The Social Determinants of Health
Why Medicine Alone Isn’t Enough
When we think about health, we often picture clinics, doctors, hospitals, and prescriptions. But the truth is, health starts long before someone walks into a healthcare setting.
Where you live, what you earn, how you're treated in society, and even the air you breathe — these are just some of the factors that shape your ability to stay well. These are known as the social determinants of health (SDOH), and they’re often the most powerful predictors of health outcomes.
What Are the Social Determinants of Health?
The World Health Organisation defines SDOH as “the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age.”
They include:
Income and employment
Education
Housing and neighbourhood conditions
Access to healthy food
Transportation and mobility
Social inclusion and community support
Racism, discrimination, and marginalisation
These aren’t side issues — they are at the core of health.
Why It Matters
You can have access to a GP, but if you’re:
Living in mouldy, overcrowded housing
Working two insecure jobs with no time to rest
Dealing with discrimination or trauma
Struggling to afford fresh food
...your health will still suffer — no matter how many appointments you attend.
Medical care alone can’t undo systemic disadvantage.
Who’s Most Affected?
The burden of poor health often falls heaviest on:
People living on low incomes
Ethnic minority communities
Disabled people
Migrants and asylum seekers
LGBTQ+ individuals
Those facing insecure housing or unstable work
It’s no coincidence. Health inequities mirror social inequities.
What Needs to Change?
If we want to improve public health outcomes, we must look upstream:
Invest in secure, affordable housing
Close the education and employment gap
Ensure access to nutritious food and clean air
Tackle systemic racism and social exclusion
Co-design services with the communities most affected
This isn’t about adding pressure to healthcare — it’s about joining the dots between sectors, and treating health as a shared responsibility across housing, transport, education, and justice.
My Work in This Space
As a health equity advocate, I see how the social determinants of health show up in clinical settings — often invisibly. Patients may come in for a headache, but part of the cause is poverty, stress or unstable housing. They may present with anxiety, but part of the real issue is social isolation or trauma.
Through my work— I’m committed to challenging the idea that health is purely an individual matter. It’s social. It’s structural. And it’s solvable.