Upstream social determinants of health (SDH) have become widely acknowledged as lying at the root of poor health outcomes in Canada and globally. Conditions of social disadvantage restrict access to both social and physical resources, limiting the opportunity to actively pursue a healthy lifestyle. The Commission on the Social Determinants of Health maintains that educating the public about the SDH is a key step towards population health equity. Educating adolescents may be the most efficient and effective route of SDH knowledge dissemination, as youth are in a stage of peak learning, and are also easily reached through health education curriculum delivered in secondary school. However, health curriculum in Ontario is lacking in SDH content, placing a much greater emphasis on individual, lifestyle behaviors, such as diet, physical activity, and sax sex practices. Identifying a gap in SDH knowledge within this population, and evaluating the benefits of SDH education, is required to advocate for health curriculum revision to include SDH material. This project is designed as both a research study and SDH educational intervention. Concept mapping exercises were used to determine students’ knowledge of the determinants of health and the SDH. The impact of short term SDH education on student retention of SDH material was also evaluated. Student concept maps indicated that students attributed their health primarily to physical determinants versus social determinants; 44% of maps contained no SDH content. Statistical analyses prior to delivering the SDH lessons indicated that students’ SDH knowledge varied by their relative socioeconomic status (SES). Post-lesson analyses indicated however that student SDH knowledge increased significantly, and final levels of SDH knowledge following the SDH lessons was unaffected by socio-demographic variables. Findings suggest that 1) there is an SDH knowledge gap in the adolescent population, 2) an inequity in adolescent SDH knowledge exists across socio-economic factors, and 3) that SDH education can potentially eliminate the inequity in SDH knowledge. Current Ontario health curriculum requires revision to include SDH material. Designing curricula to have an optimal influence on both student learning and adolescent health requires greater communication and collaboration from both educational institutions and health agencies in Canada / Thesis (Master, Kinesiology & Health Studies) -- Queen's University, 2012-09-27 08:49:09.739
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:OKQ.1974/7526 |
| Date | 27 September 2012 |
| Creators | Kenney, KELLY |
| Contributors | Queen's University (Kingston, Ont.). Theses (Queen's University (Kingston, Ont.)) |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Rights | This publication is made available by the authority of the copyright owner solely for the purpose of private study and research and may not be copied or reproduced except as permitted by the copyright laws without written authority from the copyright owner. |
| Relation | Canadian theses |
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