Wicked Problems
-
Wicked Problems: The Social Determinants of HealthWicked Problems have no clear cause and no clear solution. They are multifaceted, interrelated, and just plain tough to diagnose and solve. In this blog, the NNSI team hopes to (1) illustrate why socially determined health disparities are a wicked problem and (2) outline one approach to addressing such a multifaceted wicked problem.
|
Wicked Problem (Exerpt from above citation):
|
|
"1. Why socially determined health disparities are wicked problems
Socially determined health disparities are difficult to define.
- Human health is comprised of compounding factors such as genetic code, access to medical care, lifestyle choices, and social environment
- Bad health could be spurred by one, multiple, or all of these factors
- It is impossible to know to the exact degree and in what exact ways the social determinants play a role in negative health outcomes
Socially determined health disparities are inherently unsolvable
- Even if it were possible to understand the exact impact of social factors on health outcomes, many sub-factors comprise a social environment
- It would be impossible to solve all housing, utility, income, food, and other instabilities across the whole of humanity
- Outside of theoretical utopian society, these disparities are an inherent part of society
Socially determine health disparities pertain to government, social, or policy planning
- Housing, income, food insecurity, and access to utilities are hot topics in government, social, and policy planning
- Divisions such as the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) regularly work to combat these problems. Similar government departments are present in many other countries..."
Clinical Scholars: Examples of Wicked Problem Cohorts (UNC-Chapel Hill)
Clinical Scholars equity-centered leadership program was led by the University of North Carolina with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation from 2016-2023: