Social determinants of health are the conditions in the environments in which 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. By some estimates, 60% of premature deaths were rooted in modifiable behavioral patterns, environmental exposure, and social circumstances that are part of these social determinants of health.
Public Health 3.0 in Action
Public Health 3.0 is a major upgrade in public health practice to emphasize cross-sectoral environmental, policy, and systems-level actions that directly affect the social determinants of health and advance health equity. This blog provides updates from the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health on Public Health 3.0 and stories from the field that showcase Public Health 3.0 in Action.
Public health stakeholders from the federal to the local level are looking for ways to combat the opioid crisis. Two available resources are the Public Health 3.0 (PH3.0) framework and the ongoing work of the National Partnership for Action to End Health Disparities (NPA), an initiative of the Office of Minority Health within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Taken together, these resources offer a solution that is as unique as the crisis itself.
The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services’ (HHS) mission is to enhance and protect the health and well-being of all Americans. As Acting Assistant Secretary for Health at HHS, I have made it my personal goal to confront two of the largest, most intractable challenges to health and well-being in the United States: poor nutrition and physical inactivity.
In 2012, the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) began a partnership with the City of Philadelphia to create a unique space to serve South Philadelphia residents that innovatively combined health care, literacy, and recreation. In May 2016, the doors to the state-of-the-art, 96,000-square-foot South Philadelphia Community Health and Literacy Center opened, granting local residences access to an advanced medical clinic, outdoor playground, and fully stocked library with a wealth of information and services.