Back to Annual Meeting Page
133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition
December 10-14, 2005
Philadelphia, PA
|
Back to Annual Meeting Page
|
133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA |
|
|
Buffy Bunting, MPH, CHES, Regina Lagman, Dr Ph Candidate, and Mary Beth Love, PhD. Department of Health Education, San Francisco State University, 1600 Holloway Ave, HSS 319, San Francisco, CA 94132, (415) 338-2708, love@sfsu.edu
Educating students about the social determinates of health is crucial to developing a public health workforce prepared to apply an ecological perspective to solve public health problems. The Health Education Department at San Francisco State University received funding from The Hewlett Foundation to develop the Community Health in Action Fellowship Program (CHIAFP), a university and public health partnership designed to apply service learning for students in community and family health. The Fellowship established internships throughout the San Francisco Bay Area with public health practitioners serving as community collaborators. 65 senior undergraduate students were placed in a supervised practice for 20 hours at 13 weeks in programs focused on social justice. Fellows also participated in a weekly reflective seminar, which included readings, lectures, and written reflections on the structural determinants of health. Pre-post survey instruments were used to assess students understanding of the etiology of health. A post program evaluation focus group was conducted with the fellows, which showed significant differences in knowledge and attitudes regarding the role of structural inequalities on health status. Results indicated that students felt the Fellowship taught them the connection between social injustice and health disparities. They also reported it equipped them to influence public health efforts to enhanced work towards eliminating health disparities. The Fellowship experience with undergraduate students taught the faculty that teaching practice that involves social justice work requires student mentoring and support, particularly at the level of practice.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Social Justice, Public Health Curriculum
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.
The 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition (December 10-14, 2005) of APHA