Social determinants of health in asthma through the life course

There is strong evidence supporting the influence of social determinants of health (SDOH) on the development and progression of asthma. SDOH are defined as conditions in which people are born, grow up, live, work and age, that influence their opportunity to be healthy, risk of illness and life expectancy. The goal of this article is to describe two case-based approaches (pediatric and adult) to assessing and addressing SDOH in asthma across the life course and in community settings. As asthma providers and specialists, the role of SDOH is complex in our clinical care, however it is critical to address social needs identified through clinical care for our patients with asthma. Clinical-community partnerships, through grant and cost-sharing mechanisms with resource agencies are necessary to ameliorate social needs for patients and their communities and have the potential to improve asthma outcomes. While this is a unique and exciting time in healthcare to promote individual and population health, knowledge gaps remain including best practices to integrate holistic SDOH care into the care of patients with asthma.