Public health frameworks increase student's ability to propose solutions addressing health inequity

Area of Science:

• Physiology
• Public Health
• Health Disparities Research

Background:

• Sexual and gender minority (SGM) adults and Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) experience significant cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk inequities in the U.S.
• Pre-health students often lack foundational knowledge on CVD risks within marginalized populations and struggle to devise relevant interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if incorporating public health behavior change models (e.g., Health Belief Model) into a pathophysiology lecture improves students' problem-solving skills regarding CVD disparities in SGM and BIPOC communities.
• To assess the impact of an interdisciplinary lecture on students' knowledge and intervention strategy development for CVD risk reduction in marginalized groups.

Main Methods:

• A single lecture intervention on cardiovascular pathophysiology incorporating public health approaches was delivered to 100 pre-health students.
• Paired pre- and post-intervention surveys assessed subjective and objective learning outcomes, focusing on knowledge of CVD disparity mechanisms and intervention strategy creation.

Main Results:

• Student knowledge regarding mechanistic factors of CVD disparities in BIPOC and SGM populations significantly increased post-intervention.
• The intervention enhanced students' ability to propose solutions addressing these CVD disparities.
• Inclusion of public health frameworks moderately improved the development of novel, population-specific intervention strategies.

Conclusions:

• Teaching interdisciplinary models, such as public health frameworks, within physiology courses can enhance students' capacity to address cardiovascular disease risk in marginalized communities.
• This approach offers a novel strategy for training future healthcare professionals to tackle health inequities effectively.