A Framework for Educating Health Professionals to Address the Social Determinants of Health (2016) / Chapter Skim
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1 Introduction
1 Introduction
Pages 19-32
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From page 19... ...
Subsequent chapters offer concrete examples of programs and frameworks addressing elements of the social determinants of health, while this chapter focuses on theoreti cal constructs put forth by researchers and high-level commissions that form much of the basis for the committee's framework. In an era of pronounced human migration, changing demographics, and growing financial gaps between rich and poor, foundational education programs for health professionals need to equip their graduates with at least a fundamental understanding of how the conditions and circumstances in which individuals and populations exist affect mental and physical 19
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By partnering with other professionals, professions, sectors, and communities, educators can model the sorts of activities that health professionals wish to pursue in their respective roles as providers or population health specialists, or in other selected career paths. Because the time health professionals spend in foundational education and training is small compared with career-based education, it is also the job of educators to instill a d esire in their students for greater learning about the social determinants of health.
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Based on these findings, the committee will develop a framework for how the education of health professionals for better understanding the social determinants of health could be strengthened across the learning continuum. The committee can consider a variety of perspectives -- that could include partnerships, finances and sustainability, experiential learning, continuing pro fessional development, faculty development, policies, systems, and/or health literacy -- in preparation of a brief report containing recommendations on how to strengthen health professional education in and with vulnerable communities by addressing the social determinants of health.
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. A girl born in Sierra Leone who survives to the age of 5 is halfway through her predicted life span by the time she reaches age 17, whereas a girl born on the same day in Japan can expect to live into her 80s and will likely not die before she turns 5.
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offer suggestions for developng cultural diversity in education by integrating institutional i policies, curriculum content, faculty development, and assessment. While valuable, the need for culturally similar health professionals that reflect the changing demographics would add greater credibility to these efforts
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. Based on this analysis, the Commission's report calls on WHO and its member states to "lead global action on the social determinants of health with the aim of achieving health equity." Such unfairness, the report contends, dramatically impacts the ability of individuals and communities to access healthpromoting resources such as health care, schools, education, safe working environments, and healthy living conditions (WHO, 2008)
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The envisioned health workforce that would result from implementation of these strategies would be better prepared to advocate with and for others, to partner with community leaders to make positive change in their community, and to work toward achieving equity in health and well-being for all populations. MAKING THE CASE Taking action on the social determinants of health as a core function of health professionals' work holds promise for improving individual and population health outcomes, leading in turn to significant financial benefits.
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. The effective application of interprofessional and cross-sectoral education has potential significant downstream consequences, not only in improving health outcomes, but also in reducing health inequalities and promoting health equity (Bollela et al., 2015)
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reveals that educators are responding to the need to address the social determinants of health, but that many of these efforts are conducted uniprofessionally or with a small number of interacting professions, and the education is heavily weighted toward classroom activities. Additionally, experiential learning opportunities tend to be short-term, volunteer, and in the form of community service learning activities, and rural clinical settings are at times described as community-based education with no outreach into the community.
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These methods could be evaluated to determine the appropriateness of adapting them to health professional education addressing the social determinants of health, provided that faculty are appropriately trained and the community is prepared to partner. REPORT STRUCTURE In contrast to the theoretical discussion of the social determinants of health and health professional education presented in this chapter, Chapter 2 examines how educators and educational organizations and institutions are addressing the social determinants of health through different curricula and programs.
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2013. Working for health equity: The role of health professionals.
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2010. Health professionals for a new century: Transforming education to strengthen health systems in an interdependent world.
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2014. Increasing racial/ethnic diversity in nursing to reduce health disparities and achieve health equity.
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2006. Monitor ing health equity in the MDGS: A practical guide.
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