Social Determinants of Health and Effective Interventions for Optimal Youth Development: Recommendations from the IOM

With sponsorship from more than 40 health professional associations, including social work, the Global Forum on Innovation in Health Professional Education of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine published a report entitled “A Framework for Educating Health Professionals to Address the Social Determinants of Health” in March 2016. The IOM report provides a theoretical model and a framework to guide health professions in educating their respective workforces on the social determinants of health.  Social determinants of health (SDH) refers to “the conditions under which people are born, grow, work, live, and age, and the wider set of forces and systems shaping the conditions of daily life” (WHO, 2015).  The premise of the report is that more effective strategies will be developed to reduce health disparities and inequities and improve population health and health care if the education of all health professionals more systematically pays attention to the potential root causes of health. 

One of the report’s four central recommendations is a call for more “…research aimed at identifying and illustrating effective approaches for learning about the social determinants of health in and with communities while improving health outcomes…” (p. 76). Furthermore, the report identifies a gap in the number of individuals who understand the SDH and who can demonstrate how these impact individuals, populations, and communities. Given the historical focus on social factors and context in social work education, research and practice, this IOM report provides a unique opportunity for social work educators and researchers to contribute to addressing this knowledge gap, and provide leadership in doing so among other health professionals.

More specifically, this roundtable session will begin a dialogue about the ways by which social work researchers may partner with other health professions to address the aforementioned gap in knowledge about SDH and to design studies to test if increased knowledge leads to improved health and reduced inequities. One presenter will provide the context which led to the IOM’s call for the study and the second presenter will present detailed information about the report’s proposed theoretical model and framework. The framework emphasizes the need for substantial organizational and educational changes as well as re-imagining how academic researchers partner with communities.

Our goal is to stimulate conversation that will encourage innovative ideas for social work researchers to contribute to SDH knowledge development activities among allied health professions. In light of the conference theme, “Ensure Healthy Development for all Youth”, a salient focus of the roundtable will be within the context of the SDHs that impact youth development.