About Community Care
Conditions in the places where people live, learn, work, and play significantly affect their health risks and outcomes. Hospitals recognize and work hard to address these “social determinants of health,” such as housing instability, access to healthy foods and community violence. The community care programs offered by hospitals and their partners aim to reduce disparities in care delivery and health outcomes. However, they may only scratch the surface of deeper social factors affecting individual health outcomes. More focused state and federal policies are needed to make progress in addressing health care risks before they become critical needs.