THURS-033 - Building Health Equity Brick by Brick: Using LEGO to Teach the Social Determinants of Health

Brief Abstract Summary: Social determinants of health (SDOH) are non-medical factors that influence health outcomes and quality of life, including the conditions in which people live, work, play, pray, and age. These social and environmental factors drive health disparities and inequities. Understanding SDOH is essential for future public health education professionals to design effective interventions. However, many students only learn basic definitions with little application or understanding of how SDOH affects health inequities. This presentation covers lessons on SDOH using LEGO® to simulate their impact. Students work in small groups to build neighborhoods with houses, schools, hospitals, grocery stores, and green spaces, reflecting varying access to resources. The activity allows learners to visualize inequities, fostering discussion, reflection, and critical thinking about systemic disparities and strategies for public health education to address them.

Detailed abstract description: Social determinants of health are non-medical factors that influence health outcomes and quality of life and are described as the conditions in which people live, work, play, pray, and age. These social and environmental factors contribute to ongoing health disparities and inequities. Learning about the social and environmental determinants is essential information for future public health education professionals to know in order to develop and implement effective public health education interventions. However, many students only learn basic information about the different types of social determinants, with little application of the information or students do not learn about the impact of SDOH on health inequities. When teaching important, foundational information about SDOH, it is not enough to simply provide definitions or examples. Students benefit most from interactive and experiential learning that demonstrates the real-world consequences of these factors. Additionally, it is important that learning includes a mixture of learning styles to help students understand information, especially information as complex as SDOH. One way to help students further understand SDOH, is to use a multi-modal, experiential approach to SDOH using LEGO® to apply information and visualize the impact of SDOH.

This presentation will cover the sequence of lessons on SDOH and how LEGO® was used to simulate how SDOH influences health outcomes.The activity demonstrates how differences in social and environmental conditions influence health outcomes across communities. Students were first given three locations in the U.S. that represented rural, urban, and suburban communities. Using County Health Rankings and other websites, students explore SDOH specific to these locations. Students then used multiple LEGO® sets that included pieces to represent the main categories of SDOH such as housing, education, employment and income, healthcare access, food access, transportation, and the environment (e.g., green spaces). Students then worked in small groups to “build” neighborhoods that reflect varying levels of access to resources and infrastructure in urban, rural, and suburban communities. Through this creative exercise, students explored how factors such as income, education, and environment shape community health and how to use data to create visualizations of pressing public health problems. This LEGO® simulation allows learners to visualize inequities in a concrete way; engages students in systems thinking; supports diverse learning styles (i.e., kinesthetic learning); fosters collaboration and reflection; and bridges theory and practice. Participants will learn how to adapt this interactive, LEGO® activity to promote systems thinking and enhance students’ understanding of SDOH, while fostering student engagement, critical thinking, and empathy in public health education.