Public Health: Health Equity & Social Determinants of Health (SDOH)

Social indicators covering a wide range of subject-matter fields are compiled by the Statistics Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat, from many national and international sources. The indicators presented here consist mainly of the minimum list which has been proposed for follow-up and monitoring implementation of major United Nations conferences on children, population and development, social development and women.

The social determinants of health (SDOH) are the non-medical factors that influence health outcomes. They are the conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live, and age, and the wider set of forces and systems shaping the conditions of daily life. These forces and systems include economic policies and systems, development agendas, social norms, social policies and political systems.

Get an overview of your state, county, or place all in one location with our geo-profile pages. They provide high-level statistics about your area regarding people and population, race and ethnicity, families and living arrangements, health, education, business and economy, employment, housing, and income and poverty. Try searching for your hometown to see what data we have, and don’t forget to share or embed the maps and charts.

ASPE, in partnership with the Administration for Community Living, commissioned the RAND Corporation to better understand existing approaches to coordinating health and social care services through backbone organizations, with a focus on one particular model, community care hubs (Hubs). This project sought to gain insights into the various forms of backbone organizations that exist in the field, and to gain a deeper understanding of Hubs, including their structures, approaches to community input, partners, information technology infrastructure, and financing sources, as well as any policy changes identified by specific Hubs included in the report that would enhance their ability to operate successfully. As community-focused entities that support a network of community-based organizations in contracting with health care entities to provide services to address social needs that can affect health outcomes, Hubs can serve as the connective tissue within a community to ensure individuals’ social needs are met, which can also contribute to improved health outcomes.

Emphasizes the importance of addressing all people inclusively and respectfully. These principles are intended to help public health professionals, particularly health communicators, within and outside of CDC ensure their communication products and strategies adapt to the specific cultural, linguistic, environmental, and historical situation of each population or audience of focus.

HRSA programs provide health care to people who are geographically isolated, economically or medically vulnerable. This includes people living with HIV/AIDS, pregnant women, mothers and their families, and those otherwise unable to access high quality health care. HRSA also supports access to health care in rural areas, the training of health professionals, the distribution of providers to areas where they are needed most, and improvements in health care delivery.

SDOH are the conditions in the environments where people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age that affect a wide range of health, functioning, and quality-of-life outcomes and risks. SDOH can be grouped into 5 domains: (1) Economic Stability, (2) Education Access & Quality, (3) Health Care Access & Quality, (4) Neighborhood & Built Environment, and (5) Social & Community Content. Explore evidence-based resources (EBR) on each domain.

Culturally and linguistically appropriate services (CLAS) is a way to improve the quality of services provided to all individuals, which will ultimately help reduce health disparities and achieve health equity. CLAS is about respect and responsiveness: Respect the whole individual and Respond to the individual’s health needs and preferences. Health inequities in our nation are well documented. Providing CLAS is one strategy to help eliminate health inequities. By tailoring services to an individual's culture and language preferences, health professionals can help bring about positive health outcomes for diverse populations.

Access to one of the nation’s largest repositories of information dedicated to the health of minority populations within the United States and its territories. The collection includes documents, books, journal articles, reports, organizations, and media related to the health status of racial and ethnic minority populations. In addition, users can access consumer health materials in more than 40 languages. The database identifies print and digital content leading to article, document, journal, and organizational records.

Quality health care means delivering services in ways that are safe, timely, patient centered, effective, efficient, and equitable. Unfortunately, our health care system often distributes services inefficiently and unevenly across populations, and some Americans receive worse care than others in the United States. Variations in health care and health status among racial and ethnic and socioeconomic groups continue to challenge the nation... Includes the following content areas: Raising Awareness; Collecting Data; Analyzing Data; Reporting Data; Identifying Best Practices; Tracking Success; and Focusing on Specific Vulnerable Populations.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry Social Vulnerability Index (hereafter, CDC/ATSDR SVI or SVI) is a place-based index, database, and mapping application designed to identify and quantify communities experiencing social vulnerability.

Iincludes select CDC/ASTDR SVI publications and materials authored by and recommended by GRASP for the scientists, researchers, emergency responders, and public health professionals in the SVI community.

ASPE, in partnership with the Administration for Community Living, commissioned the RAND Corporation to better understand existing approaches to coordinating health and social care services through backbone organizations, with a focus on one particular model, community care hubs (Hubs). This project sought to gain insights into the various forms of backbone organizations that exist in the field, and to gain a deeper understanding of Hubs, including their structures, approaches to community input, partners, information technology infrastructure, and financing sources, as well as any policy changes identified by specific Hubs included in the report that would enhance their ability to operate successfully. As community-focused entities that support a network of community-based organizations in contracting with health care entities to provide services to address social needs that can affect health outcomes, Hubs can serve as the connective tissue within a community to ensure individuals’ social needs are met, which can also contribute to improved health outcomes.

The social determinants of health are the conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live, and age and people’s access to power, money and resources. The social determinants are the major drivers of health inequities – unfair, avoidable and remediable differences in health between social groups. This evidence brief examines the influence of the social determinants of health on the current COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on the inequities of impact. The findings are drawn from a rapid systematic review of global evidence.

The report shows progress in vital health indicators and addresses the agency’s efforts to improve health outcomes through access to quality services, a skilled health workforce and innovative, high-value programs.

The Trump-Vance Administration established the Make America Healthy Again Commission on February 13, 2025. The Commission was tasked with advising and assisting the President on how best to exercise his authority to address the childhood chronic disease crisis and to create the Make Our Children Healthy Again Assessment.

These profiles provide detailed demographic, language fluency (where relevant), education, economic, insurance coverage and health status information, as well as full census reports on the following populations: Black/African American Health, American Indian/Alaska Native Health, Asian American Health, Hispanic/Latino Health, and Native Hawaiin & Pacific Islander Health.

The National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report presents trends for measures related to access to care, affordable care, care coordination, effective treatment, healthy living, patient safety, and person-centered care. The report presents, in chart form, the latest available findings on quality of and access to healthcare, as well as disparities related to race and ethnicity, income, and other social determinants of health.

..."The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to improving the health and well-being of all Americans. Our vision is to enable every American to lead a full and healthy life within their community. The frequent organizational separation of health care from services such as housing or nutrition programs complicates efforts to address interconnected health needs. This Playbook lays out an initial set of structural actions federal agencies are undertaking to break down these silos and to support equitable health outcomes by improving the social circumstances of individuals and communities. The Playbook sets the stage for agencies and organizations to re-imagine new policies and actions around SDOH, both inside and outside of government. While the Playbook is a point of departure, it does not represent a final, comprehensive strategy for addressing SDOH. The vision and coordinating actions create a scaffolding upon which entities from all segments of society can build. These initial efforts are focused on individual and community-centered interventions with actions grouped into three pillars."