The Social Determinants of Health: Time to Re-Think?
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Director of Knowledge Exchange and Research Impact, Usher Institute, University of Edinburgh, Room 1-308, Doorway #1, Teviot Hall, Teviot Place, Edinburgh EH8 9AG, UK
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ISPM, University of Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
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Department of Economics, University Ca’ Foscari Venice, 30121 Venice, Italy
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Director, Institute for Global Development, University of New South Wales, John Goodsell Building, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
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Executive Associate Dean, Faculty of Medicine, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
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Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(16), 5856; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17165856
Received: 16 July 2020
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Revised: 7 August 2020
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Accepted: 10 August 2020
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Published: 12 August 2020
(This article belongs to the Collection Health Behaviors, Risk Factors, NCDs and Health Promotion)
Twelve years have now passed since the influential WHO Report on the Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) in 2008. A group of senior international public health scholars and decision-makers met in Italy in mid-2019 to review the legacy of the SDoH conceptual framework and its adequacy for the many challenges facing our field as we enter the 2020s. Four major categories of challenges were identified: emerging “exogenous” challenges to global health equity, challenges related to weak policy and practice implementation, more fundamental challenges related to SDoH theory and research, and broader issues around modern research in general. Each of these categories is discussed, and potential solutions offered. We conclude that although the SDoH framework is still a worthy core platform for public health research, policy, and practice, the time is ripe for significant evolution.
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MDPI and ACS Style
Frank, J.; Abel, T.; Campostrini, S.; Cook, S.; Lin, V.K.; McQueen, D.V. The Social Determinants of Health: Time to Re-Think? Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17, 5856. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17165856
AMA Style
Frank J, Abel T, Campostrini S, Cook S, Lin VK, McQueen DV. The Social Determinants of Health: Time to Re-Think? International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2020; 17(16):5856. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17165856
Chicago/Turabian StyleFrank, John, Thomas Abel, Stefano Campostrini, Sarah Cook, Vivian K. Lin, and David V. McQueen. 2020. "The Social Determinants of Health: Time to Re-Think?" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 17, no. 16: 5856. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17165856
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