Social Determinants of Health

The concept of social determinants of health originated nearly 200 years ago, when philosopher and businessman Friedrich Engels identified living, working, and environmental conditions as primary causes of morbidity (illness or lack of health caused by disease, disability, or injury) and mortality among the working class in Victorian-era England.

Today, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines social determinants of health as “the nonmedical factors that influence health outcomes. They are the conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live, worship, and age. These conditions include a wide set of forces and systems that shape daily life such as economic policies and systems, development agendas, social norms, social policies, and political systems.”