Public-Facing Visibility of Social Determinants of Health Content in Speech-Language Pathology Graduate Programs: A National Curriculum Review

Purpose: Social determinants of health (SDoH) shape communication, swallowing, feeding, developmental, educational, and health outcomes across the lifespan. As speech-language pathologists (SLPs) increasingly serve individuals, families, and communities affected by social and structural conditions, graduate education represents an important point of professional preparation. However, limited evidence describes whether SDoH-related content is visible in public-facing speech-language pathology graduate curricula. Method: This descriptive, cross-sectional curriculum review examined publicly available materials from 291 Council on Academic Accreditation–accredited speech-language pathology graduate programs in the United States. Program websites, graduate catalogs, course listings, course titles, course descriptions, and program descriptions were reviewed for SDoH-related language. SDoH visibility was coded across three public-facing locations: course titles, course descriptions, and program descriptions. Descriptive statistics summarized overall visibility, visibility patterns, explicit versus indirectly suggested SDoH language, course type, school or college housing, and geographic distribution. Results: Public-facing evidence of SDoH content was limited across accredited speech-language pathology graduate programs. Of the 291 programs reviewed, 45 included SDoH-related content in at least one public-facing location, while most programs had no identifiable SDoH content in the reviewed materials. When SDoH content was visible, it appeared most often in course descriptions, followed by course titles and program descriptions. Only a small number of programs demonstrated visibility across all three reviewed locations. Among programs with SDoH content, course type varied, with SDoH-related content appearing more often in required coursework than elective coursework; for some programs, course type could not be determined from public-facing materials. Conclusions: Findings suggest that SDoH-related preparation is not consistently visible in public-facing speech-language pathology graduate curriculum materials. Although some programs explicitly or indirectly reference SDoH-related concepts, visibility varies by curricular location, specificity of language, and course type. Greater transparency and intentional integration of SDoH content may strengthen alignment between graduate education, ethical and professional responsibilities, accreditation expectations, and the needs of diverse communities served by SLPs. Supplemental Material: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.34930578