HEAL

Social determinants of health – where we live, work and play – have tremendous affect on one’s health, and they can affect anyone, regardless of age, race, ethnicity.  Help your organization and community better understand how social determinants impact your patients and neighbors as well as what hospitals are doing to address this important aspect of health, and what resources AHA has to help you further tackle related challenges including food insecurity and lack of transportation.

The AHA Task Force on Ensuring Access in Vulnerable Communities examined ways in which the access to and delivery of care could be improved. During that process, the Task Force grappled with the reality that, in vulnerable communities, even if quality care is available, social determinants often prevent individuals from being able to access health care or achieve health goals.

Reliance on digital tools can exacerbate barriers to care among certain populations and may be less accessible to people with limited English proficiency. As these technologies become ubiquitous, now is the time to examine digital health from an equity lens to ensure that no community is left behind.

Many of the digital solutions we relied on during the pandemic will remain, making digital health equity, including digital access and literacy, even more important. As hospitals and health systems design and implement digital solutions, it will be imperative to take proactive steps so all individuals have the opportunity to engage with these tools.

This toolkit aims to help hospitals and health systems facilitate sensitive conversations with patients about their nonmedical needs that may be a barrier to good health.

The AHA's Physician Alliance has developed resources to help clinicians address social determinants of health within a framework that maximizes their skills while helping organizations systematically approach these challenges.

This toolkit provides checklists to assess the organization's diversity (inclusing leadership), workforce diversity, and patient care while providing action steps to move toward being a more diverse organization. The toolkit also provides case studies of various hospitals who took initatives toward becoming more diverse and their outcomes.