Social Determinants of Health (United States Department of Health)

Social determinants of health (SDOH) are the conditions in the environments where people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age that affect a wide range of health, functioning, and quality-of-life outcomes and risks. SDOH can be grouped into 5 domains:

• Economic Stability. Help people earn steady incomes that allow them to meet their health needs
• Education Access & Quality. Increase educational opportunities and help children and adolescents do well in school.
• Health Care Access & Quality. Increase access to comprehensive, high-quality health care services.
• Neighborhood and Built Environment. Create neighborhoods and environments that promote health and safety.
• Social and Community Context. Increase social and community support.

Social Determinants of Health (World Health Organization)

Non-medical factors that influence health outcomes. They are the conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live, and age, and the wider set of forces and systems shaping the conditions of daily life. These forces and systems include economic policies and systems, development agendas, social norms, social policies and political systems.

The following list provides examples of the social determinants of health, which can influence health equity in positive and negative ways:

• Income and social protection
• Education
• Unemployment and job insecurity
• Working life conditions
• Food insecurity
• Housing, basic amenities, and the environment
• Early childhood development
• Social inclusion and non-discrimination
• Structural conflict
• Access to affordable health services of decent quality

What are secondary resources?

Secondary resources in the social sciences are information sources that provide an in-depth discussion of research on a topic or an overview of it. These resources are very useful for seeing the bigger picture as well as identifying important research that has been conducted in that subject domain. In sum, use secondary sources to:

• Provide a general background in your topic
• Help identify important authors
• Lead to significant works

What are handbooks?

Often times a particular topic gains ongoing scholarly interest that attracts the interest of a publisher or research organization. Authors who are known in the particular field of study are often asked to contribute chapters or to provide editorial oversight for these types of publications. Handbooks can provide a useful overview of the topic and help you identify some of the "movers and shakers" in that particular area of research.

How do you evaluate encyclopedias and handbooks?

The University Libraries provide access to many specialized encyclopedias in a variety of fields of study. However, you should also be prepared to evaluate each for its scholarly value. Below are some suggestions of what to look for:

• Who is the publisher?  
  • Typically those published by university presses are considered scholarly (e.g. Oxford, Cambridge, etc...)
  • These commercial publishers typically publish academic content: Blackwell, De Gruyter, Elsevier, Gale, Macmillan, Peter Lang, Routledge, Sage, Springer Publishers, Thomson Reuters
• Who are the editors of the encyclopedia?  
  • Usually found on the front cover.  
  • What are their credentials?
• Who are the authors?