The Importance of Teaching History of Inequities in Public Health Programs

Learning the history of inequities is typically not a major part of public health degree programs but can be fundamental to truly understanding health inequities and identifying potential solutions. A historical perspective on inequities can help understand present-day inequities as constructed over time, provide needed context for community engagement efforts, and help identify the system of advantages and disadvantages based on race, gender, and class that have been built into U.S. society. There are many ways to integrate a historical perspective on inequities into public health degree programs, and this article provides an example course on historical roots of health inequities. To more effectively reduce health inequities, it is imperative that Schools and Programs of Public Health adopt curriculum content to provide public health professionals and researchers a much-needed historical perspective on inequities.