Recent events have once again put a spotlight on 400+ years of racism that has deeply entrenched our everyday structures, notably healthcare delivery. There is a significant need to provide a deep skillset to learners who have significant potential to change this system towards equity. Reducing racial and ethnic health disparities is core to the mission of public health. The healthcare delivery system contributes to these disparities in unique and complex ways.
In this MOOC series, we will learn about the sociological contributions and historical backdrop of why racial inequities exist in healthcare. We will also critically analyze the various causes of racial inequities in healthcare. And lastly, we will go through approaches to achieving equity in healthcare.
Applied Learning Project
There is one peer-reviewed assignment in Week 3 of every course, summarized below:
Course 1: learners will select a country, U.S. state, city or town and explore its health status by creating a "health profile," introducing learners to looking into health-related literature and help develop the skills necessary to recognize racial disparities in healthcare.
Course 2: learners will select a country or U.S. state and explore the healthcare structure by creating a "healthcare structure profile," teaching learners to gather factual statements about healthcare systems and develop the skills necessary to analyze the causes of racial/ethnic disparities in healthcare that stem from the system structure.
Course 3: learners will select a country or U.S. state and create an intervention to address a specific racial/ethnic disparity in healthcare, allowing them to think through the possible interventions and solutions to address a specific disparity in healthcare.
