December 2019 - Parks & Recreation - 30

H E A LT H & W E L L N E S S

Keeping It Real: A Different Approach to
Discussing the Social Determinants of Health
By Allison Colman

O

ver the past few weeks, I've been thinking a lot about the language that we use in the public health sector. The language I
speak of is filled with terminology, like " population-based
health, " " vulnerable populations, " " socioeconomic characteristics, " or perhaps one of the most popular modern terms - " social determinants of health. " My thoughts have centered on two big questions: Is
this terminology relatable to most people, or have we siloed ourselves in the
public health field? And, does everyone understand " social determinants of
health " and where parks and recreation has a role? After some reflection,
introspection, a bit of noodling and several health team conversations, I
came to the realization that (1) the language is not super relatable and this
might be limiting our work, and (2) no, not everyone understands the social
determinants of health and where the field of parks and recreation fits.
While one of the goals of the
public health field is to unite different stakeholders, sectors and people
in the pursuit of improving community health outcomes, I think that
our efforts to " talk the talk " can,
sometimes, have the opposite effect.

28

Parks & Recreation

When we use terms and phrases
that most people aren't connected
to, we might actually be pushing
them away from joining our efforts
and creating even larger impacts.
In the spirit of acknowledging this
newfound awareness, I'm going

| D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 9 | W W W. PA R K S A N D R E C R E AT I O N . O R G

to attempt to drop the super sexy
public health language, in this case,
and try to keep it real as we take a
different approach to discussing the
" social determinants of health. "

Health Factors and
Conditions
The public health field has widely
adopted the use of " social determinants of health " when we describe
the different factors that can impact
someone's quality of life and longevity. In fact, I've probably said " social
determinants of health " at least 20
times this week. But, what exactly
are the social determinants of health
and what role does parks and recreation play? Simply put, the social determinants of health are factors and
conditions that can influence why



December 2019 - Parks & Recreation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of December 2019 - Parks & Recreation

December 2019 - Parks & Recreation - 1
December 2019 - Parks & Recreation - 2
December 2019 - Parks & Recreation - 3
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