Salus Populi: Educating the Judiciary About the Social Determinants of Health jobs and careers

About Salus Populi: Educating the Judiciary About the Social Determinants of Health

In the U.S. legal system, with its strong tradition of judicial review, trial and appellate judges wield enormous authority over critical SDOH, such as housing stability, socio-economic position (as impacted by education and income), access to health care, structural racism, and the quality of the environment. Most empirical research on how law impacts health has focused on the impact of legislation, regulations, and law enforcement, but a small subset of this research demonstrates that judges can impact health. Despite their influence over SDOH, judges’ legal education does not usually discuss SDOH or their relationship to law. The Salus Populi Judicial Education Program is a tuition-free, interactive and discussion-oriented course that will provide judges with the tools they need to recognize how the social determinants of health (SDOH) impact the issues that come before courts and to read and evaluate public health research relating to the social determinants of health.