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Education is a critical social determinant of health, largely because of its outsized impact on income and therefore other SDOH.
There’s some clear-cut evidence underscoring the impact education has on overall health and well-being. In 2021, researchers published in PNAS that folks with higher educational attainment tend to live longer. Adults with a bachelor’s degree are expected to live around 48.2 years out of a possible 50, compared to just 45.1 years for those without a college degree.
That’s likely a mixed result of the other social determinants of health that their education helped them circumvent and the good clinical outcomes apparent in those with higher education.
Healthcare experts have set their sights on education as a leading social determinant of health, with the Healthy People 2030 initiative from the Department of Health and Human Services outlining goals for education access and quality in particular.