Community Health Workers: Bridge to Pediatric Mental Health Equity

We currently face a national crisis¹ in youth mental health and well-being and significant child behavioral health inequities. There is a growing recognition among health care institutions, policymakers, researchers, and communities that major health problems of our time, including this crisis, must be confronted by addressing the underlying "causes of the causes,"² or social determinants of health. Social determinants of health³ are defined by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as the conditions in which people live, learn, work, play, worship, and age and highlight the role that power and privilege occupy in shaping societal access to these resources. Social determinants of mental health (SDoMH) encompass the same conditions of social determinants of health, with the addition of the stigma often associated with mental health and substance use disorders. SDoMH focus on the social/environmental factors that place certain groups at increased risk for mental health concerns and worsening outcomes for individuals who already have mental health concerns.⁴ Addressing SDoMH is a key strategy to toward Healthy People 2030 goals and "the attainment of the highest level of health for all people."⁵.