Physicians and Social Determinants of Health

Abstract

To the Editor The perspective offered by Drs Maani and Galea regarding physicians’ role in social determinants of health highlights the limitations and potential unintended consequences of physicians’ attempts to interface with them.¹ While their conclusion that “[p]hysicians’ most enduring effect may be in changing the conversation around health and responsibility for it” may prove true, their proposal for how physicians use their voices is more likely to hinder rather than promote efforts to address social determinants of health for 2 reasons.