CDCM PHA STEM Lesson – Focusing on Health Equity

In Focusing on Health Equity, student scientists examine the concepts of health equity and learn how social determinants of health can lead to unequal health outcomes for different groups of people. Students use a checklist to examine a built environment in their community. Students use CDC’s Environmental Justice Dashboard to compare environmental exposures, community characteristics, and health burdens of two different communities, then use their knowledge to design a more thorough built environment checklist. Students share their interventions with the public to explain the connection between social determinants of health and health outcomes.

Topics included in Focusing on Health Equity:

• Health equity and health disparities
• Social determinants of health
• Environmental justice
• Identifying health inequities
• Scientific method for conducting research
• Public health communication