Addressing critical social determinants of health in the Memphis community | Opinion

Navigating health care today is about more than just medical care. As much as 80% of what influences a person’s health happens outside the doctor’s office.

Those factors, called the social determinants of health, are the conditions in the places where people live, learn and work that affect a range of health risks and outcomes. Put simply, people’s life circumstances — such as living in poverty, having access to healthy food or being able to afford stable housing — have a major impact on their health.

Tennessee has a number of community and environmental challenges that affect people’s health and quality of life. According to the United Health Foundation’s 2018 America’s Health Rankings report, our state ranks 40th in the nation for children in poverty, with more than 21% of children age 17 and under living in poverty. In addition, we are among the 10 worst-performing states for the prevalence of unhealthy behaviors like smoking and physical inactivity, as well as for access to certain health care providers, including dentists and mental health professionals.

In Memphis and Shelby County, some of those challenges are even more acute. The most recent County Health Rankings by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation ranked Shelby County 90th among Tennessee’s 95 counties when examining social and economic factors such as income, education, employment, community safety and social support services.

Thankfully, local health care, public policy and business leaders are gaining a better understanding as to the importance of addressing the social determinants of health, and are taking action to address these critical health factors.

At United Healthcare, we are collaborating with more than a half-dozen local nonprofits to tackle the social determinants of health through our Empowering Health initiative, which strives to make an impact on the health of communities by funding community-based organizations and programs so they can do more to improve the health and well-being of the uninsured and underserved in our communities.

Through this program, we announced this month more than $1 million in grants to seven community-based organizations serving Memphis and Shelby County. These organizations are Christ Community Health Services, Church Health, Metropolitan Inter-Faith Association, Mid-South Food Bank, Regional One Health, Shelby County Education Foundation, and YMCA of Memphis and the Mid-South.

With this support, we anticipate these organizations will reach more than 80,000 people by addressing multiple critical needs and services in the Memphis community, including dental care, increased access to fresh and healthy food, senior hunger and social isolation, and youth health, hygiene, education and physical activity.

Achieving access to better health in high-risk and high-need communities is a profound challenge that our society needs to address. United Healthcare is grateful for the opportunity to support the important efforts of these Memphis organizations to create an interconnected system of clinical and social services capable of producing better outcomes for local residents.

It’s our hope that, by working together with community-based organizations and raising awareness of the importance of the social determinants of health, we can make a difference in helping people in Memphis and across the country live healthier lives.

Steve Wilson is CEO of United Healthcare Tennessee. Keith Payet is CEO of United Healthcare Community Plan, Tennessee.