Research reveals that the opportunities for healthy choices in homes, neighborhoods, schools, and workplaces can have decisive impacts on health. This article reviews scientific evidence from promising interventions focused on the social determinants of health, and describes ways in which they can improve population health and reduce health disparities. We show that there is sufficient evidence to support policy interventions targeted at education and early childhood; urban planning and community development; housing; income enhancements and supplements; and employment. When available, cost-effectiveness evaluations show that these interventions lead to long-term societal savings; however, more routine attention to cost considerations is needed for these interventions. We also discuss challenges to implementation, including the need for long-term financing in order to scale-up effective interventions for implementation at the local, state, or national level. Although we know enough to act, questions remain about how to optimally scale-up these interventions and maximize their benefits for the most vulnerable populations.

Social characteristics (e.g. race, gender, age, education) are associated with health care disparities. We introduce social concordance, a composite measure of shared social characteristics between patients and physicians. Objective To determine whether social concordance predicts differences in medical visit communication and patients’ perceptions of care. Methods Regression analyses were used to determine the association of patient-provider social concordance with medical visit communication and patients’ perceptions of care using data from two observational studies involving 64 primary care physicians and 489 of their patients from the Baltimore, MD /Washington, DC/Northern Virginia area. Results Lower patient-physician social concordance was associated with less positive patient perceptions of care and lower positive patient affect. Patient-physician dyads with low vs. high social concordance reported lower ratings of global satisfaction with office visits (OR=0.64 vs. OR=1.37, p=0.036) and were less likely to recommend their physician to a friend (OR=0.61vs. OR=1.37, p=0.035). A graded-response was observed for social concordance with patient positive affect and patient perceptions of care. Conclusion Patient-physician concordance across multiple social characteristics may have cumulative effects on patient-physician communication and perceptions of care. Practice Implications Research should move beyond one-dimensional measures of patient-physician concordance to understand how multiple social characteristics influence health care quality.

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Little is known about the mechanisms through which neighborhood-level factors (e.g., social support, economic opportunity) relate to suboptimal availability of healthy foods in low-income urban communities. We engaged a diverse group of chain and local food outlet owners, residents, neighborhood organizations, and city agencies based in Baltimore, MD. Eighteen participants completed a series of exercises based on a set of pre-defined scripts through an interactive, iterative group model building process over a two-day community-based workshop. This process culminated in the development of causal loop diagrams, based on participants’ perspectives, illustrating the dynamic factors in an urban neighborhood food system. Synthesis of diagrams yielded 21 factors and their embedded feedback loops. Crime played a prominent role in several feedback loops within the neighborhood food system: contributing to healthy food being “risky food,” supporting unhealthy food stores, and severing social ties important for learning about healthy food. Findings shed light on a new framework for thinking about barriers related to healthy food access and pointed to potential new avenues for intervention, such as reducing neighborhood crime.