Social determinants: Strategies for public health nurses to strengthen local efforts to improve health

Background and Issues: Nursing models that focus on the whole person; physical, social, and cultural environments; and the full continuum of health and illness are highly consistent with social determinants of health models. The increasing focus on social determinants of health through avenues such as the County Health Rankings provides an excellent opportunity for nurses to lead efforts to advance the health of their communities. Description: The County Health Rankings provides communities with an annual check-up of their health by providing comparative data on the many factors that influence health – ranging from individual health behaviors, education and jobs, to quality of health care, to the environment. County Health Roadmaps provides tools and resources to support people who want to take action to make communities healthier places to live, learn, work and play. This session will describe these tools and resources within the context of the principles of collective action. Examples of communities where significant progress has been made to improve health will be shared. Lessons Learned: Local health improvement efforts are often spearheaded by collaborative groups of leaders from multiple sectors; however, nurses are often missing from these efforts. In today's environment, there are many opportunities for nurses, and especially public health nurses, to provide significant leadership to community health improvement efforts. Recommendations: As advocates for vulnerable populations and community systems approaches, public health nurses have a golden opportunity to lead multi-sector community health improvement efforts. This session will provide tangible guidance and resources to strengthen these efforts.