Address social determinants of health and their root causes

Health care organizations must address disparities at the point of care, but that approach alone is insufficient. Efforts that end at the patient level serve as a band-aid approach and don’t address the community-wide social determinants of health or their root causes—intergenerational poverty and structural inequity. To advance health equity for the long term, leaders need to address these community-level factors that impact historically marginalized groups at disproportionate rates.