As healthcare technology advances, research indicates that an individual’s health is comprised of more than just his or her actions and genetics. Social determinants of health (including the economic, political, and environmental conditions in which people are born, age, live, and work), have a significant impact on an individual’s development and future health.2 Public health organizations and healthcare providers have been leveraging this concept to foster better health in communities, but there’s a key player in healthcare that needs to shift its focus: employers.
On average, full-time employees spend more than one-third of each day, five days a week, at their workplace.3 With employees spending a large amount of time in one location, leaving work out of considerations of population health “creates a blind spot” in looking at the full scope of social determinants of health.4 Many aspects of a career, including the social environment, income, prestige, and stress, all play a factor in one’s health.4