Open AccessA Call to Action: Training Public Health Students to Be Effective Agents for Social Change
Author(s) -
Hilary Godwin,
S. Jody Heymann
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
american journal of public health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.284
H-Index - 264
eISSN - 1541-0048
pISSN - 0090-0036
DOI - 10.2105/ajph.2014.302356
Subject(s) - variety (cybernetics) , public health , public relations , action (physics) , face (sociological concept) , call to action , context (archaeology) , work (physics) , behavior change , social change , political science , psychology , sociology , medicine , business , social psychology , computer science , nursing , marketing , engineering , social science , geography , mechanical engineering , physics , archaeology , quantum mechanics , artificial intelligence , law
In the 21st century, we face enormous public health challenges that differ fundamentally from those of the last century, because these challenges involve widespread societal change and complexity. To address these challenges, public health professionals need to be able to place their work in a larger social context, understand local and global perspectives on a deeper level, and effectively engage a wide variety of stakeholders. To confer these skills, we need to change the way we train our students. We present two examples of low-cost innovative approaches to teaching public health that promote active engagement with individuals across a wide range of backgrounds and fields and that train students to be effective agents for change.