PUBLIC HEALTH RESEARCH
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Social determinants, health equity, and population health
2
SOCIAL NEEDS
Kreuter, M. W., Thompson, T., McQueen, A., & Garg, R. (2021). Addressing social needs in health
care settings: Evidence, challenges, and opportunities for public health. Annual Review of Public
Health, 42, 329-344. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-090419-102204
ANNOTATION
Kreuter and colleagues review the growing use of screening and referral programs intended to
identify patients' social needs and connect them with community resources. They examine evidence
about links between social needs and health, healthcare use, and costs while also discussing
implementation challenges. The article is valuable because it shows how public health work can
intersect with healthcare settings without assuming that clinical care alone can solve social
problems. It provides a practical research bridge between social determinants theory and programs
that attempt to respond to housing, food, transportation, and other needs.
SOCIAL CONNECTION
Holt-Lunstad, J. (2022). Social connection as a public health issue: The evidence and a systemic
framework for prioritizing the “social” in social determinants of health. Annual Review of Public
Health, 43, 193-213. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-052020-110732
ANNOTATION
Holt-Lunstad reviews evidence on social connection, including social support, social isolation,
loneliness, and social capital, and argues that these factors deserve explicit attention within public
health research and practice. The article organizes evidence on health associations, possible
pathways, and biological mechanisms and proposes a framework for cross-sector action. It is useful
for public health research because it expands the social-determinants lens beyond material
conditions and highlights the role of relationships and community connection. The review is also
helpful for identifying intervention and measurement questions that remain unsettled.
GLOBAL HEALTH EQUITY
Commission on Social Determinants of Health. (2008). Closing the gap in a generation: Health equity
through action on the social determinants of health. World Health Organization.
https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241563703
ANNOTATION
This final report synthesizes international evidence on the social conditions that create differences
in health within and between countries. It examines social and economic policies, living and working
conditions, health systems, and the unequal distribution of power and resources. The report is useful
for a public health bibliography because it places health equity at the population level and links
evidence with policy action. As the major report of the WHO Commission on Social Determinants of
Health, it also provides a valuable historical reference for understanding how social determinants
became a central framework in contemporary public health.
