Maybe the saying shouldn’t be “you are what you eat,” but rather “you are where you eat.” Social and economic factors, such as where someone lives, have powerful influences on people’s health. This association holds true not only for access to healthy food but also for other things such as housing conditions and green space availability. Such factors impact risk of exposure and susceptibility to many diseases and conditions, including COVID-19.

In her presentation, Dr. Shannon Zenk will explore the science behind social determinants of health and demonstrate how vital effective integrative or multilevel approaches are when addressing health and health inequities. Social determinants of health are conditions in the environments in which people are born, live, learn, work, play, and otherwise spend their time. They affect a wide range of health, functioning, and quality-of-life outcomes and risks. Dr. Zenk will share how to better understand what affects people’s health and drives health disparities, and ultimately how to develop effective interventions to improve the public’s health and eliminate inequities.

Dr. Zenk brings a unique perspective to this lecture as a nurse, a population health scientist, and, since September 2020, the director of the National Institute of Nursing Research at the National Institutes of Health.

Individuals who need reasonable accommodation to participate should contact info@nccih.nih.gov or the Federal Relay, 1-800-877-8339, by December 2.