To help address social needs, or the non-medical challenges to health, more healthcare systems are screening patients for non-medical drivers of health. We at Salud America! at UT Health San Antonio are spotlighting why non-medical drivers of health screenings can be an effective way to improve health outcomes for Latinos and all patients. Today, we are sharing three more non-medical drivers of health screening tools – questionnaires that gather information from patients – that may be helpful to your healthcare facility. Download these screening tools or use them as inspiration to create your own! For more screening tool options, please read our first list of non-medical drivers of health screening tools.
The Accountable Health Communities (AHC) Health-Related Social ...
As more healthcare systems start to screen patients for social determinants of health (SDoH), we at Salud America! at UT Health San Antonio are spotlighting why screening for SDoH is so important to improve health outcomes, especially among Latinos. Today, we are sharing three SDoH screening tools that can help address social needs, or the non-medical barriers to health, of Latinos and all patients. You can use these screening tools – questionnaires that gather information from patients – in your healthcare facility or use them as inspiration to create your own screening tool. Let’s dive into these health-changing tools!
The Protocol for Responding to and Assessing Patients’ Assets, Risks, and Experiences (PRAPARE®)
PRAPARE® helps health centers and other providers ...
Did you know that your Zip code is more important than your genetic code in predicting how long you will live? That’s right – where you live can have a big impact on your health. In fact, our health is influenced by a variety of non-medical factors, such as the conditions in which we are born, grow, live, work, and age. These conditions are known as non-medical drivers of health. Addressing non-medical drivers of health is key to improving health for Latinos and all people. Numerous studies suggest that non-medical drivers of health accounts for between 30-55% of health outcomes and non-medical drivers of health influences individual health behaviors, which account for another 30% of health outcomes. Fortunately, healthcare systems are placing more emphasis on screening ...
The Biden-Harris Administration announced its goal to eliminate hunger in America, improve diet and physical activity, and reduce diet-related disease by 2030 during the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health on Sept. 28, 2022 – the first such conference in over 50 years. The goal is based on five pillars of strategic action: Improve food access and affordability.
Integrate nutrition and health.
Empower all consumers to make and have access to healthy choices.
Support physical activity for all.
Enhance nutrition and food security research. President Joe Biden also shared three foundational principles for the goal. “Help more Americans access the food that will keep their families nourished and healthy, lot of food deserts out there. Second, ...
Where we live and the conditions that we live in impact our health and life outcomes. This concept is widely called the Social Determinants of Health (SDOH). Unfortunately, when people live in and experience negative conditions, it can lead to poor health outcomes and disparities, particularly among Latinos and other marginalized communities. In their new SDOH framework, the Praxis Project highlights the root systems of oppression that have led to health disparities for communities of color. “Many traditional SDOH frameworks lack the explicit naming of systems of oppression that cause disparities in health determinants. In an effort to incorporate these systems of oppression and to highlight the root causes of these determinants from a justice and community power ...
Social risk contributes significantly to poor health. These social risks—also known as social determinants of health—include food insecurity, housing instability, transportation insecurity, financial strain, and more. But without the right terminology about social risk, doctors and other healthcare workers may struggle to identify, support, and report patient’s social needs, which can harm health and hinder research. This is particularly problematic for Latinos and others who are overburdened by social risks. This why the Gravity Project, a coalition of experts on social risk, is recommending code changes and updates to CDC National Center for Health Statistics’ International Classification of Diseases-Clinical Modification, Tenth Revision (ICD-10-CM), which provides a ...
Health has become a huge priority in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. People of color, who face COVID-19 disparities as the virus worsens systemic social and economic inequities, are increasingly worried about holistic health. More Black and Latino Texans believe that the areas of life not typically associated with medical care—housing, education, racism, and other social determinants—directly impact their overall health than their white peers, according to a recently published survey from the Episcopal Health Foundation (EHF). "Texans across racial backgrounds agree that many non-medical factors like good air quality and clean water, community safety, and amount of stress are vital to a person's health," EHF writes in a recent press release. "But researchers ...
Experts say people who have underlying health conditions should guard against COVID-19. In fact, CDC now says that U.S. adults with diabetes, chronic lung disease, and heart disease are at higher risk for severe COVID-19-associated disease than people without these conditions. Latinos face a heavier burden for several of these conditions. The American Heart Association even warned elderly people with heart disease or hypertension. "Based on current information, it appears elderly people with coronary heart disease or hypertension are more likely to be infected and to develop more severe symptoms," according to AHA. "Stroke survivors may also face increased risk for complications if they get COVID-19" According to the latest report from State Department of Health, out of the ...
Our food systems affect our health in good and bad ways. For example, some of the most severe health impacts of food systems trace back to some of the core industrial food and farming practices. These include chemical-intensive agriculture, intensive livestock production, and mass production and marketing of processed foods. That is why the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES Food) published a report to identify five ways our current food systems make us sick, seven challenges to understanding and addressing them, and five leverage points for building healthier food systems. Here are five ways our current food system makes us sick:
1. People Get Sick Because They Work in Unhealthy Conditions
Pesticides are responsible for an estimated 200,000 acute ...
