Social Determinants of Health
Social determinants of health are the components that serve as the foundational building blocks for a person's life. These components include things like where you live, socioeconomic status, access to healthcare, the community that you live in, and your education. All of these factors contribute to a person's health in some way. For example, if a person is living in an area of poor socioeconomic status they may have a lack of access to food resources. This lack of nutritional food could be a factor of increasing a person's risk for heart disease, cancer, and even put them at risk for mental health problems since their brain is not receiving proper nutrients to be fueled by.
After listening to the Ted talk by Dr. Manchanda, it is very clear that addressing social determinants of health should be adopted into the practice of all health care providers. This approach to that he refers to as the "upstream approach" seems to be very similar to the top down approach that occupational therapy follows. I see this similarity because both approaches have the "bigger picture" of health in mind, meaning how a person's internal and external environments contribute to their overall health and well being. Something that really stuck out to me from this Ted talk was the statement Dr. Manchanda made about how healthcare should address the context of a person's life and not just their chief complaint for coming to their healthcare provider. The UTHSC OT program requirements for service and professional development hours help prepare its students by instilling the understanding that there is always room for personal and professional growth. Through these requirements we are learning the appropriate ways to address these components within the community and for our future clinical practice.
After listening to the Ted talk by Dr. Manchanda, it is very clear that addressing social determinants of health should be adopted into the practice of all health care providers. This approach to that he refers to as the "upstream approach" seems to be very similar to the top down approach that occupational therapy follows. I see this similarity because both approaches have the "bigger picture" of health in mind, meaning how a person's internal and external environments contribute to their overall health and well being. Something that really stuck out to me from this Ted talk was the statement Dr. Manchanda made about how healthcare should address the context of a person's life and not just their chief complaint for coming to their healthcare provider. The UTHSC OT program requirements for service and professional development hours help prepare its students by instilling the understanding that there is always room for personal and professional growth. Through these requirements we are learning the appropriate ways to address these components within the community and for our future clinical practice.
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