Student Research Support:

SDOH in DE: Students

Walden University recognizes that education contributes to healthy individuals, communities, and society, and, as a leader in the field of distance education aims to produce scholar practitioners who further contribute to healthy individuals, communities, and society through positive social change. The Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) model, premised upon the idea that socially imposed forces are causative factors that influence life and learning (Sanderson et al., 2021), is a central tenet that informs Walden’s mission of education for good. As such, the university values research that investigates issues of educational justice and equity across the educational life span (Beyond the Social Determinants of Learning, 2021) that add to, or even challenge, the current understanding and practice of the SDOH in the context of distance education. 

Program Goals

The Social Determinants of Health in Distance Education (SDOH in DE) Research Grant program invites proposals that address a topic relevant to the intersection of the SDOH, educational justice and equity, and distance education. Proposals for studies conducted by student investigators in all academic fields are encouraged to apply.

The purpose of this grant opportunity, funded by the Walden Associate President Research Grant program, is to encourage research in the name of the university that contributes scholarship on distance education and its relationships to, and impacts on, educational justice and equity, and the Social Determinants of Health more broadly. Grant funds are to be used to support the direct cost of conducting research.

References 

Lindell, A., Morgan, A., Sugarman, B., Tervala, D., Westermann, J., et al. (2021). Beyond the Social Determinants of Learning: A Walden University Position Paper. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/white_papers/3/ 

Sanderson, C. D., Hollinger-Smith, L. M., & Cox, K. (2021). Developing a Social Determinants of Learning™ Framework: A case study. Nursing Education Perspectives (Wolters Kluwer Health), 42(4), 205–211. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.NEP.0000000000000810