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Cited by 50Public Health Policies and EducationHealth and Medical EducationCultural Competency in Health Care

Training Public Health Students in Racial Justice and Health Equity: A Systematic Review

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Chandler, Caroline E., Williams, Caitlin R., Turner, Mallory W., Shanahan, Meghan E.·2022·Public Health Reports®
DOI 10.1177/00333549211015665PMC PMC8900229
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Abstract

In an attempt to move the field of public health from documenting health disparities to acting to rectify them, in 2001, the American Public Health Association (APHA) recognized racism as a fundamental cause of racial health disparities. Both APHA and the Council on Education for Public Health have moved to incorporate new competencies in health equity for public health professionals. As schools and programs of public health work to establish curricular offerings in race and racism, a need exists to identify approaches currently in use that can be replicated, adapted, and scaled. This systematic review sought to identify pedagogical methods and curricula that exist to support the training of US public health students in understanding racism as a structural determinant of health. We found 11 examples from peer-reviewed literature of curricula, lessons, and competencies that have been developed by public health faculty and departments since 2006. The articles discussed a range of approaches to teaching about structural racism in public health, suggesting that little consensus may exist on how to best teach this material. Furthermore, we found little rigorous evaluation of these teaching methods and curricula. The results of this review suggest future research is needed on public health pedagogy on structural racism.

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Authors
Chandler, C. E., Williams, C. R., Turner, M. W., & Shanahan, M. E.
Affiliations
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (US)
Corresponding author
Chandler, Caroline E.
ORCID
Venue
Public Health Reports®
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Published
2021-05-19
Volume
137
Issue
2
Pages
375-385
ISSN
  • 0033-3549 (ISSN-L)
  • 1468-2877
DOI
10.1177/00333549211015665
PMC
PMC8900229
OpenAlex
W3162564445
Cited by
50
References
48
Citations by year
2026: 8 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 18 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 1
FWCI
9.79
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license (tdm)
Locations
  • Public Health Reports (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Carolina Digital Repository (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) (acceptedVersion)
  • UNC Libraries
Funders
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (T32HD007376)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Public Health Policies and Education
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health and Medical Education
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Cultural Competency in Health Care
Keywords
racial justice, health equity, structural racism, public health education, teaching methods, course program, health disparities, competence development, teaching about race
MeSH terms
Health Equity, Curriculum, Humans, Public Health, Social Justice, Students, Public Health, Racism

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