Title:	Social Determinants of Health from a Global Perspective
Keywords:	Socio economic status Health systems Health indicators Equity Health Policy
Country:	Spain
Institution:	Spain - Barcelona Institute for Global Health - University of Barcelona
Course coordinator:	Dr. Lucy Anne Parker
Date start:	2024-10-15
Date end:	2024-10-24
About duration and dates:	2 weeks, including:●Six days face-to-face classes from 9:00 to 11:00 and 11:30 to 13:30 hours (October 15 to 17 and 22 to 24 for academic year 2024-25). Some sessions might have a different time schedule to allow the online participation based in different time zones.●Tutored work ●Independent study
Classification:	advanced optional
Mode of delivery:	Face to face
Course location: Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences – University of Barcelona Aula Manuel Corachan C/ Casanova, 143 08036 Barcelona, Spain
ECTS credit points:	3 ECTS credits
SIT: 3 ECTS, 75 h SIT 1. Hours of face-to-face learning: 24 hours 2. Hours of tutored work (not face-to-face): 6 hours 3. Hours of independent study (not face-to-face and not tutored): 45 hours 4. Total = 75 hours
Language:	English
Description: At the end of the course students will be able to: 1. Assess the global distribution of health outcomes (burden of disease) and their social determinants and make relevant comparisons between communities, regions, and countries. 2. Discuss the key social determinants that influence the health of populations from different areas of the planet and appreciate the complex interactions that exist between these determinants, and how they are shaped by overarching societal influences. 3. Analyse the key factors that explain health inequities and recognise their relevance in the design of policies and interventions to tackle their impact in the population.
Assessment Procedures: Students will be assessed both individually and in groups: 1. The individual component of the evaluation is the preparation of an essay on social health determinants. 2. The group evaluation involves the preparation of a written document and an oral presentation on the final day of class, as well as participation in discussion and debate regarding the presentations from the other groups. The contribution to the final grade and description of each evaluation component are as follows: 1. Individual essay (60%): The students will prepare an essay on social health determinants (1000 words maximum). Choice of topic on social health determinants is open to the student with guidance from the course coordinator. The essay should be submitted via the virtual campus two weeks after the final day of class before midnight. See detailed instructions in Annex 1. 2. Group work (40%): Students will work in groups to prepare a short briefing document for decision makers from outside the health arena to encourage them to act on the social determinants of a health issue. The composition of the groups and health issues to be addressed will be assigned by the course coordinator. Presentation and discussion of the group project will take place on the final day of class; and the written briefing document should be submitted via the virtual campus on the final day of class before midnight. See detailed instructions in Annex 2. In order to pass the module, students must obtain a minimum grade of 5 (out of a maximum of 10) on each of the evaluation components. The course rubric is provided in Annex 3. Final grades will be made available to students within two weeks of the final day for submitting the essay. Resit: Students who have not reached the minimum pass grade of 5 (out of a maximum of 10) will have a second opportunity to pass the module. Re-evaluation will involve a new essay, which will count for 100% of the grade. The deadline for submission of the resit evaluation components will be set as 30 days after the initial grades are released, and the final grade will be made available to students within 10 days from submission. The use of AI tools should be acknowledged by students.
Content: Week 1: 1. Global health determinants and equity (mainly WHO) conceptual framework for action on the SDH). 2. Critical analysis of conceptual frameworks of the social determinants of health and equality. 3. Intermediate determinants of health I. Employment and health inequities: Theories and methods. A descriptive and analytical approach. 4. Intermediate determinants of health II. Data sources. Group work 5. Commercial determinants of health. 6. How global health governance mechanisms influence health and equity. 7. Case study*: Global health in context: the Ecuadorian Amazon (guest lecturers from the Public Health Institute at the Pontificia University of Ecuador will connect via Zoom and share experiences from diverse research projects in the Ecuadorian Amazon). 8. Case study*: Focus on health cooperation (an invited lecturer with experience in international health organisations such as WHO, PAHO, UNICEF, or UNAIDS, will reflect on the ownership of the political agenda in health cooperation). Week 2: 9. Introducing an equity lens in global health interventions. Where to begin? 10. Social determinants of health inequity: social position, discrimination... Case study*: transsexuality, family and healthcare in Brazil. 11. Presentations of Group Work I. 12. Presentations of Group Work II and course overview. * Case studies may vary each academic year
Methods: The face-to face classes of the course are organised in two two-hour sessions per day with a 30 minutes break between the sessions. Sessions include introductory short presentations of the topic given by the corresponding lecturers. However, they will mainly focus on discussion and debate of the topic presented and the provided reading materials. Some sessions also include student-led group work. The lecturers may provide short texts, video clips and other materials in addition to essential reading material, which serve to enrich the classroom debates.
Prerequisites: English command for non-native speakers: English TOEFL test 550 or 213 computer-based or 79/80 internet-based or IELTS band 6.0.
Attendance: Maximum of 35 students per course
Selection: First come first served
Fees: 570 € + University taxes (80 Euro approx.)
Scholarships: None available
Major changes since initial accreditation: There have been no changes in the main goals of the course, although it has been adapted to the advancements in this field. The learning methods have also been reviewed, to make it less lecture-based and more based on discussions, debates, and case analysis. Finally, the assessment has been changed to eliminate student participation in class, following students’ feedback. Until 2022 the course had two coordinators (Prof. Ildefonso Hernández and Lucy Parker) but since 2023 Lucy Parker is the only coordinator.
Student evaluation: The course is evaluated every year using both an online anonymous questionnaire (using both scoring and open-ended questions) and in-class oral feedback. The evaluation score of this course has been consistently between 4 and 5, in a scale from 1 to 5. In the past, some of the sessions were graded less than 4 due to the low teaching skills of the teachers, who changed their approach or were replaced. Most criticism from students concentrated on how classroom participation was assessed. Following students’ feedback, the assessment methods have been modified accordingly. The participation of invited lecturers from different world regions/countries has been highly valued.
Lessons learned: This has been a well-received course from the beginning. However, in the past it had to be revised to make it more advanced and to make sessions less lecture-based and more dynamic and participative. In that sense, changes in the faculty were also needed, as some of the teachers could not adapt well.
tropEd accreditation: Accredited in November 2014. Re-accredited in June 2019 in Umea, Sweden. Re-accredited in EC telco in July 2024 This accreditation is valid until July 2029.
Email Address:	nuria.casamitjana@isglobal.org
Date Of Record Creation:	2014-12-08 03:26:22 (W3C-DTF)
Date Of Record Release:	2018-06-21 16:50:10 (W3C-DTF)
Date Record Checked:	2019-08-09 (W3C-DTF)
Date Last Modified:	2024-07-19 08:18:19 (W3C-DTF)