Addressing Social and Behavioral Determinants of Health

Social determinants of health (SDOHs), defined as the conditions in the environments in which people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age, are major drivers of diabetes-related morbidity, mortality, and differences in how care is received. Health behaviors such as care-seeking decisions, medication adherence, self-management, diet, and physical activity are also key factors that influence diabetes-related outcomes. In addition, these behavioral factors can be important mediators of the deleterious effects of SDOHs on diabetes-related outcomes, limiting the real-world impact of medical and public health advances in diabetes prevention and treatment and further contributing to disproportionate differences in population health. Despite growing recognition of the importance of socio-ecological, economic, and behavioral influences on the prevention and treatment of diabetes, much remains unknown about the most effective ways to address these influences to improve outcomes. Closing this gap in knowledge will require cross-disciplinary expertise in a broad range of social and behavioral determinants of health, experience with and access to strong cross-sector partnerships, and dissemination of novel research to key stakeholders who can implement, sustain, and disseminate findings.. The Addressing Social and Behavioral Determinants of Health Core seeks to catalyze state-of-the-art approaches to address socioecological, economic, and behavioral determinants of health in order to improve diabetes prevention, treatment, and outcomes. The Core will support Center investigators and trainees with measuring and intervening on social and behavioral determinants of health among various patient populations in a range of community and health care settings. This Core will have a particular focus on developing novel interventions that screen for and modify SDOHs, leverage insights from behavioral economics and other behavioral science frameworks, and support behavior change among various patient populations. This Core has four Specific Aims: Aim 1. Support state-of-the-art translational research to address socio-ecological, economic, and behavioral determinants of health in order to improve diabetes prevention, treatment, and outcomes. Aim 2. Integrate rigorous measurement of socio-ecological, economic, and behavioral determinants of health into translational diabetes research. Aim 3. Catalyze new collaborations to address socio-ecological, economic, and behavioral determinants of health in translational diabetes research. Aim 4. Develop early career investigators who will measure and target socio-ecological, economic, and behavioral determinants of health in translational diabetes research.