The term social determinants of health (SDOH) is often used to refer to any non-medical factors influencing health, including health related knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors (e.g., smoking); however, SDOH also include “upstream” factors, such as social disadvantage, risk exposure, and social inequities that play a fundamental causal role in poor health outcomes— and thus represent important opportunities for improving health and reducing health disparities” (Bharmal et al, 2015).

The upstream approach to health aims to identify and dismantle the “causes of causes”, or the social determinants that give rise to the unequal distribution of death and disease in modern society (Watt, 2007).

The current neoliberal model of health refers to the commodification of health care and the ideologies associated that pollute the efforts made within public health. Neoliberal model of health has arguably been ineffective and harmfully spreads ideologies that health is solely the responsibility of the individual, neglecting to acknowledge "upstream" SDOH. Miller (2016) ties in neoliberal ideologies of superiority with ideologies of cleanliness stating, “Stating that a group of people is unclean or dirty is also a way to say that they are less educated and lazy” (Miller 2016).