Abstract
Social determinants of health—defined by the World Health Organization as “the social factors and physical conditions of the environment in which people are born, live, learn, play, work, and age”—are increasingly discussed as having relevance in community mental health service systems. This brief report describes how self-direction—an approach in which people with serious mental health conditions choose the services and supports that work best for them to support their recovery—is a tool that may directly and uniquely promote the social determinants of health by expanding the bounds of traditional service delivery to address the needs of the whole person.
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Funding
This study is part of a Demonstration and Evaluation of Self-Direction in Mental Health, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (Grant #74981), with support from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the New York State Health Foundation.
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Croft, B. Self-direction and the Social Determinants of Health. Community Ment Health J 56, 1504–1507 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-020-00597-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-020-00597-5