Addressing the Social Determinants of Health: The Role of Health Care Organizations.

Abstract

Finding ways that health care organizations can address the social determinants of health is a hot topic in health policy circles these days. It long has been known that social and economic factors have a significant impact on health, but addressing these factors traditionally has been the purview of government and philanthropic organizations, not health care providers. Why are policymakers now looking to health care to play a role?