Health Equity, Social Determinants, and Community Health

In this course students will acquire a conceptual and analytical foundation for understanding why community-based, mobile integrated care is necessary and how structural forces shape the health of vulnerable populations. We will draw on health equity frameworks, the epidemiology of rural health disparities, and Vermont-specific data to examine how poverty, housing instability, food insecurity, transportation barriers, and social isolation translate into the chronic disease burdens and patterns of Emergency Department overuse that mobile integrated health programs are designed to address. Students will work with social sector organizations to see how they seek to address the deficiencies in our public health system, often at the intersection of Medicaid and Medicare. This course contains a community-connected component.