Supporting Communities to Address Social Determinants of Health

What to know

  • CDC's National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion is investing in programs and research to reduce chronic disease.
  • These programs focus on people who live and work in places that put them at higher risk of long-term health problems.
Diverse group of people putting their hands together in a circle.

Overview

Social determinants of health (SDOH) are the conditions in which we are born, grow, work, live, and age, and the wider set of forces and systems shaping the conditions of daily life.

SDOH have a profound impact on health. They influence the opportunities available to us to practice healthy behaviors, enhancing or limiting our ability to live healthy lives.

Differences in SDOH contribute to the stark and persistent chronic disease disparities among racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups. These factors systematically limit opportunities for members of some groups to be healthy.

Priorities

The National Center for Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP) aims to address the five SDOH that are strongly tied to chronic disease conditions and communities that are most affected.

Graphic of five overlapping circles representing the five social determinants of health: community-clinical linkages, built environment, social connectedness, tobacco-free policy, and food and nutrition security.
Graphic representing the five social determinants of health strongly tied to chronic disease.

Funding sources

NCCDPHP aims to address SDOH and reduce chronic diseases through the following funding programs.

Addressing Conditions to Improve Population Health Award:

State, local, territorial, and tribal jurisdictions are funded to implement policy, systems, and environmental change interventions that address social determinants of health (SDOH) in communities.

Closing the Gap with SDOH Accelerator Plans Award:

Policy, system, environmental, and programmatic changes can improve SDOH in communities with the poorest health outcomes through community health assessment and long-term planning. These awards aim to accelerate action in state, local, territorial, and tribal jurisdictions that lead to improved chronic disease outcomes among persons experiencing health disparities and inequities.