Publications

Social determinants of health are the circumstances in which people are born, grow up, live, work, and age. This also includes the systems in place to offer health care and services to a community. Find in-depth reports and articles about this and related topics, including health equity, programs, and policies.

Reports

• Community Guide: Promoting Health Equity Through Education Programs and Policies
• U.S. Health in International Health Perspective: Shorter Lives, Poorer Health, National Research Council and Institute of Medicine (2013).
• 2011 National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention Health Equity Symposium: Identifying Root Causes of Health Inequities: Using Data to Monitor and Improve Health Report
• Social Determinants of Health Meeting Report
  December 9–10, 2008, CDC convened an external consultation on Addressing Social Determinants of Health: Accelerating the Prevention and Control of HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB, in Atlanta, Georgia to identify key short- and long-term priorities for addressing social determinants of HIV/AIDS, viral hepatitis, STDs, and TB.
  • External Consultation Meeting Report — Addressing Social Determinants of Health: Accelerating the Prevention and Control of HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB
  • Social Determinants Dear Colleague Letter, 01/05/09
  • Social Determinants One-Year Follow-up, 04/10/10
• WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health
  • Report: Closing the Health Equity Gap – Policy Options and Opportunities for Action
  • Report: Closing the Gap in a Generation — Health Equity Through Action on the Social Determinants of Health
  • The Commission – what, why and how?
  • Closing the gap in a generation – how?
  • Key concepts
• For the Public’s Health: The Role of Measurement in Action and Accountability, Institute of Medicine (2010)
• Promoting Health Equity: A Resource to Help Communities Address Social Determinants of Health, CDC (2008)
• Tackling Health Inequalities: A Programme for Action, UK Department of Health (2007)
• Social Determinants Themes, World Health Organization (2008)
• The Economic Costs of Poverty: Subsequent Effects of Children Growing Up Poor, Center for American Progress (2007)

Recent Articles

• Gant, Z., Gant, L., Song, R., Willis, L., and Johnson, AS. A Census Tract–Level Examination of Social Determinants of Health among Black/African American Men with Diagnosed HIV Infection, 2005–2009—17 US Areas. PLoS ONE 9(9): e107701 (2014).
• Strategies for Reducing Health Disparities — Selected CDC-Sponsored Interventions, United States, 2014, MMWR Supplement (2014)
• CDC Health Disparities and Inequalities Report — United States, 2013, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (2013)
• Hanna, David B., Selik, Richard M., Tang, Tian and Gange, Stephen J. Disparities among US states in HIV-related mortality in persons with HIV infection, 2001–2007. AIDS 26(1):95-103 (2012).
• Bethany, G Everett. Sexual Orientation Disparities in Sexually Transmitted Infections: Examining the Intersection Between Sexual Identity and Sexual Behavior. Arch Sex Behav (2012).
• Sharpe TT, Voûte C, Rose MA, Cleveland J, Dean HD, Fenton K. (2012) Social determinants of HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases among black women: implications for health equity. J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2012 Mar;21(3):249-54. Epub 2011 Dec 23.
• APHA Journal Supplement: special issue on Racial/Ethnic Discrimination and Health.
• Public Health Reports August/September 2011 supplement (Volume 126, supplement 3) focuses on data systems and their use in addressing social determinants of health.
  • Guest Editorial: Use of Data Systems to Address Social Determinants of Health: A Need to Do More, Kathleen McDavid Harrison, PhD, MPH and Hazel D. Dean, ScD, MPH
  • The Ultimate Measures of Health, Howard K. Koh, MD, MPH
  • Collection of Social Determinant of Health Measures in U.S. National Surveillance Systems for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STDs, and TB, Victoria M. Beltran, MPH, CHES, Kathleen McDavid Harrison, PhD, MPH, H. Irene Hall, PhD and Hazel D. Dean, ScD, MPH
  • Identifying the Impact of Social Determinants of Health on Disease Rates Using Correlation Analysis of Area-Based Summary Information, Ruiguang Song, H. Irene Hall, Kathleen McDavid Harrison, Tanya Telfair Sharpe, Lillian S. Lin and Hazel D. Dean, ScD, MPH
• Public Health Reports July/August 2010 supplement (Volume 125, supplement 4) focuses on Social Determinants of Health in the Prevention and Control of HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, Sexually Transmitted Infections and Tuberculosis.
  • Guest Editorial: Addressing Social Determinants of Health in the Prevention and Control of HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STIs, and TB, Kevin A. Fenton and Hazel D. Dean.
  • Include a Social Determinants of Health Approach to Reduce Health Inequities, David S. Satcher.
  • Social Determinants of Health and Health-Care Solutions, William H. Foege.
• Surveillance of Health Status in Minority Communities — Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health Across the U.S. (REACH U.S.) Risk Factor Survey, United States, 2009, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (2011).
• CDC Health Disparities and Inequalities Report, United States, 2011, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (2011).
• The Journal of Equity in Health, The Journal of Equity in Health (2009).
• Ackerson, L.K. & Viswanath, K. (2009) Communication Inequalities, Social Determinants, and Intermittent Smoking in the 2003 Health Information National Trends Survey.Preventing Chronic Disease: Public Health Research, Practice, and Policy; 6(2).

Background Reading

• Banks, J. & Marmot M. (2006) Oldfield Z, Smith JP. Disease and Disadvantage in the United States and in England. JAMA. 295(17): 2037-2045.
• Evans, R., Barer, M. & Marmor ,T. (1994) Why are some People Healthy and Others Not? The Determinants of Health of Populations. New York: Aldine de Gruyter.
• EuroHealthNet. (2009) Capacity Building & Awareness Raising Actions [1.4 MB].
• Institute of Medicine. (2006) Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Healthcare. Washington, D. C.: The National Academy Press.
• Jones, CP. (2000) Levels of Racism: A Theoretic Framework and a Gardener’s Tale. Am J Public Health. 90(8):1212-1215.
• Marmot, M. (2005) Social Determinants of Health Inequalities. The Lancet; 365: 1099-1104.
• Marmot, M. & Wilkinson, R. (eds). (1999) Social Determinants of Health. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Raphael, D. (2004) Introduction. In D Raphael (Ed.), Social Determinants of Health: Canadian Perspectives. Toronto: Canadian Scholar’s Press.
• Wilcox, L. (2007) (ed.) Preventing Chronic Disease: Public Health Research, Practice, and Policy, 4(4).

To request additional publications be added to this page, e-mail us at OHEinquires@cdc.gov.