What are Social determinants of Health?

Social determinants of health (SDOH), according to the World Health Organization are the nonmedical factors that influence health outcomes. They are the conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live, and age, and the wider set of forces and systems shaping the conditions of daily life. These forces and systems include economic policies and systems, development agendas, social norms, social policies, racism, climate change, and political systems. 

During the Great Depression, as part of President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, the government- funded Federal Art Project (FAP) of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) hired hundreds of artists who collectively took tens of thousands of photographs and created paintings, murals, and sculptures and brought the art they created to communities and cities around the country through public displays and demonstrations in all of the 48 states at the time. 

Part of the FAP strategy was to allow many artists for the first time to work exclusively as artists without taking maintaining side jobs. Another important rationale for implementing FAP was to essentially publicize the benefits of the New Deal funding that helped build critically-needed infrastructure and leisure amenities and stimulated wide-ranging economic development throughout the country. With such limited media at the time, it was important for the tax-paying public to be able see and recognize the importance of the outcomes of the massive expenditures. 

And, finally, photographs taken by FAP-funded artists were credited for bringing attention and urgent helpful action to some incredibly important issues plaguing various parts of the country. In particular, the terrifying human tragedies created by the Dust Bowl that was plaguing much of the Midwest and Western states during the mid-1930s were brought to light in photos that led to help for those who were afflicted. Photography, in this case, greatly improved and saved many lives. 

The issues we will bring to life many of the social risks in the project area, including transportation challenges, housing insecurity, the risk of being uninsured, lack of access to adequate healthcare services, and the environmental problems created by air pollution and lack of constant access to clean drinking water. Each of these social risks will be illustrated via photos (make the highlighted copy a link to the Photos and Stories navigation button) of a combination of people, places, and things in the region that help tell the story of the challenges people are facing. 

Our website serves as the primary “gallery” for displaying the photos and essays/stories so that there is full access to the art and an unlimited audience that can view it 24/7. We will promote the website extensively to garner widespread attention to the SDOH issues challenging the ECV. We will also host a series of community forums to reveal some of the best examples of the photo/story combinations to local residents and regional media. Our plan is to also secure opportunities to display the art at high- profile locations throughout our designated project communities on a rotating basis to bolster public awareness and participation.