Healthcare Access for All

Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) are like the unsung heroes of our well-being, painting a picture of how non-medical factors such as where we live, how much we earn, and what we eat can shape our health outcomes. Unfortunately, our healthcare system often resembles a game of musical chairs, where not everyone gets a seat at the table of good health.

We will all experience health problems during our lives. Often, health problems are short-lived and have a single cause. Chronic diseases, on the other hand, are illnesses that can last for a long time and be complicated; they usually have more than one cause. Genetics, environment, and lifestyle choices can all play a role in chronic disease. Some common chronic diseases are diabetes, heart disease, and lung conditions like chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD).

On the surface, it can appear as if chronic diseases develop because of poor personal choices. If someone has heart disease, for example, we could say it’s their fault for not eating healthy food and getting enough exercise. The truth, however, is more nuanced. There are outside elements that make it harder or easier to make healthy decisions. Some of these factors are called Social Determinants of Health (SDOH).

SDOH’s are non-medical factors that affect health, such as location, income, and access to healthy food. SDOH’s can make it easier or harder for people to get the resources they need to be healthy. Health equity is when everyone has access to these resources when they need them, and health inequity occurs when they do not. Unfortunately, health equity is not the status quo in our current system. As a result, some Americans have fewer opportunities to make healthy choices than others. It doesn’t matter if you want to eat healthy food if you can’t pay for it. It doesn’t matter if you need to see a doctor when you can’t afford medical bills. Because of health inequities, some people are more likely to develop chronic diseases than others.

Just having a chronic disease can make it harder to access health resources. If someone has a chronic illness that reduces their mobility, then they may struggle to find a good job. This could make it challenging to get quality health insurance. As a result, they may pay more out-of-pocket for healthcare. Due to that cost, they might decide not to go to the doctor when they need to, leading to poorer health. On the other hand, the choice to seek healthcare could mean sacrificing the ability to afford healthy food, which could also make their health worse. For someone in this situation, every option comes with a significant sacrifice.

That simple example shows how health inequity traps people into cycles of poor health. If you lack resources, then you are more likely to get sick. Once you are sick, paying for treatment takes away more of your resources, making you more likely to stay sick or get sicker. To put it bluntly: In our system, being poor can make you sick and being sick can keep you poor. To break this cycle, we must alter our healthcare system so that access to healthcare, healthy food, and other health resources is not tied to socioeconomic status. Everyone deserves access to health resources when they need them instead of when they can afford them, and now more than ever, we should be striving to improve our system to protect our most vulnerable community members.

Written by members of the Rutland Community Collaborative, a network of clinical and non-clinical staff from healthcare and public service organizations who are committed to improving the overall health of the Rutland community through appropriate utilization and access of healthcare services.