Social Determinants of Health

Health varies with social class in all countries of the world, but why? Some of this disparity is clearly due to environmental factors that are associated with class, such as diet, sanitation and quality of health care. Are there also innate differences in disease susceptibility by factors that correlate with class, such as race and ethnicity? The biologic basis to race has long been discredited, but racial differences in health status are still often assumed to be genetic in origin. This course will use the primary literature to examine the environmental vs. genetic basis for group differences in such health outcomes as infant mortality, cervical cancer and obesity. We will also discuss the use of race in health research and the debate as to whether racial breakdowns help or hinder efforts to eliminate health disparities. Students will examine other health outcomes for their final papers and present their findings to the class.MCP, PRS, QUA, REA, WRI