What competencies do environmental health graduates need to manage social determinants of health?

Background: Graduates of environmental health engineering should be able to manage Social Determinants of Health (SDH) and acquire the essential competencies during their studies at university. This study was performed to determine the expected competencies of environmental health graduates in a way to be able to manage environmental and Social Determinants of Health according to their job description.

Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was performed using Delphi technique. First, the literature review was done and the Delphi technique was performed in three rounds. The purposeful sampling was used and 50 people were selected among the specialists in the field of environmental health engineering and SDH. Participants answered an open-ended question, for the first round. Then, a questionnaire with 8 areas was designed based on the results of the first round and distributed for the second round. Data analysis was performed using descriptive statistics. The third round was done to reach the agreement on final items.

Results: The agreement on the items of the third round of Delphi was more than 70%. The final results showed eight competency areas under which 29 competencies were defined. Competency areas included expert knowledge, reasoning and planning, advocacy, system-based practice, professionalism, instructional expertise, social and personal skills and, research and self-development. The first three priorities of the required competency areas were expert knowledge (4.46 ± 0.55), professionalism (4.42 ± 0.64), and advocacy (4.32 ± 0.77).

Conclusions: It is necessary that environmental health engineers achieve necessary competencies regarding managing SDH, upon their graduation. It is suggested to integrate these competencies into the curriculum of environmental and health engineering in Iran universities.