Chapter 9. Social determinants of health: from monitoring to multisectoral action
Overview
Although health inequalities can be driven by health system performance deficiencies, they are also impacted by broader conditions outside the medical and health sector that influence health outcomes. Social determinants of health (SDH) refer to the conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live, and age, and people’s access to power, money and resources (1). SDH encompass factors important for health in daily life such as income security and social protection, education, employment and job insecurity, good working conditions, food security, good-quality physical environment (including housing and basic amenities), early childhood development, social inclusion and nondiscrimination, security (the absence of violence), and access to affordable health services of good quality (1).
SDH have a powerful influence on health and are major drivers of health inequalities. SDH frameworks can help to distil evidence on the wide range of factors important for sustaining healthy living and working conditions and on the core causal mechanisms through which health inequalities emerge. Moreover, understanding how population groups variably experience SDH, and the mechanisms behind them, is an essential part of responses to improve health and reduce health inequity.
Interventions and policies addressing SDH, such as early education programmes and social protection, can have positive effects on health and the reduction of health inequalities. Due to the cross-cutting nature of SDH, taking action to address them is strengthened through collaborations across health and non-health sectors. Approaches such as Health in All Policies (HiAP) – “an approach to public policies across sectors that systematically takes into account the health implications of decisions, seeks synergies, and avoids harmful health impacts in order to improve population health and health equity” (2) – are crucial to embed SDH and health interests in policies across sectors.
As the area of SDH is vast and other guides exist describing the context for action and the monitoring of SDH for advancing health equity (3, 4), the objectives of this chapter are to recognize the importance of SDH in understanding and addressing health inequalities, to initiate discussion about actions on SDH, and to propose strategies for building and sustaining multisectoral partnerships. Following an overview of the political commitments to addressing SDH on the global health stage, this chapter discusses the application of inequality monitoring approaches to assess inequalities in SDH. It provides examples of how SDH data have been used to address health inequalities as part of multisectoral collaborations and an integrated HiAP approach. This chapter refers to a selection of resources for further exploration of these topics.
Political commitments
Over the past half-century, although many countries have witnessed remarkable health gains, unacceptable gaps still persist in health within and across countries. Decades of research show the powerful influence of SDH on population health and health inequities, as recorded in the final 2008 report of the WHO Commission on the Social Determinants of Health. This report called on WHO and all governments to lead global action on SDH in accordance with three overarching recommendations: improve daily living conditions; tackle the inequitable distribution of power, money and resources; and measure and understand the problem and assess the impact of action (5). The third of these recommendations set a global mandate for health monitoring in service of addressing health equity and the SDH by calling for a global health equity surveillance framework that included monitoring of health equity and social determinants (Box 9.1).
BOX 9.1. WHO Commission on the Social Determinants of Health recommendations regarding monitoring
The Commission recommended three specific actions on monitoring:
Ensure routine monitoring systems for health equity and social determinants are in place locally, nationally and internationally.
Invest in generating and sharing new evidence on how social determinants influence population health and health equity, and on the effectiveness of measures to reduce health inequities through action on social determinants.
Provide information about social determinants to policy actors, stakeholders and practitioners, and invest in raising public awareness (5).
Following this recognition of the importance of addressing SDH, intensified efforts were made to advance political will for multisectoral approaches and governance under the banner of HiAP and technical work on monitoring SDH. A number of high-level commitments to address SDH were made, including the 2010 Adelaide Statement on Health in All Policies (6) and the 2011 Rio Political Declaration on the Social Determinants of Health (7). The Declaration of Oslo on Social Determinants of Health put SDH on the agenda of the World Medical Association and its national representative groups (8). Over the period of 2013–2017, parallel efforts on HiAP led to WHO regional position statements (9), the new definition of HiAP and the Helsinki Statement on HiAP (2), and technical resources describing how to take action through a global training programme on HiAP (10).
Through the Rio Political Declaration, countries expressed a commitment to “achieve social and health equity through action on the social determinants of health and well-being by a comprehensive intersectoral approach”, including a pledge to establish and strengthen monitoring systems that provide disaggregated data for assessing health inequalities (7).
WHO Member States have reinvigorated the call for a unified political commitment to address SDH. In 2021, at the 74th WHO World Health Assembly, Member States requested WHO to develop an operational framework for the measurement and assessment of SDH and health inequities, how they are addressed from a cross-sectoral perspective, and their impact on health outcomes (11).
