Ask OASIS Before you begin
Get started with these tips and suggestions for locating and accessing SDOH research. Scroll down or see the menu at left for specific advice.
Need a refresher on how to search within a database?
Get started
Start searching from the Library homepage to explore and discover articles on a variety of topics across disciplines.
- Library Search (formerly Thoreau)This is a tool that searches across many of the Library databases. It is not able to search every database, but it does search enough of our resources to be a useful tool for quick, simple searches.
This research starter provides background information, an overview of the topic, important concepts, and a bibliography of relevant literature:
Anciaes, P. R. Ms. (2021). Social determinants of health. Salem Press Encyclopedia.
Suggested subject terms
A subject term is a standardized word or phrase that describes a main idea in the article. When an article is added to a database, the database will assign subject terms to the article from the database's list of subjects. Most articles will have from 3 to 12 subject terms.
Each database has its own set list of subject terms. Subject terms may use technical jargon and odd punctuation. This means you won't be able to easily guess or intuit subject terms on your own. You will have to identify the subject terms in the database, and then use them in a search.
If you want to see all the subject terms used in a particular database, you can search the Subject Index to discover subject terms.
- Access or accessibility or barriers or obstacles
- Healthcare or health care or health services or health facilities or medical care
- Disparities or inequities or inequality or bias
- Healthcare delivery
- Culturally competent care
- Right to healthcare or health equity or universal health care
- Economic equilibrium or economic stabilization or financial security
- Workforce or workplace or labor or employees
- Wages or salary or income or pay or earnings
- SES or socio-economic or income or social class or socioeconomic status or poverty or low income or disadvantaged
- Right to education or access to education or the right to learn
- Access or obstacles or barriers
- Cultural identity or cultural alienation or cultural identification or group identity
- Multicultural education or bicultural education or intercultural education
- Cultural pluralism or cultural diversity or religious diversity or ethnic diversity or ethnic pluralism
- Inclusive education or SPED or special education or special needs
- SES or socio-economic or income or social class or socioeconomic status or poverty or low income or disadvantaged
- Neighborhood or community
- Public safety or crime prevention
- Rural or remote or isolated or regional or small town
- Urban or city or cities or metropolitan or inner city
- Public transit or public transportation or buses or subways or trains or rapid transit
- SES or socio-economic or income or social class or socioeconomic status or poverty or low income or disadvantaged
- Urban development or urbanization or sustainable growth or redlining
- Homelessness or homeless persons or houseless or housing or unstably housed or sleeping rough
- Neighborhood or community
- SES or socio-economic or income or social class or socioeconomic status or poverty or low income or disadvantaged
- Family relationships or family relations or family dynamics or family functioning
- Aid or help or assistance
- Grassroots or kitchen table discussions or local movement
- Homelessness or homeless persons or houseless or housing or unstably housed or sleeping rough
- Gun control or gun laws or gun regulations
Example searches
The following searches were conducted in the multi-database Library Search. You will need a Walden ID and password to access the results.
All results use subject terms when appropriate and are available in full text in the Walden Library.
Consider these as starter searches. You can add additional search terms to the results to get articles on your topic.
Apply Limits. For instance, you can limit to peer-reviewed articles only and by date.
Click any of the links below to view the search results. Searches will open in a new window.
SDOH and Economy
social determinants of health AND econom*
SDOH and Education
SDOH and Healthcare
SDOH and Neighborhoods
social determinants of health AND neighborhood or community or "built environment"
SDOH and Social and Community Context
social determinants of health AND relationships or social interaction or interpersonal
Build on example searches
You can adapt any of the preset example searches by adding your own search terms.
If you wish to focus on the economic context of SDOH, specifically in rural areas, you would add search terms for rural areas in a separate search box, while leaving the example SDOH terms in place. Here is an example:
- Click on a preset example search from the list. In this case, you might choose the SDOH and economy preset search:
social determinants of health AND econom*
- On the results page, the first search box will contain your SDOH and economy terms. Leave these here.
- In the second search box, add your terms for rural.
rural or remote or isolated or small town
- Once you've added your search term(s), click the Search button and review the new results.
- You can continue to add other search terms, or apply limiters in the Refine Results column typically on the side of the page. There you can limit to date, peer review, and subject area.