Social Determinants of Health
Social determinants of health (SDoH) can be describing as any and all factors in a person's life that have influence over their health. These determinants includes living conditions, education level, social support, and socioeconomic status just to name a few. Any one of these factors ultimately can wreak havoc on our nervous systems. These factors can lead to chronic stress. Excessive amounts of chronic stress leads to higher and prolonged released of cortisol. The stress hormone. Chronic stress like this causes a reduction in size and number of connections in the hippocampus and an enlarged amygdala. Our Prefrontal Cortex is used less during times of high stress and its functions can be impaired drastically.
Social determinants of health also provide or do not provide people access to transportation, health care, and healthy life habits. For example, education on proper diet and exercise aren't always accessible for people with lower incomes. This leads to buying cheaper, quicker, most of the time unhealthy food options. No access to free parks or gyms also leads to a person having more of a sedentary lifestyle. This can ultimately lead to diseases like heart disease, diabetes, and obesity.
Jobs can cause lots of health disparities on clients as well. Stressful jobs or jobs that have long hours can lead to depression, chronic pain, hypertension, and other issues. Working jobs with no or little benefits can put a strain on a family especially if an injury or illness occurs. These people are not allowed necessary healthcare or medication access because they can't afford it.
UTHSC OT program specifically does a great job with their program's requirements for service hours. The program requires 75 hours of community service upon graduation. These hours expose us people with different circumstances and lifestyles. Some of our service hours include advocacy to lower income areas or even to high schools that may not know what OT is or what OT can bring to the table for them as a future career. I have already seen the benefits of these service hours and stepping outside of my comfort zone. They have also taught me respect and time management. We at UT pride ourselves in being servant leaders, and I think the faculty, staff, and upper classmen do a great job being advocates and paving the way for us all to follow. These hours will ultimately help me as a future practitioner to be kind and always keep an open mind and a gentle heart.
Social determinants of health also provide or do not provide people access to transportation, health care, and healthy life habits. For example, education on proper diet and exercise aren't always accessible for people with lower incomes. This leads to buying cheaper, quicker, most of the time unhealthy food options. No access to free parks or gyms also leads to a person having more of a sedentary lifestyle. This can ultimately lead to diseases like heart disease, diabetes, and obesity.
Jobs can cause lots of health disparities on clients as well. Stressful jobs or jobs that have long hours can lead to depression, chronic pain, hypertension, and other issues. Working jobs with no or little benefits can put a strain on a family especially if an injury or illness occurs. These people are not allowed necessary healthcare or medication access because they can't afford it.
UTHSC OT program specifically does a great job with their program's requirements for service hours. The program requires 75 hours of community service upon graduation. These hours expose us people with different circumstances and lifestyles. Some of our service hours include advocacy to lower income areas or even to high schools that may not know what OT is or what OT can bring to the table for them as a future career. I have already seen the benefits of these service hours and stepping outside of my comfort zone. They have also taught me respect and time management. We at UT pride ourselves in being servant leaders, and I think the faculty, staff, and upper classmen do a great job being advocates and paving the way for us all to follow. These hours will ultimately help me as a future practitioner to be kind and always keep an open mind and a gentle heart.
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