SW 481 Social Work Health & Health Care
Health is not simply a medical issue that begins in a doctor’s office. Rather, individual and population health are the end product of multiple biological, behavioral and social factors. This 3-credit course will examine health from the social work perspective, and how it concurs and contrasts with the perspective of other disciplines including medicine and public health. Students will gain an understanding of the distribution and determinants at multiple levels that contribute to health and disparities/inequities in health and health care. Special attention will be focused on how social, economic and cultural factors impact health and access to high quality health care. The course also will familiarize students with the different levels of prevention and become familiar with how each can be used to promote the health of individuals and communities. Students will learn about the movement towards an integrated health care model and its implication for their work on an interdisciplinary healthcare team. Upon completion of this course, students will have gained the initial practice skills relevant to social work in health care settings.