Course 1: Assessing and Defining the Problem
Timeframe: 2 days
Learning Objectives: By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:
- Describe how evidence, stakeholder perspective, and social determinants of health contribute to a problem definition
- Identify structural inequities that perpetuate the problem
- Use systems thinking to scope and diagnose a problem
- Develop a concise problem statement
During this 2-day, skills-based workshop, participants learn to define a health or social problem in terms of the systems and structures that perpetuate the problem. Participants consider how problems are socially constructed in order to gain the attention of system and policy decision-makers. They consider sources of information about the problem, including “evidence” (as contrasted with “data”) and stakeholder perspectives on the problem. They learn how social determinants of health can be investigated to reveal structural inequities that are the root causes of health disparities. Participants are introduced to systems thinking to clarify the scope of a problem, and to point toward the type of solution to pursue. They practice drafting a problem statement for different target audiences.