Social determinants of health
Social determinants of health are the conditions of a place where a person lives, which affect health outcomes, risks, and proximity to various disparities. Everybody inhabits a select social space, but statistically, there are social spaces which have longer lasting, negative effects on health outcomes. For instance, a person who lives and grows up in 85121, the lowest income zip code in Arizona, does not have access to:
- well-funded schools
- clean drinking water
- healthcare systems
- stable sources of income
- reliable mobile phone or Internet access
- walkable neighborhoods and parks
- fresh, whole foods
- support systems for LGBTQ+ persons
- public services such as libraries and museums
Additionally, someone who was born and raised in 85121, is more likely to have experienced adverse childhood experiences resulting from:
- proximity to underground labor
- proximity to illegal, opioid usage, overdoses, and deaths
- lack of childcare options
- likelihood of being in a low-income household
This is not to say that these experiences happen to all persons who live in 85121, or any other geographic location with a similar social structure. However, the likelihood of their occurring grows, along with the health and healthcare disparities that happen alongside them.
The following list details the range of social determinants that we all encounter:

How social determinants happen
Social determinants initiate and reproduce a cyclical relationship with health and healthcare disparities, one that is deeply entwined with systems of oppression and violence occurring at local, regional, national, and global levels. While there are many particulars of life which affect the social determinants that affect a person or community, many are perpetuated through the healthcare system itself. This is especially true in the United States, where healthcare and biomedicine are deeply entwined with the material history and cultural apparatuses that make up the US. In social terms, this series of networks can be called the Healthcare Industrial Complex. According to transformative justice and disability activist, Mia Mingus (2015), that complex is enormous, multi-pronged, and can be visualized as such:

Resources for social determinants of health