DESIGNING NEEDS AND ASSETS ASSESSMENT
DESIGN NEED & ASSET ASSES
The first essential step in the process of designing successful public health programs is to understand the needs that motivate these programs and the assets that can be brought to bear on developing them. The purpose of this course is to enable students to perform specific steps in a needs and assets assessment and to plan how to facilitate participation by those who will be affected by a resulting program. The assessment process encompasses two main components: an epidemiologic, behavioral, and social analysis of a community and population at risk for a health-related problem; and an effort to understand the character of the community, its members, and its strengths.
At the start of the course, we will discuss pre-assessment work which includes planning to put together a work group for planning the needs and assets assessment. We will touch on essential elements of encouraging participation, work-group management, and culturally sensitive practice. Simultaneously, we will create a logic model of a selected health problem using Step 1 of Intervention Mapping which employs an adapted version of the PRECEDE part of the PRECEDE-PROCEED model. Using this model, students will fully define their population and context for their assessments, posing questions, and choosing methods and data sources for completing each part of the logic model of the problem selected (heretofore referred to as the Logic of Risk). At the same time, we will cover various approaches and data sources for assessing a community’s strengths/assets. Finally, we will discuss post-assessment tasks including setting priorities and setting program goals for health and quality of life outcomes.
- R 6:40 p.m.-7:40 p.m.
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Instructor:
Carole L Hutchinson
Info - 1.5 points
Communicating Health Risks to the Public
This course explores health risk communication approaches and strategies, focusing on their practical application in real-world scenarios. Students learn how to use the power of effective communication to advance informed decision-making about public health issues. With a keen eye on the dynamics of interpersonal, organizational, and mediated channels, students delve into the nuances of crafting impactful messages that evoke predictable effects and facilitate positive outcomes. Students gain insights into how communication shapes the public’s experience of health risks, as well as how to manage emotions and conflicts and address contemporary communication issues, including infodemics and misinformation.
Additionally, a trauma-informed approach is utilized to gain insights into the prevalence and consequences of trauma, how it influences behaviors and decision-making, and the intersection with crisis communication. One of the highlights of this course is its focus on cultivating public speaking skills. Students learn to navigate complex public health topics with confidence, empathy, and a commitment to clear, authentic, and trustworthy communication.
This course is highly experiential, offering ample opportunities to put theory into practice. A diverse range of communication materials will be produced, encompassing written documents and multimedia presentations. Students will gain the skills necessary to create compelling, evidence-based, and accessible content tailored to diverse stakeholders.
- R 7 p.m.-9 p.m.
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Instructor:
Carina Schmid
Info - 1.5 points
ADV MPH Online Integrative Learning Expe
Integrative Learning Exp.
The Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH), the institution that accredits public health schools and programs in the United States, requires that all students complete an Integrated Learning Experience (ILE) to earn an MPH degree. The ILE, submitted as students near completion of their degree, is considered the culminating experience providing students the opportunity to highlight proficiencies and to make connections between significant elements of the MPH education. As students progress towards fulfilling degree requirements, they, in consultation with their advisors, identify foundational and program specific competencies to support their education and career goals. The ILE requirement stipulates students demonstrate the acquisition and synthesis of competencies they have identified with their faculty advisors through the submission of a high-quality written document.
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Instructor:
Stephanie A Grilo
Info - 0 points
The Impact of Climate Change on Public H
Fossil fuel burning and deforestation will continue to be human-derived sources of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2). This increase in CO2 and other infra-red trapping gases is of consequence to human health—but for two reasons. The first is one you are all familiar with—climatic change—and the consequences from heat to air pollution, from water quality to migration. The second reason is that CO2 is the source of carbon for plants—and hence for all living things. And that increase, of and by itself, will also impact human health—directly (allergic dermatitis) and indirectly (human nutrition, medicine). All living things will be affected. How they will be affected, the nature of the changes, and finally, the ways and means that we can begin to address the consequences with respect to human health are the core of this course. Ways and means will not only refer to academic or scientific approaches, but a focus on communication. How we can begin to explain the science and the consequences, the uncertainties and the likely outcomes in a way that will illicit change. During this course, students will become knowledgeable about the science of anthropogenic climate change and the consequences as they relate to public health. They will develop practical skills and tools to address impacts in their future careers, including an overview of mitigation and adaptation. The course is designed to not only provide an overview of climate and health, but to foster and develop a means of how to begin to address solutions at different societal levels. Further, this course is designed to nurture a mindset of inquiry and group learning--to communicate those evaluations simply and understandably to a lay audience. The course is appropriate for students who are interested in global climate change and who wish to expand their general knowledge as to causes, outcomes, response and concerns as they relate to public health.
- W 7 p.m.-8:20 p.m.
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Instructor:
Lewis Ziska
Wikipedia Info - 3 points
Implementation Science in Public Health
In recent decades there has been an unprecedented increase in the level of funding for public health and medical research, which has resulted in interventions that are proven to prevent and cure disease and prolong individuals’ quality of life. While this presents a unique opportunity to achieve large-scale improvements in population health, meeting this moment implies the need for appropriate, scalable strategies to ensure that achievements in scientific discovery reach populations in a manner that is widespread, equitable, high quality and sustainable. This quest remains elusive. Indeed, it has been estimated that it takes, on average, 17 years to translate 14% of evidence-based interventions (EBI) that arose from original research into programs that reach large populations through routine health care delivery systems. How, then, do we take what we ‘know’ and do it better when we introduce, implement, and spread EBI in health systems? Implementation science draws upon diverse disciplinary traditions and provides conceptual and methodological approaches for systematically and scientifically framing and answering such questions. In doing so, implementation science helps health systems bridge the “know-do gap” and creates opportunities for achieving universal health coverage and other global health goals. The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the field of implementation science and prepare them as practitioners and researchers on how to apply its principles, frameworks, and methods in ‘real world’ settings. Through a combination of lecture, readings, discussion and assignments, students will learn how to examine the evidence base of effective interventions; understand and contextualize “evidence-to-practice” gap(s); select, adapt, and apply implementation strategies to address those gaps; and critique and design research studies for the purpose of understanding whether these strategies succeed, or not, and why. Throughout the 14 modules of the course, a balanced emphasis will be placed on theory and methods and their application in case studies taking place both in the United States and in low- and middle-income countries. In addition, through case studies, students will learn how salient public health priorities are advanced through the application of implementation science theories and methods (e.g., health equity and disparities reduction, building resilient health systems and communities, sustainability and sustainment).
Service-Based Research Design and Data C
SERVICE-BASED RESEARCH DE
Public health research, particularly service-based research, is a challenging enterprise. Its execution requires grounding in scientifically-based, standardized approaches to research design and implementation, as well as flexibility and skill in adapting those techniques to the unique needs of any program, organization, setting, or population. Many of us have had experience with "studies" that did not adequately collect data needed to initiate, evaluate, and/or improve whatever health problem or issue it was supposed to. This course provides students with the requisite skills for conducting successful service-based research, including fundamental concepts and components of research design, the development of research questions and hypotheses, and decision-making strategies for study data collection protocols and materials. In this course, students will also actively engage in qualitative and quantitative data collection, becoming familiar with field considerations, pre-testing, interviewing techniques, and the design, preparation, and use of topic guides for in-depth interviews/focus groups, and structured questionnaires for in-person, self-administered, and on-line surveys. By the conclusion of the course, students will have a complete, self-designed questionnaire, and will be able to plan and execute a sound research study.
- R 5:30 p.m.-6:50 p.m.
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Instructor:
Silpa Srinivasulu
Info - 3 points