Partnerships: the role of multisectoral collaboration
Inequalities in health and SDH are complex challenges for governments. Deliberately addressing these inequalities requires coordinated action across sectors to ensure policies and institutions positively reinforce each other (13). Multisectoral action – a term used interchangeably with the concept of intersectoral action – is the involvement of several sectors in developing and implementing public policies intended to improve health, equity, well-being and other policy outcomes (13). Multisectoral actions require some form of collaboration across sectors such as agriculture, education, environment, health, social welfare, and trade and industry. Indeed, engagement with multisectoral committees or secretariats is integral to the advancement of multisectoral action Table 9.1. Such structures provide opportunities for SDH monitoring systems and data to be linked more strongly to actions.
TABLE 9.1. Multisectoral governance structures and mechanisms
Level of government | Cabinet committees and secretariats |
---|---|
Parliament | Parliamentary committees |
Public sector or civil service | Interdepartmental committees and units Mega-ministries and mergers Cross-sector working and technical groups |
Management of funding arrangements | Joint budgeting Delegated financing |
Engagement with nongovernmental entities | Communities and civil society Nongovernmental organizations Private sector |
Source: adapted from the WHO Health in All Policies: training manual (10).
Working across multiple sectors towards a shared interest, collaborative actions are imperative to help reduce health inequities and achieve health goals and targets. This may be orchestrated through comprehensive HiAP approaches, whereby health actors have a proactive role in engaging with non-health sectors to influence policies, while seeking co-benefits for other public policy goals such as social protection, to advance population health and health equity.
Health in All Policies approaches
The foundations of the HiAP approach date back to the 1978 Alma-Ata Declaration and the 1986 Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, although the approach was first articulated as a global-level strategy or approach for action on health determinants as part of the 2014 Helsinki Statement on Health in All Policies (2). HiAP approaches are defined by the following unique features: emphasis on formal governance structures and mechanisms poised to address emerging problems, even where information may be incomplete; explicit partnerships between health and other sectors; emphasis on co-benefits for health and development, and attention to conflicts of interest; investment in relationships of trust, with the expectation of a longer time horizon for impact; and focus on upstream social determinants that relate to inequities in power, money and resources (13).
HiAP approaches are relevant to the advancement of health equity when they adopt an equity focus, ensuring actions are oriented towards the reduction of inequalities alongside population-level improvements.
A new model of HiAP, which emphasizes the importance of collaboration (“seeking synergies”), is premised on four pillars:
Pillar 1: governance and accountability, establishing the mandate and legitimacy for HiAP actions and collaborative mechanisms for cross-government efforts.
Pillar 2: leadership at all levels, advocating for HiAP and other collaborative approaches, promoting a culture of collaboration and establishing a network of champions across sectors.
Pillar 3: ways of working and work methods, using a co-production or co-design approach and building relationships of trust.
Pillar 4: resources, financing and capabilities, ensuring adequate budgetary allocations, role clarity, and other capabilities necessary to address upstream determinants (13).
Box 9.6 demonstrates how these four pillars are evident in operations of the California HiAP Task Force in the United States of America, which convenes over 25 state government departments and agencies to advance health equity.
BOX 9.6. Applying the principles of Health in All Policies in California
The following demonstrate how the four pillars of the HiAP model are featured in the multisectoral and multistakeholder mechanisms and operations of the California HiAP Task Force of the California Strategic Growth Council (29):
Governance and accountability: the Task Force was established in 2010 through a Governor’s Executive Order (S-04-10), affirmed by the legislature in 2012, and subsequently affirmed through a budget act in 2019 that formally committed Government-funded staff positions for continued work. Funding requirements and public accountability mechanisms ensure priorities are driven by public input and ensure a whole-of-government approach, which is novel in the United States. Reporting through a cabinet-level council is critical for ensuring leadership support and public transparency.
Leadership at all levels: a blend of Government and nongovernment leadership has been critical for success. Within the Government, executive leaders lend political support to health and racial equity issues. Subject matter experts bring experience and solutions-oriented approaches as members of the Task Force. Outside the Government, advocacy groups, community members and nongovernmental organizations shape priorities, guide solutions, demand transparency and hold the Government accountable.
Ways of working and work methods: the Task Force is built on trust, collaboration, co-benefits and co-design. This has been particularly important due to the lack of legislated mandates for participating organizations and limited funding for this work. Every participating entity must benefit to remain involved. This way of working includes involvement of civil society. As the Task Force affirms its focus on racial equity, it is taking steps to further centre the voices of affected communities.
