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Community Conditions That Influence Health

Community conditions and a family’s everyday needs — like safe housing, healthy food, good education, and stable income — work together to strongly influence the health of children and their families.

Broad, community-level factors affect people’s health. calls these factors social drivers of health. They describe them as “the conditions in the environments where people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age that affect a wide range of health, functioning, and quality-of-life outcomes and risks.” Examples include having supportive neighbors, public transportation, clean air and water, or safe places to work and play.

Individual Conditions That Influence Health

Individual-level factors also affect someone’s ability to maintain good health and their need for healthcare. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services calls these conditions . These include supports like health insurance coverage, child care access, job training programs, affordable utilities, mental health support, digital access and social connection. These supports can help individuals stay healthier and reduce their need for medical care.

Why These Factors Matter for Children’s Health

Many factors outside the doctor’s office affect a child’s health and well-being. According to the American Community Survey, nearly 1 in 10 people in the United States , many from . In addition, as many as 43% of working-age adults were underinsured in 2022, meaning their benefits didn’t cover their families’ medical costs.

 Without that coverage, children are less likely to go to primary care appointments, receive dental care, or get the medications they need.

Learning From Families’ Experiences

At �þþþþþþþ�Ʒ Children’s, we are focused on creating the healthiest generations of children. This means eliminating gaps in care and access to improve health outcomes and the overall health of our entire patient population.

These gaps may result from age, race, ethnicity, gender, or location and create significant and unjust differences in access to care or a child’s health outcomes. This is a critical component in �þþþþþþþ�Ʒ’ ongoing quest for progress and reform toward our goal to help children everywhere grow into healthy adults.

Understanding What Affects Children and Families Helps Us Shape Care

When we understand the conditions that families face, we can do more to support children’s health.

Here’s how �þþþþþþþ�Ʒ is working with partners to create health, not just treat illness:

• Advocating for federal and state policies that support children’s health
• Using tools to identify and address unmet health-related needs among families
• Supporting trauma-informed care and efforts to prevent adverse childhood experiences
• Collaborating with communities across the country to improve health and well-being for all
• Connecting families with local resources
• Promoting partnerships between health systems and community-based organizations to prevent child illness, improve health, and lower healthcare costs