Determinants of Health

Health, illness, and healthcare experiences reflect their social context and determinants. These include the ability to access resources to support health (such as nutritious food, accessible transportation, safe housing, and quality education) as well as exposure to health-harms such as racism, harassment, labor and consumer exploitation, and environmental toxins.

MCL’s commitment to ethnographic and qualitative methods means social determinants are ubiquitous in our research. It is well-known that social position and identity shape access to care; MCL research helps unpack why this relationship is enduring and ubiquitous by examining the myriad social and cultural pathways that make it so. By identifying how social determinants “work,” MCL investigators seek to inform policy innovations and practice interventions that might be successful at mitigating their harms.

Current Projects

• EnROUTE: Evaluating the Role of Transportation on Hemodialysis Access and Health Disparities (Razon)
• Understanding how Structural Racism Influences Goal Concordance Around End-of-Life Care in Older Black Adults (Dzeng)