Linking health inequities and social justice: Teaching the social determinants of health

The Population Health Project (PHP) promotes dialogue, debate, and action around the ways in which political, economic, and social inequities interact to affect the health of our society (social determinants of health). PHP is currently developing, teaching, and disseminating a population health curriculum as an alternative health education model to both complement and expand upon the traditional individual health paradigm currently taught in U.S. schools. The curriculum framework addresses the underlying structural causes influencing individual health behavior, population health indicators, health disparities, policies and practices that cause health inequalities, and actions that can be taken to improve population health. Modules are designed to engage youth and adults in critically thinking about links between social justice and health equity and in using this knowledge to become strong advocates for social change (critical health literacy).

Teaching youth and adults population health concepts and how to take social action is believed to result in beneficial health outcomes at both the individual and community levels. Twelve modules addressing the social determinants of health are being developed for a PHP population health manual. This presentation describes five curricular modules developed and taught by the PHP to date: Population Health Concepts; Civic Engagement, Food Security & Hunger; Environmental Justice; and World Health & Art Activism. PHP will discuss its teaching methodology, lesson examples, student civic action projects, process and impact evaluation, as well as challenges and successes of the curriculum.