Social and Behavioral Determinants of Health

Catalog description

This course will invite students to think critically about the social and behavioral determinants of health. The course focuses on the pathways that connect the health behavior of individuals to the health policies and practices that societies develop and implement to address public health needs. The course examines these pathways while considering the interconnected histories of public health and equity, inclusion, social justice and diversity. In this course we will examine key principles of the sociology and psychology of health, and health promotion, focusing on essential theories of health behavior, cross-cultural perspectives and the roles that individuals, social networks, communities, and systems play in health-related behavior, illness experience, health promotion and disease prevention. We will appraise health care and public health systems and their role in population health. We will critique macrosocial factors such as place, economics and political systems that influence population health. Finally, we will analyze the effects of public policy on health and consider how public health communications are created and disseminated.