Health Issues and Ethics

This course considers the nature of health itself, and explores the complexities of a health care system that corresponds with social work values and ethics while remaining sustainable. Three related themes serve as substrates for the semester: the nature of health, delivery of health care, and specific health experiences that are characterized by inequity, societal change, and/or a particular ethical dilemma. Issues such as how health and illness are defined, cultural safety, the roles of preventive and curative approaches, and the impacts and ethics of new technologies and societal change will be addressed. The course critiques public, private, and individualized models of health, focuses on community health care, and examines the particular challenges of marginalized communities. (Note: This is an online course).