Resources, financing and capabilities: the facilitation staff of the HiAP Task Force come from three different organizations – the cabinet-level Strategic Growth Council, the non-profit-making Public Health Institute, and the California Department of Public Health. Each of these organizations has a different role in the partnership based on strengths and positionality. The Strategic Growth Council leverages the connection with the Governor’s Office for executive-level support. The Public Health Institute connects with outside advocate groups and community-based organizations for grassroots support. The Public Health Institute and the California Department of Public Health both bring public health expertise. The California Department of Public Health connects the Task Force with local health jurisdictions. Building the case for Government-funded HiAP positions has been essential for the staffing of this initiative and a key programmatic outcome of normalizing the concept of a whole-of-government approach to health and racial equity.
Whole-of-government and whole-of-society approaches are part of implementing HiAP (13). A whole-of-government approach describes collaborations across various ministries or agencies at the national, provincial or local levels (Pillar 2). Whole-of-society approaches cast this net broader, focusing on the inclusion of stakeholders from outside government. Such stakeholders may include academia and universities, communities, civil society, nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector (which includes a diverse range of economic or commercial enterprises that involve processes or products that may promote or harm health). Once established, such collaborations have the potential to complement and augment the impact and sustainability of siloed hierarchical approaches to promoting health, and indeed, to complement health-care systems.
There are promising examples of HiAP at local community levels (30). In comparison with national and subnational governments, authorities working within more decentralized contexts operate in closer proximity to the community and are therefore better positioned to engage with their needs and respond to challenges and opportunities. Box 9.7 lists further reading with more examples of case studies and research on HiAP.
BOX 9.7. Further reading on HiAP
Global status report on Health in All Policies. Adelaide: Government of South Australia and Global Network for Health in All Policies; 2019 (https://actionsdg.ctb.ku.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/HiAP-Global-Status-Report-final-single-pages.pdf, accessed 18 September 2024).
Health in All Policies: experiences from local health departments. Washington, DC: National Association of County and City Health Officials; 2017 (https://www.naccho.org/uploads/downloadable-resources/NACCHO-HiAP-Report_Experiences-from-Local-Health-Departments-Feb-2017.pdf, accessed 18 September 2024).
Scheele CE, Little I, Diderichsen F. Governing health equity in Scandinavian municipalities: the inter-sectorial challenge. Scand J Public Health. 2018;46(1):57–67. doi:10.1177/1403494816685538.
Monitoring inequalities in SDH is critical in both shaping and evaluating the impact of HiAP. Determining which sectors should be involved in such an initiative could be identified on the basis of analysis of the dimensions of inequality associated with health outcomes, and of the correlation and further in-depth analysis of the links between population health and SDH conditions. For example, health inequalities related to economic status are often identified, which may prompt engagement with economic institutions, structures and policies to align commercial interests in support of population-level well-being and social prosperity (31). Tracking SDH indicators related to economic conditions and policies for income security provides further understanding of the current situation. Assessment of trends in health inequality and trends in SDH over time can provide an indication of how inequalities may have changed alongside the rollout of HiAP initiatives.
References
1. Social determinants of health. Geneva: World Health Organization (https://www.who.int/health-topics/social-determinants-of-health, accessed 20 June 2024).
2. Health in All Policies: Helsinki statement – framework for country action. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2014 (https://iris.who.int/handle/10665/112636, accessed 4 September 2024).
3. Operational framework for monitoring social determinants of health equity. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2024 (https://iris.who.int/handle/10665/375732, accessed 23 September 2024).
4. Integrating the social determinants of health into health workforce education and training. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2023 (https://iris.who.int/handle/10665/373710, accessed 4 September 2024).
5. Commission on Social Determinants of Health. Closing the gap in a generation – health equity through action on the social determinants of health. Final report of the Commission on Social Determinants of Health. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2008 (https://iris.who.int/handle/10665/43943, accessed 4 September 2024).
6. Adelaide statement on Health in All Policies: moving towards a shared governance for health and well-being. Geneva: World Health Organization and Government of South Australia; 2010 (https://iris.who.int/handle/10665/44365, accessed 4 September 2024).
7. Rio Political Declaration on the Social Determinants of Health. Rio de Janeiro: World Health Organization; 2011 (https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/rio-political-declaration-on-social-determinants-of-health, accessed 8 July 2024).
8. WMA Declaration of Oslo on Social Determinants of Health. Moscow: World Medical Association; 2015 (https://www.wma.net/policies-post/wma-declaration-of-oslo-on-social-determinants-of-health/, accessed 4 September 2024).
9. Demonstrating a Health in All Policies analytic framework for learning from experiences: based on literature reviews from Africa, South-East Asia and the Western Pacific. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2013 (https://iris.who.int/handle/10665/104083, accessed 4 September 2024).
