Market Challenges And Opportunities

Digital technology adoption: Digital technology adoption is significantly fueling the growth of the social determinants of health market. With increased internet and smartphone penetration globally, people now have access to a plethora of health information online. They can search for symptoms, connect with doctors, order medicines, book online consultations, and track fitness activities through various health apps. This has boosted health awareness and made people more cognizant about factors impacting their well-being beyond hospitals and clinics. People now understand how social and economic conditions like housing, education, neighborhood environment, income levels can influence their health outcomes in both short and long term.
Access to care disparities: Access to care disparities have significantly impacted the growth of the social determinants of health market in recent years. The continuous lack of access to basic healthcare and resources for underprivileged communities has put a spotlight on addressing the root social and environmental causes beyond direct medical services. Various socioeconomic factors like poverty, food insecurity, education, unemployment, transportation availability directly influence people's health outcomes and healthcare needs. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), almost half of the global population still lacks access to essential health services and over 100 million people get pushed into extreme poverty due to healthcare costs each year.

Global Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) Market- Opportunities

Social impact partnerships: Social impact partnerships have tremendous potential to address some of the most intractable social determinants of health issues. By bringing together public funding, private expertise, and a rigorous focus on outcomes, these partnerships allow for innovative interventions that traditional programs often cannot achieve. With health increasingly influenced by factors outside the four walls of a medical setting, such as housing, education, employment, and social support networks, impact partnerships are well-positioned to play a meaningful role in improving populations' well-being.
In one Midwestern city, a partnership was formed between the local Department of Public Health, a hospital system, a private philanthropist, and a housing non-profit. Seeking to address chronic homelessness and its severe health impacts, they designed a program to provide permanent supportive housing units along with robust on-site medical care, job training, and case management.
Rising healthcare expenditure: Addressing social needs as clinical prevention could unlock major opportunities in the social determinants of health market. Clinical prevention focuses on identifying and treating health issues before they worsen through screenings, counseling, vaccinations and other proactive services. By addressing underlying social risk factors, clinical prevention can become remarkably more effective at improving health outcomes.
For instance, lack of stable housing and financial instability are among the most significant determinants of health according to the WHO. Nearly one in four American adults report unaffordability of doctor visits and medications as a key barrier to care. If clinical practices could screen for housing insecurity and refer patients to social services assistance, it could help tackle the root causes of health issues rather than just the symptoms. This kind of coordinated, wraparound approach simultaneously advances the clinical and social sides of health. It ensures individuals' basic needs for food and shelter are met before their conditions become chronic and more costly to treat.

Global Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) Market - Restraints

Data privacy regulations: Data privacy regulations around the world have significantly impacted the growth of the social determinants of health market in recent years. Stricter laws pertaining to collection, usage and sharing of personal data have made it quite challenging for companies operating in this domain to access and leverage valuable customer information.

Social determinants of health such as economic stability, education, social and community context, healthcare access and quality, and neighborhood and built environment play a huge role in influencing people's health outcomes and life expectancy. However, in order to gain deeper insights into these factors and their impact on individuals, organizations in this market extensively rely on accessing personal data sources such as educational qualification, income levels, living conditions, medical records and more. The implementation of stringent privacy laws like General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the European Union and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) in the U.S. Significantly restrict how such sensitive information can be collected and used.

Counterbalance: The key market players need to reduce the labor costs in comparison to the less labor-intensive manufacturing process. Packaging should be made in environmentally friendly manner to reduce packaging costs.

Healthcare affordability: Healthcare affordability has become one of the major restraints for the growth of Social Determinants of Health market globally. Lack of universal healthcare and rising medical costs have made it difficult for people to access basic healthcare and address their social needs. When a large section of the population struggles to pay for their medical expenses, they have very little resources left to spend on other social needs like quality housing, nutrition, education and social inclusion.

This has severely limited the spending power of the market for social services that aim to address social determinants of health. For example, in the United States, as per a report by the Commonwealth Fund in 2020, around one-fourth of the adults reported having trouble paying medical bills in the past year or being currently uninsured. The high cost of healthcare means less resources are available with individuals and communities to spend on improving housing conditions, accessing green spaces, getting nutritional food or pursuing education and skill development.