A large majority of Texans say that medical care alone isn’t enough for a person to live a healthy life, so the state should invest more resources to address non-medical factors like unemployment, neighborhood conditions, and housing. Those are key findings from the new Episcopal Health Foundation (EHF) statewide survey on social determinants of health, also referred to as non-medical drivers of health.
EHF’s poll finds that:
- 65 percent of Texans say that the state should spend more on non-medical factors that impact health.
- Black (72 percent) and Hispanic (75 percent) Texans, plus young adults under age 30 (76 percent) are more likely to say that people would be healthier if the state spent more on non-medical factors.
Poll results show that Texans also want health insurance providers, doctors, and clinics to take more steps to address non-medical drivers of health. Researchers found that:
- 56 percent of Texans say health insurance should cover non-medical factors that may affect health.
- 74 percent of Texans say that it’s essential or very important for doctors to ask patients about non-medical factors.
Texans have had first-hand experience with a wide range of non-medical factors that may affect their health. EHF’s poll found that:
- 53 percent say they’ve been unemployed or had a job that didn’t pay well.
- 50 percent say they lived in an area with poor public transportation.
- 43 percent say they’ve faced racial or ethnic discrimination.
- 28 percent say they didn’t have access to affordable and healthy food.
Researchers found that other non-medical factors impacting health include living in low-income areas without resources, not being able to get affordable housing, and living in an area with air, water, or chemical pollution.
Contact: Brian Sasser at 832.795.9404 or bsasser@episcopalhealth.org.