week 2

Structural vulnerability: Operationalizing the concept to address health disparities in clinical care.

Abstract

• Reinvigorate traditional social history to address negative health outcomes from social determinants of health.

• Introduce a medical vulnerability assessment questionnaire to operationalize structural vulnerability in clinical practice.

• Present a Structural Vulnerability Assessment Tool to identify pathways exacerbating patients' health problems.

• Help clinicians identify patients who could benefit from multi-disciplinary health and social services.

• Contrast two cases of structurally vulnerable patients showing differing outcomes for implementation in resource-limited settings (e.g., emergency department).

• Operationalizing structural vulnerability can enhance students' critical thinking on how social structures affect health.

• Tool promotes structural competency, a new priority in medical education, improving understanding of social conditions affecting health care access.

• Framework encourages mobilization of resources to enhance access to care and long-term health outcomes.

• Ultimately, aims to guide health care providers towards policy leadership to reduce health disparities and foster health equity.