Population Health, Health Equity, Disparities & Social Determinants

What is Population Health?

The health outcomes of a group of individuals, including how those outcomes are distributed within the group.

What is Healthy People 2030?

A national framework that sets measurable goals and objectives to improve the health and well-being of the U.S. population, focusing on prevention and equity.

What are the five overarching goals?

1. Attain healthy, thriving lives free of preventable disease, disability, injury, and premature death. 2. Eliminate health disparities, achieve equity, and improve health literacy. 3. Create environments that support health potential for all. 4. Promote healthy development, behaviors, and well-being across life stages. 5. Engage leadership and communities to design policies that improve health for all.

Describe the Leading Health Indicators.

A subset of Healthy People 2030 objectives that highlight high-priority issues, focus on upstream measures, are modifiable in the short term, and address social determinants, disparities, and equity. They have updated data available periodically.

What is Health Equity?

When everyone has a fair and just opportunity to attain their highest level of health.

What is Health inequity?

Systematic, unfair, and avoidable differences in health outcomes between groups.

What is meant by the term Health Disparity?

Preventable differences in health outcomes among specific population groups, often linked to social, economic, or environmental disadvantage.

What makes someone vulnerable to disparities?

Factors such as poverty, limited health care access, chronic illness, disability, discrimination, low education, unsafe environments, and minority status.

What are the Social Determinants of Health (SDOH)?

Conditions in which people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age that affect health outcomes (economic stability, education, health care, environment, social/community context).

Why are the SDOH important when considering health equity and health disparities?

They explain how conditions outside of individual control contribute to unequal health outcomes and highlight areas for intervention to improve equity.

What is your reaction to the "There's No Such Thing as Small Stuff" video?

Personal reflection question; consider how small actions impact broader health outcomes and connect to population health concepts.

Tie in Population Health, Health Equity, Health Disparity, SDOH, & Vulnerability

Population health looks at overall outcomes; health equity ensures fairness in opportunities; health disparities highlight differences in outcomes; SDOH explain environmental and social influences; vulnerability describes groups most at risk.