While nearly half of Americans said they are unaware of the concept of social determinants of health, once informed, nearly 60 percent said their communities are facing issues tied to them, according to a study from Anthem.
Anthem's Driving Our Health 2021 study surveyed 5,000 adults across the country to see how Americans think about health.
Here are seven key takeaways from the study:
1. Hispanic and Latino (69 percent), Asian (68 percent) and Black (68 percent) Americans reported that struggles with social determinants of health — including access to healthy food, transportation and more — led to health issues in their communities.Fifty-eight percent of white respondents reported social determinant-related health issues in their communities.
2. Food was a prominent social determinant of health, with half of respondents saying access to healthy, affordable food was limited. A third of respondents altered eating habits because of finances.
3. Respondents mostly said providers (91 percent) should lead the charge in addressing social determinants of health, followed by local government (89 percent), private citizens (87 percent), employers (85 percent) and payers (84 percent).
4. Despite 95 percent of adults saying mental health is important to whole-person well-being, only 17 percent saw a mental health professional monthly.
5. Sixty-two percent of respondents reported seeing a doctor for a check up annually.
6. The report pointed to responses that demonstrated a disconnect between public health and public perceptions of health. Despite 85 percent of respondents saying they followed a healthy diet and 77 percent believing they are physically fit, the CDC reports 37 percent of Americans are overweight.
7. The pandemic made young people increasingly concerned about whole healthcare, with nearly half (49 percent) saying they strongly felt the pandemic had an impact on that mentality. Forty-one percent of Baby Boomers reported the same sentiment, according to a Nov. 2 news release for the study.