Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) Affecting Family's Health Status

The Family Health Assessment Part 2
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Family Health Assessment Part 2
According to the CDC (2022a), factors, especially nonmedical, which can inform health outcomes, are considered social determinants of health (SDOH). They include lifestyle, environment, nutrition, and genetics, which increase the risk of health problems if the above are compromised. Healthy People 2030 prioritizes SDOH as one of the key areas to improve health, prevent diseases, among other objectives. SDOH focuses on education and health access, economic stability, and the environment, including safe housing and disregard for polluted water and air. The World Health Organization (2023) indicates that education, working life conditions, food security, the environment, basic amenities and housing, early childhood development, job insecurity and unemployment, social protection and income, social inclusion, and access to affordable health services can influence health equity. Based on the above information, there is a need to discuss the influence of SDOH on the interviewed family’s health status. The interview covered multiple aspects, including cognitive abilities, elimination, nutrition, physical activity, and health perception, which can be exploited to comprehend the influence of SDOH on their health status. After discussing the impact of the SDOH on the family, the focus extends to recommended age-appropriate screenings for each family member based on the family health assessment information from the interview.
Education or literacy level is one SDOH factor affecting the family’s health status. Importantly, the family is religious and, as such, more likely to embrace spirituality, which can impede access to healthcare, as they would pray and hope God eliminates their problems before they seek expert help. The family literacy levels are poor since both parents dropped out of school after high school. Regardless, they consider education important in the children’s lives and, as such, strive to ensure the 14-year-old pursues his dream medical career while the eldest accesses college education through a sports scholarship. The other SDOH is environment and neighborhood. It is evident that the family resides in a low-income neighborhood, which increases exposure to multiple risks, including poor water and air quality. Low-income neighborhoods struggle with access to quality healthcare services, which arguably indicates the disregard for screening, even though there is a family history of cancer from the mother’s family. The interview does not reveal instances where the family embraces routine check-ups, which can be tied to a lack of awareness and resources to support adequate health insurance for every family member. Since the neighborhood has a playground that hosts multiple local sports events, it can be attributed to their impressive physical activity levels.
Health screenings by age are important in family health assessment and health promotion. According to Gracy et al. (2018), screening children, for example, increases the identification of health barriers to learning, including behavioral and mental challenges and vision deficits. They are encou...