Social structures are the policies, economic systems, and other institutions that have produced and maintained current social inequities and health disparities. For health centers to remain committed to their mission of serving and improving the lives of underserved and vulnerable communities, the Structural Competency framework helps to strengthen the capacity of health workers to recognize and respond to health and illness as the downstream effects of broad social, political, and economic structures.
Throughout 2017, HOP worked with a subject matter expert from the Bay Area Structural Competency Working Group on refining their structural competency curriculum to be accessible for health centers. HOP staff was trained on the curriculum, and we have been presenting structural competency workshops at various conferences and PCA trainings during the past and current year.
The updated curriculum is now ready to be piloted, and HOP is partnering with both the Louisiana Primary Care Association and Northwest Regional Primary Care Association to pilot the training curriculum separately with their health centers. The pilot trainings aims to garner feedback on the curriculum and its relevance to health centers. When the trainings are completed, we will collect the findings, and refine the curriculum based on the pilot. Once the curriculum is finalized, HOP will be offering structural competency trainings for health centers and PCAs. Stay tuned!