Evaluating Social Determinants of Health Integration in Nursing Curricula

Abstract

Within nursing, professional standards and frameworks around integrating social determinants of health (SDOH) in education are a national priority. Developing curriculum plans to incorporate SDOH concepts requires deliberate efforts inclusive of evaluation methods to assess program outcomes. This chapter summarizes the evidence to support the need for innovative approaches to integrate SDOH in nursing education, a fundamental professional societal responsibility. This chapter provides an exemplar of a structured model used to evaluate SDOH curriculum integration efforts. The model represents the four levels of Kirkpatrick’s evaluation framework to appraise nursing students’ perception of relevance of SDOH to nursing practice; knowledge, skills, and confidence in assessing and addressing SDOH; use of course evaluations to appraise students’ perceived satisfaction and extent of course delivery of SDOH concepts; and experiential learning opportunities to bolster their knowledge and skill acquisition through application. This evaluative approach entails a bidirectional feedback loop involving and informing faculty development, interdisciplinary collaboration, and community engagement. Recognizing the variations in size and type of nursing educational programs globally, additional resources related to alternative evaluation models are provided. Considerations for assessing nursing students’ progressive competencies and longitudinal impact on professional practice are implications for scaling up efforts centered on appraisal of SDOH curriculum integration.