Washington, D.C., June 20, 2019—Today, the National Alliance to Impact the Social Determinants of Health (NASDOH) released a white paper entitled “Shared Principles for Measuring Social Determinants of Health Interventions.” This white paper outlines framing principles to guide social determinants of health (SDOH) measurement development that, if adopted, can help organizations and sectors work collaboratively to align around a shared measurement framework.
As efforts to assess and address the SDOH increase, there is a pressing need to develop ways to measure the impact of such efforts and to hold systems accountable for progress. Prospectively aligning measures of success for SDOH interventions will enable comparisons across demonstrations or programs, reduce the burden of data collection, and provide useful evidence to support a sustainable business model for addressing the SDOH.
In this white paper, NASDOH calls on those engaged in work to develop measurement frameworks, measures and targets, or data sources for these measures to work together. In support of this collaboration across efforts, NASDOH will work with other key stakeholders to:
- Rally the public and private sector to endorse these SDOH Measurement Principles as a framework for prospective collaborative action.
- Create a dynamic landscape map of ongoing efforts to develop measures related to SDOH.
- Drive the field to prospectively align around a shared framework for SDOH measurement and a core set of defined measures that encourage shared accountability across sectors.
- Shepherd the development of a publicly available set of core shared measures that would be curated by a neutral party.
Karen DeSalvo, co-convener of NASDOH, notes, “It has never been more important than now to understand the impact of addressing social determinants of health on individual and community health and well-being. Establishing a common measurement approach and working collaboratively across sectors is vital in this work.”
The white paper can be viewed here.
About NASDOH:
The Alliance brings together health care, public health and social services expertise, local community experience, community-convening competence, business and financial insight, technology innovation, data and analytics competencies, and policy and advocacy acumen to assess and address current regulatory frameworks, funding environments and opportunities, and practical challenges to implementing and sustaining social determinants of health efforts. We provide a bridge between sectoral efforts by engaging organizations across the national system of health and in particular, engaging the business sector to articulate the cross-sector value proposition for addressing the social determinants of health. For more information, visit nasdoh.org.