How Covid 19 increased the focus on SDOH

In the fight against one evil, we discovered another evil that has been persistent in our society. The Covid 19 exposed how social factors are the deciding factor in how prone a community or a person is to health outcomes and raised questions about the social inequities that persist in our society.

With various telemedicine devices, health care providers are now more focused on patients’ SDOH data.

Social Determinants of health has been talking about these inequities even before the covid pandemic was a thing. Social determinants of health consider these inequities the deciding factor in health outcomes.

According to several reports by various social organisations, including the WHO, the focus on SDOH has been emphasised time and again. But, sadly, pre-covid, social determinants of health were just a matter of debate and were hardly given any seriousness.

How covid death rate depends on SDOH factors

A deep analysis on covid victims and deaths concluded that social factors such as economic determinants, environmental determinants and other social gradients played a major role. 

In a case study done on covid patients and their SDOH factors, it was observed that a person’s social factors, including age and race, played a significant role in Covid death rates. 

The case study also reported that people who travelled via public transportations are at a greater risk of dying from the virus than those who telecommute. 

Low health literacy causes difficulty in  understanding the healthcare system and following the prescriptions and precautions.

People with one or more pre-existing chronic illnesses such as asthma, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases are at a greater risk of contracting severe illnesses from covid. 

It’s worth noting that people without health insurance are the major victims of chronic illnesses. 

These studies provide proof of the impact of SDOH on health outcomes.

Increased focus on SDOH during the pandemic

The link between Covid 19 and SDOH factors forced the health care system to include SDOH factors inpatient treatment. 

A patient’s social data is now as important as health data to provide better and improved care. 

Great focus is being given to addressing social inequities that lead to health inequities and thus help tackle these inequities. 

To address SDOH and its very obvious impact on health results, our Healthcare Delivery platform has built various social determinants of health screening tools such as Patient Engagement platform, the Remote Patient Monitoring platform. 

These tools help address a patient’s health in medical terms and take a deep dive into a patient’s social factors.