Docent Lecture with Can Liu: Not the Disabled Parent: A Social Model Approach to Child Health Inequality

Title of the lecture: Not the Disabled Parent: A Social Model Approach to Child Health Inequality

Can Liu is a researcher at the Department of Public Health Sciences, Stockholm University. Her work spans disability, maternal and child health, with a special interest in the intergenerational transmission of health. She leads projects on maternity care for women in minority statuses and on the health and development of children of parents with disabilities, and serves as a Commissioner for The Lancet Commission on Disability and Health, whose report is expected in 2027.

About the Lecture

When research shows unequal health outcomes between population groups, where should we look for solutions — in the group, or in the structures around it? What happens when we extend this reasoning to the next generation? The answers depend on the model of thinking we use. This lecture uses three models of disability as lenses to show how differently we can reason about the same evidence. Drawing on studies of children of parents with disabilities, it shows how the model we adopt shapes the research questions that often do (not) get asked and opens discussion of the ethical and policy implications of health inequality research.

This lecture is arranged by the Department of Public Health Sciences, Stockholm University.