Join the Conversation: Social Determinants of Health

On Thursday, April 27, the Oregon Health Forum will host a panel discussion, “The Impact of Social Determinants on Health Outcomes,” in Portland. Curandi is a sponsor of the event, and I’m excited to see this important topic gaining attention here in Oregon and around the country.

Widening recognition that social determinants of health (SDOH) impact health outcomes is an encouraging first step toward changing the way we practice medicine for the better, for two reasons. First, an SDOH-focused outlook redirects healthcare’s attention to the individual, where it should be, forcing us to see every patient as unique and complex. As the panelists at the upcoming forum will discuss, when we look at how factors such as adverse childhood events, education, and socioeconomic status, affect each patient differently. We begin to recognize that our responses to their needs must also be unique and complex. 

Second, once we shift our focus to embrace individualized care as the shared goal of medicine, the door opens for the creation of multidisciplinary, agile networks that organically respond to the needs of the individual – and for the replacement of our current system, which ineffectively dispenses prescriptive fixes to non-existent “populations.”

Empowering such self-organized networks to innovatively address SDOH is Curandi’s goal. To illustrate, in the next few weeks we’ll be sharing our experience with the Fostering Hope Initiative, a local project making significant improvements in community health through just such a network.

In the meantime, I hope you will join me at the Oregon Health Forum’s upcoming breakfast to hear how other healthcare professionals are focusing on SDOH as an integral part of effective care. For more information and to register online, visit the OHF event page.

The Impact of Social Determinants on Health Outcomes

Event Details:

7:00am Buffet Breakfast

7:30am – 9:00am Interactive panel discussion and audience questions

Location:

Multnomah Athletic Club (1849 SW Salmon St, Portland, OR 97205)

Parking is free at Multnomah Athletic Club