Understanding the Upstream Social Determinants of Health

Copyright

2015

Published By

RAND Corporation

This working paper describes and categorizes three types of approaches used to examine upstream social determinants of health, like social disadvantage, risk exposure, and social inequities that play a fundamental causal role in poor health outcomes. It also identifies several challenges to understanding upstream social determinants of health, including the long and complex causal pathways linking these factors with health, single-disease-focused research funding, and limited understanding of community buffers, among others.