Embedding Health Equity & Social Justice Across the Prelicensure Curriculum

Purpose/Aims: According to the World Health Organization (2011), the social determinants of health are the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age. These circumstances are shaped by the distribution of money, power and resources at global, national and local levels. As such, the social determinants of health are responsible for many of the inequities in the delivery of health care in the United States. Using Fink’s taxonomy for designing significant learning experiences, this poster will present a model for how to integrate issues of health equity and social justice throughout a prelicensure curriculum in nursing. The specific aims are to:

1. Describe how issues of health equity and social justice are embedded in learning objectives within a series of courses across the curriculum;
2. Describe a faculty development project that promotes competence in issues of health equity and social justice to ensure effective engagement with students; and,
3. Describe innovative learning activities used to engage students in complex issues related to health equity and social justice.

Background/Rationale: Social determinants of health are critical to the understanding of the health of vulnerable populations, health inequities, access to care, and the environmental and social contexts that shape well-being, quality of life, and health across the lifespan. The social determinants of health include individual-level and contextual characteristics that shape daily routine.

Project Description: According to Fink (2013), in a course with significant learning, students will:

1. Understand and remember key concepts.
2. Know how to use the content.
3. Relate this subject to other subjects.
4. Understand the personal and social implications of this subject.
5. Value this subject.
6. Know how to keep on learning about this subject.

This taxonomy provides a useful framework for embedding concepts of health equity and social justice throughout a curriculum. In particular, learning objectives that focus on the personal and social implications of a subject and on the value of the subject provide opportunities to include attention to issues of racism, homophobia, economic and health disparities and access to care. We used this framework to ensure that issues of social justice and health equity are addressed in each of the clinical courses in our curriculum. In addition, we are undergoing a series of faculty development workshops that provide faculty with the knowledge and skills needed to address this content in a variety of courses throughout the curriculum. These faculty development workshops are designed to build a faculty community where the concepts of health equity and social justice are both individual and institutional core values. Through these common core values we hope to graduate students who are committed to promoting health equity and social justice in their practice.

Outcomes: This curriculum is currently under review and awaiting approval.

Conclusion: Attention to issues of health equity and social justice need to be embedded throughout a curriculum in order for students to develop a rich understanding and appreciation of the role nursing plays in reducing disparities.