to delayed treatment and worse health outcomes.
Who are women of color?
This domain examines the impact of social relationships, community engagement, and discrimination on health outcomes.
What is community?
Variations in healthcare access and health outcomes between urban and rural areas exemplify these disparities.
What are geographic disparities?
Unlike cultural competency, this concept emphasizes ongoing self-reflection, learning, and acknowledging power imbalances in healthcare relationships.
What is cultural humility?
How can implicit bias among healthcare providers affect the quality of care patients receive, and what are some ways the healthcare system can address these biases to reduce health disparities?
Implicit bias can lead to differences in diagnosis, treatment recommendations, pain management, and overall patient experience, contributing to poorer health outcomes for marginalized groups. For example, studies have shown that Black patients are less likely to receive adequate pain medication compared to White patients with similar conditions.
To address these biases, healthcare systems can implement several strategies:
Training programs that increase awareness of implicit bias and teach providers to recognize and mitigate their own biases.
Standardizing care protocols to reduce subjective decision-making.
Encouraging diverse healthcare teams and fostering cultural competence.
Promoting patient-centered communication to build trust and improve understanding.
Using data monitoring to identify and address disparities in care delivery.
Food deserts are geographic areas where affordable and nutritious food is difficult to obtain, contributing to health disparities.
True