DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH AND HEALTH EQUITY: A SYSTEMS APPROACH
The social determinants of health - shaped by deeply rooted and unequally distributed resources through institutions and systems that influence communities and the broader world - are key factors driving ill health and exacerbating inequities in population well-being. Provides grounding in the social determinants of health through a health equity framework, with a focus on understanding health equity frameworks and applying them in public health practice and research.
Prerequisites & course information
Requisites: Graduate/professional standing Course Designation: Grad 50% - Counts toward 50% graduate coursework requirement Repeatable for Credit: No Last Taught: Fall 2026 Learning Outcomes: 1. Critically analyze the social and structural determinants of health for populations. Audience: Graduate 2. Explain the relationship between health disparities and health inequity. Audience: Graduate 3. Explain how power structures the conditions that shape health Audience: Graduate 4. Identify the mechanisms by which structural racism shapes everyone’s health across the lifespan Audience: Graduate 5. Reflect on how your own health has been shaped by structural and social determinants Audience: Graduate 6. Explain the value of systems thinking using a health equity lens to public health research and practice. Audience: Graduate 7. Describe the rationale for community involvement in public health actions and the key principles of community-based approaches to public health. Audience: Graduate Learning Outcomes: 1. Critically analyze the social and structural determinants of health for populations. Audience: Graduate 2. Explain the relationship between health disparities and health inequity. Audience: Graduate 3. Explain how power structures the conditions that shape health Audience: Graduate 4. Identify the mechanisms by which structural racism shapes everyone’s health across the lifespan Audience: Graduate 5. Reflect on how your own health has been shaped by structural and social determinants Audience: Graduate 6. Explain the value of systems thinking using a health equity lens to public health research and practice. Audience: Graduate 7. Describe the rationale for community involvement in public health actions and the key principles of community-based approaches to public health. Audience: Graduate
Sources
- Course catalogue ↗2026-2027