Health and Mental Health Policy

Catalog description

Effective social policy and practice strategies promote social justice and ensure all individuals, groups, and communities have access to high quality, comprehensive, affordable health and social support services. In this course, we use a health equity lens to critically analyze how health and mental health policies are developed and implemented, and how such policies relate to social work practice, program planning, and research. A broad perspective is used in thinking about health and well-being, accounting for intersectional health equity considerations deriving from race, ethnicity, disability or gender. Key policy issues such as financing, cost, access, and the allocation of resources are explored in the context of existing systems and health reform proposals. Students learn about health and mental health policy through inquiry related to the social construction of illness, stigma, social determinants of health, health and behavioral health integration, and specific population groups such as children, families, LGBTQ individuals, or those with specific health conditions, among other topics.