Course Syllabus

Title of Course SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH

Prefix and Number PUBHLTH 110

Semester and Year Spring 2026

Number of Credit Hours 3

Prerequisites none

Course Details

Day and Time: [T/Th]

Meeting Location: [tbd]

Instructor Contact Information

Instructor Name: [tbd]

Instructor Contact Information: [tbd]

Instructor Office Hours: [tbd]

TA Name: [tbd]

TA Contact Information: [tbd]

TA Office Hours: [tbd]

Course Description

This course is a 3-credit course that provides an introduction to and overview of the social determinants of health and their impact on health, functioning, and quality of life across the life course. Students completing this course will explore social, economic, environmental, and political factors contributing to health and health disparities across various populations and communities. Topics to be discussed include health disparities, the life course perspective, intersectionality, racism, discrimination, socioeconomic status, housing, and residential segregation, access to healthcare, and social and environmental factors. The course will examine current efforts to address the social determinants of health, advocacy, and efforts to effectively mobilize health promoting pathways. Students will be challenged to reflect upon the determinants critically and propose innovative and grassroots strategies to improve health, reduce health disparities, and address the nonmedical determinants of health.

Course Materials

Books: none.

Other Materials: Readings will be posted on Canvas or will be accessible online through the Washington State University library system.

Fees: n/a

Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) [add more lines if necessary]
Course Learning Outcomes (students will be able to:)	Activities Supporting the Learning Outcomes	Assessment of the Learning Outcomes
Identify and critically examine the social determinants of health, populations most impacted by the determinants, the role the determinants play in understanding health disparities, and how the determinants can impact health across the life course	In-class activities, exams, research paper	exams, assignment grades. participation
Analyze the historical underpinnings, systemic, and structural factors that influence and inform factors that contribute to health	In-class activities, reflections, exams, research paper	exams, assignment grades. participation
Discuss how structural bias, social inequalities, and racism undermine health and create challenges to achieving health equity across social ecological levels	Reflections, exams, research paper	exams, assignment grades.
Utilize evidence-based research and social and behavioral science theories to develop upstream interventions to address the social determinants and their impact on marginalized populations	Research paper, in-class activities, exams	exams, assignment grades. participation
Cultivate advocacy skills and further develop oral and written communication skills to address critical public health issues	In-class activities, reflections, research paper	assignment grades. participation
Design a grassroots advocacy organization that seeks to raise awareness of and address a particular social determinant of health	In-class activities, reflections	Participation, assignment grades

Course Schedule [Please note that a WSU semester is 15 weeks + Thanksgiving/Spring Break. The schedule below does not include the break.]
Dates	Lesson Topic	Assignment	Assessment
Week 1 [dates]	Introduction to the Social Determinants of Health	See Canvas	n/a
Week 2 [dates]	Key Perspectives, Frameworks, and Terms	Jones et al.: Life Course Approaches to the Causes of Health Disparities	Reflection #1
Week 3 [dates]	Socioeconomic Status: Education and Income	Barr: Chp. 3 - The Relationship Between Socioeconomic Status and Health	In-class 1
Week 4 [dates]	Socioeconomic Status: Employment and Working Conditions	*Ratcliff: Chp. 7 - Occupational Health Godefroy and Lewis: What Explains the Socioeconomic Status-Health Gradient? Evidence From Workplace COVID-19 Infections	Reflection #2, In-class 2
Week 5 [dates]	Political Determinants of Health	Dawes: Chp.3 - The Political Determinants of Health Model	In-class 3
Week 6 [dates]	Advocacy, Grassroots, and Social Movements	McKenzie: Community Organizing/Building	In-class 4, Reflection #3
Week 7 [dates]	Housing and Residential Segregation	Ortiz & Johannes: Building the Case for Housing Policy: Understanding Public Beliefs about Housing Affordability as a Key Social Determinant of Health	In-class 5; Paper proposal
Week 8 [dates]	Healthcare Access and Health Literacy	Douthit et al.: Exposing Some Important Barriers to Healthcare Access in the Rural USA Coughlin et al.: Health Literacy, Social Determinants of Health, and Disease Prevention and Control	In-class 6; Reflection #4
Week 9 [dates]	Built Environment: Nutrition and Food Insecurity; Exam 1	*Carrillo: Two communities, one county: how social determinants impact food security	EXAM 1
Week 10 [dates]	Built Environment: Neighborhood Crime and Violence	*Rivara et al.,: The Effects of Violence on Health Lanfear: Collective Efficacy and the Built Environment	In-class 7, Reflection #5
Week 11 [dates]	Environmental Conditions and Environmental Justice	Ratcliff: Chp 4: Environmental Health APHA: Environmental Justice for All	In-class 8
Week 12 [dates]	Social and Community Context: Social Support, Social Networks, and Social Cohesion	Barr: Chp. 4 - Understanding How Low Social Status Leads to Poor Health Gullet et al.,: Neighborhood Social Cohesion and Serious Psychological Distress among Asian, Black, Hispanic/Latinx, and White Adults in the United States: A Cross-Sectional Study	In-class 9, Reflection #6
Week 13 [dates]	Workshop Day	No readings this week!	In-class 10 (Workshop)
Week 14 [dates]	Presentations	No readings this week!	Research paper/presentation
Week 15 [dates]	Presentations	No readings this week!	presentation

Expectations for Student Effort

For each hour of lecture equivalent, students should expect to have a minimum of two hours of work outside of class. Some weeks will have a higher workload due to the nature of assignments. Please consult the course schedule and ask your instructor if you have questions.

Grading [add more lines if necessary]

Assignment Breakdown
Type of Assignment (tests, papers, etc)	Points	Percent of Overall Grade
Exams	2 x 100	33.3
In-class activities	10 x 10	16.7
reflections	6 x 25	25
Paper proposal	25	4.2
Research paper	125	20.8

Grading Schema
Grade	Percent
A	[>90]
B	[80 – 89]
C	[70 – 79]
D	[60 – 69]
F	[0 – 59]

[Scores will be rounded to the nearest whole percent to assign a letter grade]

Attendance and Make-Up Policy

Students should make all reasonable efforts to attend all class meetings. However, in the event a student is unable to attend a class, it is the responsibility of the student to inform the instructor as soon as possible, explain the reason for the absence (and provide documentation, if appropriate), and make up class work missed within a reasonable amount of time, if allowed. Missing class meetings may result in reducing the overall grade in the class.

Academic Integrity Statement

You are responsible for reading WSU's Academic Integrity Policy, which is based on Washington State law. If you cheat in your work in this class you will:

-Receive an F in the class

-Be reported to the Center for Community Standards

-Have the right to appeal my decision

-Not be able to drop the course of withdraw from the course until the appeals process is finished

If you have any questions about what you can and cannot do in this course, ask me.

If you want to ask for a change in my decision about academic integrity, use the form at the Center for Community Standards website. You must submit this request within 21 calendar days of the decision.