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Social Determinants of Health: As Seen in a Courtroom

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 March 2024

Haavi Morreim
Affiliation:
UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE HEALTH SCIENCE CENTER, MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE, USA
Gail Beeman
Affiliation:
UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE HEALTH SCIENCE CENTER, MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE, USA
Emilee Dobish
Affiliation:
UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE HEALTH SCIENCE CENTER, MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE, USA

Abstract

To provide effective care physicians must attend, not just to medical issues, but also to the social determinants of health — racial factors, food insecurity, housing instability, transportation barriers and beyond. Social determinants also include a largely underrecognized dimension: legal vulnerabilities such as rental evictions and debt adjudications. Yet rarely do medical trainees have an opportunity to witness legal vulnerabilities, firsthand.

Type
Columns: Currents in Contemporary Ethics
Copyright
© 2024 The Author(s)

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