Thank you so much to everyone for responding to our first poll which we recently posted on LinkedIn! We asked, “What percentage of your socioeconomic factors, health-related behaviors, and environmental circumstances influence your overall health?” and the results were as follows:
a. 20-30% – 7%
b. 40-50% – 33%
c. 60-70% – 13%
d. 80-90% – 47%
It looks like you all have been brushing up on your Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) literature, because most of you answered correctly – it’s item d.
According to a study by the National Academy of Medicine, it is indeed estimated that a whopping 80-90 percent of a person’s overall health outcomes are determined by non-medical factors called Social Determinants of Health, also referred to as Health Related Social Needs (HRSN) – socioeconomic factors, health-related behaviors, and environmental circumstances such as access to health care, food, and education.* It’s very hard to be healthy when you’re struggling to put food on the table, don’t have a car to get to and hold down a job, or are not getting enough sleep due to stress.
SDoH data can be held in many different places across a community, such as housing authorities, food banks, and state health and human services departments. To unleash the full potential of SDoH data, it is essential to first pull an individual’s health-impacting data together from these various sources, combine it with relevant clinical and behavioral data, and finally display it in such a way that the data can be easily interpreted – all of which is much easier said than done!
Here at NinePatch, we are dedicated to finding new and better ways to gather, harness and display SDoH data in a way that is easily understood. Our software does just that – and in the process supports clinical, behavioral, and social services decision-making, increases efficiencies within organizations, and facilitates improvement of health in individuals and populations. We believe SDoH data has the power to change the world for the better, and we want to be a part of that change.
Stay tuned for more exciting updates from NinePatch, and please visit our website to learn more about us, at www.ninepatch.com
#ninepatch #sdoh #hrsn #socialdeterminantsofhealth #wholepersoncare
* Magnan, S. “Social Determinants of Health 101 for Health Care: Five Plus Five.” Discussion Paper. Oct. 9, 2017. The National Academy of Medicine, https://zurl.co/F1ou
