Social determinant interventions are strategies employed by healthcare professionals to address the social and environmental factors that impact patient health. These factors can include issues like poverty, access to healthcare, education, and housing stability. Addressing these social determinants is essential for creating a holistic approach to healthcare, as they can often have a greater impact on health than medical treatments only (Alcaraz et al., 2020). Patients’ ethnicity, income levels, and zip code are some of the factors to be considered by nurses when launching social determinant intervention strategies. Nurses’ roles of interacting with patients directly enable them to innovate better ways of ensuring quality health care services
There are numerous factors nurses should consider in launching social determinant intervention strategies, including the patient’s zip code, income level, and ethnicity. Ultimately, it is important for nurses to design their interventions to meet the specific needs of their patients. By taking into account all of the relevant factors, they can aid in ensuring that their patients receive the best possible care. Patients’ zip codes and income levels are significant aspects that nurses should value when initiating social determinant intervention strategies for a number of reasons (Scarneo-Miller et al., 2020). Firstly, patients’ zip codes can be indicative of patients’ exposure to potential health risks. For example, patients in areas with a high density of industrial pollution may be at increased risk for respiratory problems. Additionally, socio-economic status is a well-established determinant of health for patients (Visekruna et al., 2017). Patients from lower income brackets are more likely to experience poor health outcomes due to a variety of factors, such as less access to healthcare, poor nutrition, and greater exposure to stressors. Given the importance of these social determinants of health, nurses must consider them when developing intervention strategies.
On the other hand, nurses should consider a patient’s ethnicity concerning social determinant intervention strategies launching because of the unique cultural values and beliefs that can affect patients’ health outcomes. For example, some cultures may place a high value on extended family support networks, which can provide emotional and practical support to patients during times of illness (Strandås et al., 2019). Conversely, other cultures may place more importance on personal autonomy and privacy, which could lead to patients feeling uncomfortable discussing sensitive health information with nurses or healthcare providers. Understanding a patient’s culture can assist nurses in designing more effective interventions that consider the patient’s unique needs and preferences.
One way nurses can become innovators and impact health policy discussions is by developing and implementing solutions to identified problems. For example, a nurse might develop a project that improves medication adherence among patients or increases cancer screenings in a population (Stotts et al., 2019). Nurses are often in the best position to generate creative solutions to problems in the healthcare system because they have firsthand experience caring for patients. In addition to developing and implementing solutions, nurses can also play an important role in informing policymakers about the realities of healthcare. Nurses are on the front lines of patient care and understand the needs of patients and caregivers better than other health professionals (Uhlig et al., 2018). By communicating this information to policymakers, nurses can help ensure that evidence-based policies are developed and implemented.
In conclusion, nurses are on the frontline of patient care and are in a unique position to identify social determinants of health that may be impacting their patients’ health. By considering a patient’s zip code, nurses can better comprehend their income level and ethnicity and launch social determinant intervention strategies that can help improve their patient’s health outcomes. The nurse’s role as an innovator is to provide evidence-based solutions to improve patient care and health outcomes. Nurses can impact the health policy discussion by providing their expert clinical knowledge and insights on how best to resolve healthcare challenges.
References
Alcaraz, K. I., Wiedt, T. L., Daniels, E. C., Yabroff, K. R., Guerra, C. E., & Wender, R. C. (2020). Understanding and addressing social determinants to advance cancer health equity in the United States: A blueprint for practice, research, and policy. CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, 70(1), 31-46. Web.
Scarneo-Miller, S. E., DiStefano, L. J., Singe, S. M., Register-Mihalik, J. K., Stearns, R. L., & Casa, D. J. (2020). Emergency action plans in secondary schools: Barriers, facilitators, and social determinants affecting implementation. Journal of Athletic Training, 55(1), 80-87. Web.
Stotts, M. J., Grischkan, J. A., & Khungar, V. (2019). Improving cirrhosis care: The potential for telemedicine and mobile health technologies. World Journal of Gastroenterology, 25(29), 3849. Web.
Strandas, M., Wackerhausen, S., & Bondas, T. (2019). The nurse–patient relationship in the new public management era, in public home care: A focused ethnography. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 75(2), 400-411. Web.
Uhlig, P. N., Doll, J., Brandon, K., Goodman, C., Medado-Ramirez, J., Barnes, M. A., Dolansky, M. A., Ratcliffe, T. A., Kornsawad, K., Raboin, W. E., Hitzeman, M., Brown, J., & Hall, L. (2018). Interprofessional practice and education in clinical learning environments: Frontlines perspective. Academic Medicine: Journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges, 93(10), 1441–1444. Web.
Visekruna, S., Hall, L. M., Parry, M., & Spalding, K. (2017). Intersecting health policy and the social determinants of health in pediatric type 1 diabetes management and care. Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 37, 62-69. Web.