Bog #2: Social Determinants of Health

Social determinants of healths are the conditions, environments, and contexts in which a person exists that have a direct of indirect effect on a person's health. Essentially, these are all the components of our daily lives. Some examples are how old a person's home is, access to transportation, discrimination, education, income, insurance, etc. These determinants give a person an opportunity or hinder a person from receiving or maintaining a healthy state. Social determinants of health effect the nervous system in many ways, whether is be the factor directly causing a health issue (like in the case of Veronica from the TedTalk by Rishi Manchanda, who was having chronic allergies due to her living conditions) or indirectly causing that issue (such as being sick but not having access to transportation or insurance to go to a doctors visit). One well-researched example that relates greatly to this topic is the effect of discrimination leading to chronic stress and related health issues. Chronic stress disrupt's the body's homeostasis and allostatic load caused from emotional stresses such as the daily stresses that African Americans face from racism and discrimination can lead to coronary vascular disease, obesity, diabetes, depression, and more. Stress activates the body's sympathetic nervous system, and this continued activation of the flight or fight over years and years begins to effect the hormones released and will begin to wear on the body's organs. So, when people are told that African Americans are 4 to 5 times more likely to experience cardiovascular risk factors than other ethnic groups, this is not due to genetic factors but is related to the social determinants placing more stress on their lives. I believe that having the service and professional requirements that UTHSC MOT program gives us helps us to become more aware of some of these social determinants of health. Many of the service opportunities have allowed students to experience working with people from a wide array of backgrounds and many minorities and then share those experiences with the class so that they may learn as well. The professional requirements have pushed many students to become involved in COTAD where students can have open discussions and hear about the experiences many minorities face.