Course Description:
The primary objective of this course is to orient students to health inequities based on social determinants of health (SDoH). Throughout the course, we will study how current trends in population health are patterned by key SDoHs, with a focus on the social, environmental, and other structural factors that produce inequities in health. As opposed to conceiving of health inequalities as a function of individual-level risk factors (health behaviors, genes), students will learn how to apply a sociological lens to the study of population health. Upon successful completion of this course, students will able to: 1) understand the social demographic approach to the study of population health; 2) identify key trends in health inequities based on social determinants of health such as race, ethnicity, immigrant status, gender and gender identity, sexuality, neighborhoods, and socioeconomic status; and 3) understand how structural inequality contributes to health inequities.