Local nonprofits aim to address social determinants of work through initiative

Authors Rachel Rood and Kendal Harrisa
Air date July 19, 2022 at 9:00 am

Listen to the recording at Ideastream

You may have heard of the social determinants of health, meaning the conditions in one's living environment that affect your quality of life, and health outcomes.

According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, these include factors such as access to education and health care, as well as your economic stability. For example, living in a neighborhood without a grocery store could negatively affect your health.

Now, experts in the philanthropic sector are saying that there is a similar set of needs that determine's a person's ability to get, and keep, a job. These are called the social determinants of work, and five of them were originally identified last year, when the pandemic revealed how little support we have for  workers.

The five factors are: job flexibility, healthcare, childcare, transportation, and sustained education.

Today we'll begin the "Sound of Ideas" by talking to two local organizations in Cleveland -- United Way of Greater Cleveland and Towards Employment -- that are starting a Social Determinants of Work Initiative. We'll ask them about their effort to learn more about these barriers for workers, and how they hope to remove them.

Then, divorce filings are on the rise for the first time in 10 years. Later this hour, we'll dig into why that is with local legal and mental health experts.