Friday, March 29, 2024
Created Date : Saturday, May 11, 2019   Update Date : Saturday, May 18, 2019   
An introduction to the Social Determinants of Health (SDHRC)
 
Following remarkable steps taken by the World Health Organization (WHO) on understanding the effects of Social Determinants of Health (SDH) and strategies to tackle the inequalities of health between and within regions, the Ministry of Health and Medical Education (MOHME) in Iran initiated a series of policies that align with this new perspective. Accordingly, Kerman University of Medical Sciences (KMU) established its Social Determinants of Health Research Center (SDHRC) to enhance and strengthen research on the area of SDH. This research center, which was established in 2012, is one of six research centers that collectively form the Institute for Futures Studies in Health (IFSH). SDHRC has grown at an acceptable pace: while it had only one part-time staff member at its beginning, it now has four full-time and one part-time staff, plus 22 members who collaborate with the center from inside and outside of KMU.
 
Resources and equipment
 
SDHRC has been well equipped with adequate hardware, software, physical space and technical support from the Institute for Futures Studies in Health. Moreover, it is located in the university campus. This has great advantages in terms of accessibility to scholars from both IFSH (who have a variety of academic backgrounds such as health policy, management, biostatistics, and informatics), and from the faculties of KMU working on campus. This often results in inspiring and easy collaboration with scholars outside the SDHRC.
 
Goals and objectives                               
 
In order to have a clear vision for the future, we have set up a strategic plan that defines our main goals, including promotion of knowledge and collaboration on the area of SDH among policy makers, the general population, and scholars within the university and outside the public health domain.