CSPL 314 / SISP 315 / SOC 315 – The Health of Communities

Our focus will be on understanding the role of social factors (e.g., income, work environment, social cohesion, food, transportation systems) in determining the health risks of individuals; considering the efficacy, appropriateness, and ethical ramifications of various public health interventions; and learning about the contemporary community health center model of care in response to the needs of vulnerable populations. In this overview, we explore the history of social medicine, the importance of language in public health efforts to conceptualize and frame health concerns, the complexity of any categorization of persons in discussions of health and illness, ethical issues related to the generation and utilization of community-based research, the role of place and the importance of administrative and cultural boundaries in the variability of health risk, and the idea of just health care. Enrolled students serve as research assistants to preceptors at Middletown’s Community Health Center (CHC) & Moses Weitzman Institute.