Building Healthy Communities - Steps Hospitals Can Make to Act on Social Determinants of Health

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Dec 09, 2017
by Salzburg Global Seminar
Building Healthy Communities - Steps Hospitals Can Make to Act on Social Determinants of Health

Participants consider how hospitals can realign their mission, practices and institutional networks to address the social determinants of health

Alison Verhoeven, chief executive of Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association, was one of four panelists for the discussion

To address the social determinants of health, hospitals may have to consider realigning their missions, practices and institutional networks.

Pablo Bravo, Marianne Olsson, Juan Pablo Uribe, and Alison Verhoeven considered the best ways for hospitals to do this during the second panel discussion on the second day of Building Healthy Communities: The Role of Hospitals.

Uribe, director general of Fundación Santa Fe de Bogotá, asked how health care professionals within hospitals could learn from one another and ensure knowledge was maximized. He called for a better performing system, one where each part is doing the right thing at the right time.

Missions are important for institutions. If another mission is put forward, that is something for another organization to pursue, according to Uribe. He said he and his colleagues strived to provide the best possible care that Bogotá requires, and they wanted to be connected and coordinated upstream and downstream.

Verhoeven, chief executive of Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association, suggested Australia had a high-performing health system, but challenges remained in terms of how rural and remote areas accessed health, and how the indigenous population experienced health.  

Participants heard there were opportunities to have structures for consumers to co-design services that meet the needs of communities genuinely and authentically. Verhoeven said data could be linked to inform how to better design services.

One way in which hospitals can realign their practices to address the social determinants of health is through advocacy. Bravo, vice president of community health at Dignity Health, revealed his employer’s advocacy efforts ranged from health care related issues to issues such as access to clean water and affordable housing.

Participants also heard how vacant land had been made available by Dignity Health for farming activities. Meanwhile, facilities no longer useful have been transferred to developers to create low-income housing.
Bravo said this was only possible through working with partners. Dignity Health is focused on providing care to its patients and doesn’t have the capacity or expertise to expand into areas like the construction of housing.

Olsson, an independent consultant, discussed how she helped launch a new hospital in the poorest area of a city in Sweden. Its purpose was to reach a part of the population not served by others.

The key to success is combining data and dialogue. It’s important not to get stuck on fixed concepts when changing health care systems. Olsson said health care was in a better position than others to be the driver of a movement for a healthier community and act as the inspiration for other authorities to follow.


The session, Building Healthy Communities: The Role of Hospitals is part of Salzburg Global Seminar multi-year series Health and Health Care Innovation in the 21st Century. This year’s session is held in partnership with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. To keep up to date with the conversations taking place during the session, follow #SGShealth on Twitter and Instagram.