Social Epidemiology

Aim

Knowledge and understandingOn completion of the course, the student shall be able to:

• understand and explain key epidemiological concepts and be able to explain and compare different epidemiological measures,
• describe the strengths and weaknesses of various epidemiological study designs and social epidemiology methods, and
• describe various epidemiological sources of error in epidemionological studies and understand their impact on study results.

Skills and abilitiesOn completion of the course, the student shall be able to:

• plan and argue in favour of social epidemiology study design and analyse and interpret data regarding determinants of health, and
• critically appraise social epidemiology studies in order to be able to assess their reliability and conclusions.

Judgement ability and approachOn completion of the course, the student shall be able to:

• evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the various definitions used to describe social conditions when applied in social epidemiology studies,
• evaluate ethical principles within social epidemiology research, and
• consider various aspects of sustainable development within social epidemiology research.

Content

The course deals with biopsychosocial determinants of health and disease and about the distribution of health within groups and populations.

The principal content of the course is:

• Basic epidemiological methodology in order to assess and explain social inequalities in health,
• How inequality in health arises based on social factors such as socio-economic situation, gender and ethnicity,
• Social epidemiology study design, implementation, analysis and application of results in various contexts.