What are the Social Determinants of Health?

Project Healthy Neighbors mission is to advance health equity for residents of Houston, Texas by addressing unmet social determinants of health needs. Through community-driven initiatives, we work to remove barriers and unblock pathways to optimal health.

But what are the social determinants of health, and how do those unmet needs get addressed?

The World Health Organization broadly defines the Social Determinants of Health as the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age.

Social Determinants of Health are also referred to as the Non-Medical Drivers of Health.

These conditions are different for all people, and thus are factors that are not equal across populations. Addressing these conditions with interventions that work to eliminate barriers and advance equity in these areas helps to improve the health and quality of life for individuals and families in our community.

Project Healthy Neighbors aims to address barriers that people face in these areas through a variety of community initiatives. 

""For me, an area of moral clarity is: you're in front of someone who's suffering and you have the tools at your disposal to alleviate that suffering or even eradicate it, and you act."

-Paul Farmer

  • "This is what I have been missing this whole time- someone to stick with me until I was able to get back on my feet."

    - Q.R. (female client, chronically homeless, age 61)

  • "I promise, I plan to help others with everything you taught me. I don't believe in pulling the ladder up behind me."

    - D.S. (Male client, disabled, age 57)

  • "People don't usually want to help people like me."

    - D.H. (Male client, formerly incarcerated and unsheltered homeless, age 66)