![Roots of health inequity [Online course]](/images/jcogs_img/cache/Roots_of_health_inequity_online_course_-_28de80_-_f349a28753703b97ce8c3e4d03eb9f1e62686dae.jpg)
Roots of health inequity [Online course]
This resource is available in English and Spanish.
This web-based course is a refreshed version of the original 2011 course. The course can be accessed at no cost to the learner and contains units on:
- Why Root Causes?
- Social Justice
- Public Health History
- White Supremacy and Structural Racism
- Capitalism and Class
- Cisheteronormativity
- Building Narrative Power
- Power and Health Equity
- Building Community Power
- Reimagining Public Health Workforce
Course objectives
Course objectives include:
- explain and define root causes of health inequities and their relationship to public health practice,
- recognize internal and external barriers public health practitioners face in acting on root causes, and
- identify strategies to transform public health practice toward the elimination of health inequity.
Course development
The course development was guided by three principles including:
- The elimination of health inequity entails repurposing power to act on root causes. That is, mitigation through programs and services, however essential, could never eradicate or significantly reduce health inequity.
- Public health has a legitimate and necessary obligation in ending the production of health inequity.
- Health inequity does not result from unfortunate events but is generated and sustained by unjust structures of power.
The National Association of County and City Health Officials in the United States led the development of the course. The content was developed by subject matter experts in that country and was guided and reviewed by an Expert Advisory Group. The interface and graphics are state-of-the-art.
Applying learnings in the Canadian context
While the course was developed for the American public health workforce and is rooted in U.S. politics and history, the underlying concepts and issues discussed are relevant for Canadian public health practitioners and policy makers. The course is intended to be taken as a group, so Canadian public health students and/or professionals might consider forming a group to take it together and then discuss effective public health actions in the Canadian context. Each group selects a leader/administrator who moderates discussions and activities in the online community. Individuals can sign up on their own.
Use this resource to
- Deepen understanding of the structural and social determinants of health and their relation to power and health equity
- Facilitate discussion about the structural and social determinants of health, and the work of public health to address the root causes of inequity and advance health equity
Alignment with NCCDH work
This online course focuses on the root causes of health inequities — the structural and social determinants of health. The NCCDH works to guide public health’s evolving understanding of these drivers of health and health inequities and their role in addressing them.
The NCCDH’s 2024 Let’s Talk: Determinants of health defines and summarizes the structural and social determinants of health, and supports wider, more integrative public health action on the drivers that shape daily life.
Related resources:
Introduction to health equity [Online course]
See more resources on the structural determinants of health and the root causes of health inequity.
Reference
National Association of County and City Health Officials. (2024). Roots of health inequity [Online course]. https://rootsofhealthinequity.org/
Tags: Healthy public policy, Leadership & capacity building, Structural determinants, Participate in policy development, Link, Online Course