10. Health in All Policies: training manual. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2015 (https://iris.who.int/handle/10665/151788, accessed 4 September 2024).
11. WHA74.16. Social determinants of health. Geneva: World Health Assembly; 2021 (https://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/WHA74/A74_R16-en.pdf, accessed 4 September 2024).
12. World report on social determinants of health equity. Geneva: World Health Organization (https://www.who.int/initiatives/action-on-the-social-determinants-of-health-for-advancing-equity/world-report-on-social-determinants-of-health-equity, accessed 19 June 2024).
13. Working together for equity and healthier populations: sustainable multisectoral collaboration based on Health in All Policies approaches. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2023 (https://iris.who.int/handle/10665/372714, accessed 23 September 2024).
14. Tangcharoensathien V, Srisookwatana O, Pinprateep P, Posayanonda T, Patcharanarumol W. Multisectoral actions for health: challenges and opportunities in complex policy environments. Int J Health Policy Manag. 2017;6(7):359–363. doi:10.15171/ijhpm.2017.61.
15. Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research. Geneva: World Health Organization (https://ahpsr.who.int/, accessed 4 September 2024).
16. Jorgensen S, Siegel P. Social protection in an era of increasing uncertainty and disruption: social risk management 2.0. Washington, DC: World Bank; 2019 (https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/c07410c4-dafb-58ec-b68b-d010c9cbc769, accessed 4 September 2024).
17. USP2030. Geneva: International Labour Organization (https://usp2030.org/, accessed 4 September 2024).
18. Thematic brief: social protection. New York: United Nations Economist Network; 2021 (https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/2021/04/a-tb_on_social_protection.pdf, accessed 4 September 2024).
19. UN collaboration on social protection: reaching consensus on how to accelerate social protection systems-building. Geneva: International Labour Organization, Food and Agriculture Organization, and United Nations Children’s Fund; 2022 (https://www.ilo.org/publications/un-collaboration-social-protection-reaching-consensus-how-accelerate-social, accessed 4 September 2024).
20. Social protection system review: a toolkit. Paris: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development; 2018 (https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/development/social-protection-system-review_9789264310070-en, accessed 4 September 2024).
21. Global indicator framework for the Sustainable Development Goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. New York: United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs; 2023 (https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/indicators/indicators-list/, accessed 9 August 2024).
22. Draft fourteenth general programme of work, 2025–2028. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2024 (https://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/WHA77/A77_16-en.pdf, accessed 18 June 2024).
23. Donkin A, Goldblatt P, Allen J, Nathanson V, Marmot M. Global action on the social determinants of health. BMJ Glob Health. 2018;3(Suppl. 1):e000603. doi:10.1136/bmjgh-2017-000603.
24. Ministry of Health departments. Lusaka: Zambia Ministry of Health (https://www.moh.gov.zm/?page_id=1126, accessed 2 May 2024).
25. The Global Database on the Implementation of Food and Nutrition Action (GIFNA). Geneva: World Health Organization (https://gifna.who.int/countries/THA/policies, accessed 4 September 2024).
26. Action on social determinants of health equity: multicountry initiative. Geneva: World Health Organization (https://www.who.int/initiatives/action-on-the-social-determinants-of-health-for-advancing-equity/about, accessed 4 September 2024).
27. Solar O, Valentine N, Castedo A, Brandt GS, Sathyandran J, Ahmed Z, et al. Action on the social determinants for advancing health equity in the time of COVID-19: perspectives of actors engaged in a WHO Special Initiative. Int J Equity Health. 2023;21(3):193. doi:10.1186/s12939-022-01798-y.
28. Multicountry initiative: work in WHO regions. Geneva: World Health Organization (https://www.who.int/initiatives/action-on-the-social-determinants-of-health-for-advancing-equity/about/work-in-who-regions, accessed 23 September 2024).
29. Health in All Policies initiative. Sacramento, CA: California Strategic Growth Council (https://sgc.ca.gov/initiatives/healthandequity/hiap/, accessed 4 September 2024).
30. Williams C, Valentine N. Health in All Policies at the local level: what facilitates success? Comment on “A realist explanatory case study investigating how common goals, leadership, and committed staff facilitate Health in All Policies implementation in the municipality of Kuopio, Finland”. Int J Health Policy Manag. 2023;12:7975. doi:10.34172/ijhpm.2023.7975.
31. Occhipinti JA, Skinner A, Doraiswamy PM, Saxena S, Eyre HA, Hynes W, et al. The influence of economic policies on social environments and mental health. Bull World Health Organ. 2024;102:323–329. doi:10.2471/BLT.23.290286.