Data, social determinants, and better decision-making for health: The report of the 3-D Commission
Launched on the occasion of the 76th United Nations General Assembly, the 3-D report is now available.
In April 2020, The Rockefeller Foundation and Boston University School of Public Health launched the Commission on Health Determinants, Data, and Decision-Making (3-D Commission) with the aim of creating a common language among social determinants of health (SDoH), data science, and decision-making toward the end of improving the health of populations and addressing health disparities caused by structural inequities and exacerbated by COVID-19. This report—an output of more than a year of discussion and research among a multisectoral group of experts representing academia, the private sector, civil society, and government—explores the key social and economic drivers that influence health outcomes and illustrates how data on SDoH can be integrated into decision-making processes. The report offers a set of principles and recommendations designed to support the development of a SDoH-based, data-driven approach to decision-making and foster demand for public and private investment in SDoH.
3-D Commission principles
3-D Commission recommendations
The 3-D Commission has identified four core tactics that can be used when implementing data-informed decision-making on SDoH. The following key recommendations support the translation of the principles into action:
Relevant international, regional, national, and local entities, including funders, should systematically collect and make available, in real time, quality data characterizing the full range of determinants of health—including for example, education, housing, economics—to decision-makers and communities locally and nationally.
National governments should develop transparent systems that collect data about the social determinants of health, and explicitly use these data in decision-making processes.
Relevant international, regional, national, and local entities, including funders, should embed follow-through monitoring processes to ensure accountability for data-informed decision-making around health.
Relevant international, regional, national, and local entities, including funders, should center community engagement in acquisition and interpretation of data and make such data widely available to relevant communities.
Executive summaries
Regional briefs
Translated regional briefs
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3-D report launch highlights
This video presents highlights from the events accompanying the 3-D report launch, wherein experts discussed the underlying forces that shape our health, the data that illuminate those forces, and the decisions that, when guided by data, can influence our collective health for the better.
