Experiential Learning Activities Addressing Social Determinants of Health in Health Professions Education: A Scoping Review

Social determinants of health (SDH) account for 50% of the variance in health outcomes and significantly contribute to health disparities. Proven strategies to address SDH in practice require interprofessional collaboration and community partnerships. Health professions students need to understand how to work in an interprofessional team to address the impact of SDH health outcomes and develop the skills to affect change in health disparities. This scoping review examined the literature on the outcomes of experiential, interprofessional education curricula designed to address SDH within the health professions. PubMed Central (PMC) and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) databases identified 346 articles; 30 studies met the inclusion criteria for analysis. Data were summarized and findings were categorized by learning outcomes using an expanded version of the Kirkpatrick Model. Evidence from this review shows that interprofessional models of training that incorporate student-led, community-based supports and interventions for underserved populations may lead to higher impact learning outcomes of SDH, including transfer of skills and patient benefit, when compared to other experiential learning activities without an intervention component, such as simulation or community-based exposure experiences. Instructors should consider the desired learning outcomes in designing interprofessional experiences that include SDH objectives.