Enhancing Students’ Understanding of Health Disparities and Social Determinants of Health Through a Community and Research-Based Project

Abstract

The complex health demands of society emphasize the need for future health professionals to gain a deeper understanding of social determinants of health (SDOH) and provide meaningful health outcomes. Seventeen undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in a cross-listed public health elective course in Winter 2020 completed a remote application-based course project. This project was conducted to expand students’ comprehension of SDOH as underlying factors contributing to health disparities and inequities. It also sought to increase their awareness of tools and resources in the community to aid populations in overcoming determinants. Last, it aimed to provide them with experience applying population health concepts and enhancing their research skills. The course project utilized a real-world application approach as it consisted of students (1) developing a Detroit-focused community resource guide, (2) creating a related resource map, and (3) composing two manuscripts on the course project and learning experience. Students’ deliverables included a developed community resource guide and related interactive map and the construction of the manuscripts on the project and their learning experience, which was separated into two manuscripts. Students completed a journal reflection, which was used to assess their learning experience. Students’ journal reflections were examined using NVivo12 to identify the six themes in their learning experience. The project effectively met the course learning outcomes while aiding students in recognizing Detroit’s health disparities and the influence of SDOH. It also provided students with deliverables.

Involving Engineering Student in Community-Based Project: A Qualitative Study

“…Previous studies have explained the benefits of community-based projects implementation for students and institutions (Arantes do Amaral & Lino dos Santos, 2018); however, more literature is 952 needed to explain how this process works (Guo et al, 2020;Ochocka & Janzen, 2014;Tijsma et al, 2020). Most of the studies were conducted in the health sciences (Abraham & Torner, 2021;Dean et al, 2023;Gimpel et al, 2018;Karasik, 2020;Kristina et al, 2018;Meidianawaty et al, 2016) and social sciences (Case, 2014;O'Brien & Sarkis, 2014;Strand, 2000), nevertheless limited study show implementation in the engineering field (Chen et al, 2020;Goggins & Hajdukiewicz, 2022;Mebert et al, 2020). Moreover, in Indonesian research publication, we found limited discussion about this learning strategy (Kristina et al, 2018;Meidianawaty et al, 2016;Syamsi & Heriyanti, 2022).…”