Interdisciplinary approaches for understanding the social determinants of health

The social determinants of health (SDH) are the social and economic factors (e.g. income, education, housing, social safety net) that influence people’s health. Currently, there is an undergraduate course in the School of Population and Public Health that introduces the SDH and the health outcomes they influence as well as policies that address them. Through a collaboration involving the Faculties of Medicine, Science, and Land and Food Systems, we will develop an interdisciplinary module for this course focusing on the biological effects of the SDH, that will increase knowledge of:

1. the molecular and physiological consequences of the SDH;
2. the technological advances that are used to assess the biological effects; and
3. the implications of this knowledge to health care and policy development.

This module will equip students with a comprehensive understanding of how SDH may lead to lasting biological changes that influence the health of individuals and populations.