“How healthy we are when we are born, how likely we are to get sick as we age, and how long we can expect to live are all determined to a surprising extent by our place in society. Disparities in health among income, racial, and ethnic groups in the U.S. are significant and, by many measures, expanding.

This course serves as a primer for illustrating the root causes that shape health and health disparities. In addition to describing the complex interplay of social conditions associated with health disparities, it also provides a framework for exploring public and community health frameworks for addressing health equity.
At the end of this course you will be able to:
– Describe terms related to health equity.
– Identify how historically major advances in health status resulted from broad-based social reforms.
– Identify the health outcomes of affected populations.
– Describe the social determinants of health and how they contribute to health disparities and inequities.
– Describe the Healthy People 2020 approaches to address health inequity.
Illustrate the role of the public health workforce in addressing health inequity.
Describe evidenced-based approaches to addressing health equity”