David R. Williams, PhD, MPH; Professor of Public Health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

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This is the sixth video in an 8-part series. Click here to watch the next video and learn why health equity matters to Don Berwick.

Learning Objectives: At the end of this activity, you will be able to:

• Define the critical period for child development.
• Explain how health care can promote good long-term health.

Description: David R. Williams, Professor of Public Health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, has been researching health inequities in the United States for two decades. In this video, he sits down with Don Berwick, MD, President Emeritus and Senior Fellow at IHI, to discuss the role of both health care and social determinants to create health equity.

Watch the full conversation on YouTube.

Discussion Questions:

1. Do you think early childhood development is enough of a focus in your community or in the US more generally? Why or why not?
2. What are some of the ways educational opportunity affects health?
3. Have you heard about any successful programs that link patients in the health care system to social services that address the social determinants of health? How do they work?
4. Do you think Maslow’s hierarchy of needs can help explain why people struggle to be healthy? Have you ever met someone whose need for survival kept them from thinking about higher-order needs?