Cultural health capital as a tool for health equity: the role of school-based health education in community and family medicine

The role of primary care and family medicine in addressing social and structural determinants of health is well established, yet limited attention has been given to how young people acquire the skills needed to navigate healthcare systems. Cultural health capital-the repertoire of norms, communication styles and interactional competencies that shape patient-clinician encounters-represents an under-recognised determinant of access, engagement and equity across the life course. This article examines the potential of school-based health education and school-healthcare partnerships as strategic extensions of community-oriented primary care to strengthen cultural health capital among young people and their communities. Drawing on sociological theory, community-based practice examples, and evidence from existing K-12 school-based health initiatives, this article aims to argue that current health education programmes remain largely focused on information delivery, with limited emphasis on the practical skills required to navigate healthcare institutions. By integrating cultural health capital development into school curricula, particularly through partnerships with local family medicine and community health professionals, there is a scalable opportunity to enhance care navigation, trust and engagement while expanding avenues to healthcare professions. These reciprocal partnerships also provide clinicians with opportunities to deepen their understanding of local community contexts, communication norms and lived experiences. Framed within principles of community-oriented primary care, this article highlights the potential of school-healthcare partnerships to address upstream inequities and strengthen the capacity of both future patients and clinicians to engage more effectively with healthcare systems.