Social Determinants
of Health

Jeffrey Stokes, PhD

A social determinants of health perspective is one that understands individuals, their behaviors, and their health outcomes are to a certain extent products of their environments—social and relational environments, physical and built environments, or systemic and policy environments. 

I enjoy contributing interesting and novel information to the field that can be used to improve health among the aging population. More mundanely, there is nothing more satisfying than having a statistical model run without errors—with interesting and novel results!

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Two of my foremost research interests are  the ways in which married older adults impact one another’s mental, physical, and cognitive health over time; and how neighborhood context and characteristics affect health in later life. Currently I am  examining residence, loneliness, and health outcomes among midlife and older adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. 

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Much of my work has focused on loneliness among married older adults. The idea that loneliness pertains only to isolated older persons is a myth: Loneliness is fairly widespread in our society across age groups. Loneliness is a spectrum, and it can affect us all. It's an aspect of mental and emotional health that deserves greater attention and less stigma."