Drnach-Bonaventura, Grace M.
(2024)
Defining and Tailoring Effective Practices in Teaching Social Determinants of Health for Online, Undergraduate Programs.
Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.
(Unpublished)
Abstract
Social determinants of health (SDOH) greatly impact an individual’s health, yet health care professionals are undereducated on addressing SDOH when identified. While many factors influence and drive educational practices, there is a lack of guidance in understanding best practices in teaching SDOH in online undergraduate health programs. Through my position as an adjunct instructor at Lamar University, I am interested in understanding my role as an adjunct instructor and tailoring previous literature to continue to advocate for more SDOH integration in course curriculum. The purpose of this quality improvement initiative was to 1) examine students’ perceptions and understanding of SDOH in their communities, 2) how health outcomes associated with their chosen SDOH impact program planning and understand approaches via photo essay assignments and peer-to-peer discussions. Discussion board posts and reflections were analyze in a qualitative review. Overall, students expressed positive and negative perceptions of certain SDOH domains, discussed how culture plays a role in SDOH context and program planning, and highlighted the gaps of usage or knowledge on existing assets in the community. Students expressed positive feedback regarding peer-to-peer learning, particularly through peer validation, learning from first-person experience, and increasing individual awareness of community assets. Tailoring previous activities outlined in the literature, focusing on student’s community assets and peer-to-peer learning is one effective SDOH teaching strategy to build knowledge. Other drivers to effectively increase SDOH learning include additional instructor knowledge of effective strategies and the individual knowledge, capacity, and permission to incorporate SDOH into course curriculum. After increasing my own confidence in incorporating one aspect of SDOH teaching, future implementation strategies to further SDOH teaching in online undergraduate courses include continued relationship building with department leadership and engaging professional peers’ current initiatives for system change.
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Details
| Item Type: |
University of Pittsburgh ETD
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| Status: |
Unpublished |
| Creators/Authors: |
|
| ETD Committee: |
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| Date: |
8 July 2024 |
| Date Type: |
Publication |
| Defense Date: |
24 April 2024 |
| Approval Date: |
8 July 2024 |
| Submission Date: |
3 May 2024 |
| Access Restriction: |
No restriction; Release the ETD for access worldwide immediately. |
| Number of Pages: |
99 |
| Institution: |
University of Pittsburgh |
| Schools and Programs: |
School of Education > Administrative and Policy Studies |
| Degree: |
EdD - Doctor of Education |
| Thesis Type: |
Doctoral Dissertation |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: |
Social determinants of health, online education, undergraduate pedagogy |
| Date Deposited: |
08 Jul 2024 13:38 |
| Last Modified: |
08 Jul 2024 13:38 |
| URI: |
http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/46382 |
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