Social Determinants of Health and Neurobiology

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Throughout my journey in OT school, I have learned so much, but I think the most striking thing that has been brought to the forefront of my mind is social determinants of health. This is a person's level of access to health care and resources based on where they live, what they do for a living, their level of social support, and how much education they have. This more often than not has a negative connotation attached to it, insinuating a lack of health care based on these factors. This is alarming because good health is not something just for important people, but rather a human right everyone is worthy of. In the TedTalk given by Dr. Manchanda, I learned that the environment one works and lives in intertwined with their social networks affects one's health much more than one's genetics or the medications a doctor might provide. He emphasized a need for an "upstream" approach that would tackle these environmental root causes of health conditions. 

If someone is living in undesirable conditions, this not only will affect their immediate health, but also their long term health as well. Chronic stress is associated with a constant release of the stress hormone, cortisol. Having this hormone floating in our body for too long will increase the chances of gaining weight, developing diabetes, or developing heart disease. Specific to the nervous system, chronic stress will diminish the functional ability of one's prefrontal cortex, where we make decisions and think deeply, increase the size of the amygdala, where we process emotions, and decrease the size of the hippocampus, where we store long term memories. All three of these parts of the brain are involved in depression and anxiety. Depression and anxiety can be debilitating themselves, but they can also snowball into even worse health conditions.  

Watching this TedTalk made me think of OT and Healthy People 2030. One of the goals of Healthy People 2030 is to eliminate health disparities via preventative means of action and, true to the roots of OT, it is extremely important to treat the entire person, which heavily emphasizes the environment one lives and works in. I am proud and thankful that I'll be a part of a career that works to treat clients with an "upstream" and holistic perspective. The OT program I am in at UTHSC is phenomenal. They are shaping us and preparing us to be the best practitioners/ leaders we can be. I love that they require service and professional development hours because they know that the learning outside the classroom is almost or just as important as the learning inside the classroom.

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