THURS-052 - Understanding the Social Determinants of Health through a Gamified Learning Approach
Thursday, April 17, 2025
11:45 AM – 12:45 PM PST
Location: Pacific I/II, 2nd Floor
Area of Responsibility: Area III: Implementation Subcompetencies: 3.2.1 Create an environment conducive to learning., 3.1.5 Train staff and volunteers to ensure fidelity.
Assistant Professor California Polytechnic State University - SLO San Luis Obsipo, California, United States
Learning Objectives:
At the end of this session, participants will be able to:
Upon completion of this session, attendees will be able to explain the effectiveness of incorporating gamified learning elements in a SDOH training.
Upon completion of this session, attendees will be able to describe two gamified learning techniques to assist in the development of a SDOH training.
Upon completion of this session, attendees will be able to identify specific SDOH factors affecting their local communities using simulation-based learning experiences.
Brief Abstract Summary: Attendees will discover how a gamification-based training for understanding the social determinants of health (SDOH) can improve learning outcomes and enhance collegial collaboration among local health jurisdiction (LHJ) employees. Gamification is defined as “the use of game design elements in non-game contexts” (Sailer & Homner, 2019). Implementing gamified learning techniques into SDOH trainings will produce a collaborative ecosystem where colleagues work together to build empathy and rapport, and discover solutions (Kulkarni et al., 2022). Attendees will experience an interactive learning environment through gamification to understand how evidence-based strategies can be an effective tool for training LHJ employees on the SDOH and health equity.
Detailed abstract description: Local health jurisdictions (LHJ) are leaders of multisector community partnerships as they bridge resources, trainings, technical assistance, and funding to community-based organizations (Emery et al., 2024). Healthy People 2030 encourages LHJs to address the social determinants of health (SDOH) through a health equity approach by engaging in multisector partnerships and through their own workforce and infrastructure (NACCHO,2024). However, when 86% of the public health workforce does not have a public health degree, there is a knowledge deficit in understanding the SDOH (de Beaumont, 2021). This has the potential of limiting the work of LHJs in providing proficient training and technical assistance to their local jurisdictions. Innovative partnerships between Academia and LHJs can serve as a wave of change for effective professional preparation and development through a gamified learning approach. Attendees will participate in gamification activities to better understand how the SDOH influences health outcomes and life expectancies in their local communities. When participating in these gamified learning experiences, attendees will learn how to identify which SDOH is at play, while also recognizing the intersectionality of other societal factors. After the simulations, participants will reflect upon their experiences and how gamification techniques can be applied to future professional trainings.
