Addressing Social Determinants of Health

Course Description:

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Statement of Need:

Social determinants of health (SDOH) are conditions in the places where people live, learn, work, play, and pray that affect a wide range of health and quality-of-life risks and outcomes.

SDOH can be grouped into five domains: education access and quality, health care access and quality, neighborhood and built environment, social and community context, and economic stability.

Kentuckians have higher rates of diabetes, cardiovascular deaths, and cancer deaths than many other states. Kentucky also has high poverty rates, racial inequality, and deep urban/rural divide. Kentucky’s rates of smoking and air pollution are higher than the national average, while access to exercise opportunities and healthy food are lower than the national average.

Some Kentuckians face more barriers to health than others – including people with low incomes, many of whom live in rural parts of the state including eastern Kentucky. The Appalachian portion of Kentucky has notably higher rates of mortality from heart disease, cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, stroke and diabetes than the non-Appalachian portion of the state.

Almost 13% of Kentuckians experience food insecurity, according to Feeding Kentucky. That percentage represents 579,770 Kentuckians, including 154,290 kids. Kentucky has some of the highest rates of older adult hunger in the country, according to Feeding Kentucky. 14.6% of adults aged 50-59 are food insecure. That national average is about 9.4%.

In Kentucky, every one in six kids also experiences hunger, the group says.

Objectives:

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Disclosure:

All planners and speakers disclose that they have no relevant relationships with ineligible companies whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients.