Students will learn to design an evidence-based and culturally appropriate public health program in US and global contexts. Students will work in a small group throughout the semester to design a public health program on a topic of their choice. Specifically, students will gain competence in analyzing local needs and resources; developing an evidence-based, technically and programmatically sound causal pathway; articulating program objectives; designing relevant technical components; and designing the program’s monitoring and evaluation plan, implementation plan and budget.
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The class explores how laws, policies, and rights function to shape public health, with particular emphasis on the implications of this interaction for rights-based approaches to health programs, policy and advocacy. The course includes an introduction to the principles, provisions and underlying assumptions of law, policy and rights related to public health. Students then have the opportunity to use human rights tools and principles in documentation of health-related human rights violations and formulation of programmatic and advocacy responses to violations. A wide range of issues – HIV, health problems of criminalized populations, autonomy of people living with mental disorders, racial discrimination in health services and related policy, and rights-unfriendly practices of for-profit companies – are used to illustrate the importance of human rights inquiry and analysis in public health.
In public health emergencies involving infectious disease, there is often a legitimate necessity to curtail individual rights in the name of protecting the public. Simultaneously, a government’s failure to adequately respond to an emergency may also represent a violation of their obligations. Private actors, philanthropic, commercial or otherwise, can also have a substantial impact on health and responses to public health emergency. The COVID-19 pandemic illustrates these relationships and provides a basis to understand the tensions that arise. The relationship between public health and human rights is a complex and evolving one. From quarantining and mandated isolation in the 14th century to modern lockdown measures and the HIV epidemic, there have been tensions with human rights and in some instances, public health measures have been associated with a range of human rights abuses. In the COVID-19 crisis, many countries drew from this armamentarium of non-pharmaceutical interventions, implementing mass lockdowns and contact tracing that heavily implicated individual rights of freedom of movement and privacy and where the manner of implementation sometimes fell short of human rights standards, leading some places to inappropriate use of criminal law and elevated risk of interpersonal violence. In addition, there remain debates about the use of coercive measures such as vaccine mandates. Global inequity has also shaped governments’ abilities to respond and determined access to life-saving medical interventions and supplies. Price-gouging and other practices of pharmaceutical and medical equipment companies may undermine the public’s right to health while the concentration on vaccine manufacturing capacity limited access to vaccines in the poorest countries. The right to scientifically sound health information, crucial in infectious disease emergencies, is often denied or at least becomes difficult to manage in the context of uncertainty and shifting evidence bases. We are now also coming to terms with the unintended impact public health responses had on the basic rights of persons who lost their livelihoods due to the disease, disruptions to food systems and compromising access to routine healthcare services. In the aftermath of the pandemic, significant international reforms are being undertaken including a revision of the international health regulations and the negotiation of the pandemic treaty. This course will examine this evolution in human rights through the lens of different public health emergencies
This course examines how public health defines and measures the health of adolescents, youth, and young people; how individual, social, environmental, and structural determinants shape their health behaviors and outcomes; where reliable data on young people’s health come from and their limitations; and why investing in this population is critical. Adolescents and young adults represent a large and growing share of the global population, about 1.8 billion people aged 10–24 (nearly 90 percent of whom live in low- and middle-income countries), and investments in their health yield a “triple dividend” for individuals, across the life course, and for future generations. Adolescence and young adulthood are pivotal developmental periods marked by rapid biological, cognitive, emotional, and social change that unfold within shifting social, economic, and cultural contexts. While most young people are considered “healthy” by traditional indicators, slower improvements in adolescent health compared with childhood, persistent engagement in health-compromising behaviors, school dropout, and underuse of health services signal substantial unmet need. Social determinants including poverty, policy environments, education, and access to youth-friendly services, along with family, peer, school, and community support, play a central role in shaping young people’s health and underscore the essential role of public health in improving outcomes during this critical life stage. The first half of the course will focus on fundamentals of adolescent health such as definitions, conceptual models, and adolescent development. The second half will focus on key issues in adolescent health, including site visits to understand several innovative, “youth-friendly” models for adolescent health promotion. Issues such as the HIV among youth, fertility, and marginalization of LGBTQ and justice-involved youth will be framed as public health issues. Key theoretical approaches will be emphasized throughout the course. Young people will be viewed as potentially powerful change agents who are resources to be developed not problems to be fixed. The participation of public health practitioners in developing, implementing, monitoring, evaluating, and advocating for "youth friendly" services grounded in evidence, theory, and human rights will be illustrated and discussed throughout the course. Students will increase their knowledge of adolescent and young adult health through assigned readings, class discussions, group activities, written assi
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 theory-guided research questions and hypotheses, and decision-making strategies for study designs and 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 and structured questionnaires for surveys. By the conclusion of the course, students will have a complete, self-designed questionnaire ready to field on Qualtrics, and will be able to plan and execute a sound research study.
In this course you will learn to develop and implement a quantitative data analysis plan and to interpret the results of quantitative analyses using datasets from actual evaluation studies. The early phase of the course will focus on necessary and essential pre-analysis tasks often overlooked in the research training process. These include: identifying and resolving dirty data including logical inconsistencies, and conducting simple and complex data transformations. The second half of the course focuses on conducting bivariate and multivariable statistical tests. This is an applied course, emphasizing skill building through hands-on work using STATA in each class session. Reflecting the focus on skill building, this course includes weekly homework using STATA.
Required breakout for P8617 Research Design and Data Collection. Applies concepts learned in P8617 through small group interactions. All sections cover the same content.
Required breakout for P8617 Research Design and Data Collection. Applies concepts learned in P8617 through small group interactions. All sections cover the same content.
Required breakout for P8617 Research Design and Data Collection. Applies concepts learned in P8617 through small group interactions. All sections cover the same content.
Required breakout for P8617 Research Design and Data Collection. Applies concepts learned in P8617 through small group interactions. All sections cover the same content.
This course is designed to provide students with an overview of key child health problems and programmatic solutions based on the evidence. By studying examples of significant child health problems and solutions in a range of populations in the United States and internationally, students will learn how to define and assess a child health problem and become familiar with public health intervention strategies and their potential impact. In addition, students will gain an understanding of how social and environmental conditions contribute to morbidity and mortality, as well as individual risk within a population and health disparities across populations. The format combines lectures and discussion with team-based learning. Assignments include readings (available on Canvas) to provide background for each session, and team-based exercises and presentations.
The collection of qualitative data is widespread and growing in public health research, however the credibility and quality of qualitative research rests upon utilizing systemic rigor in collecting, recording, organizing, categorizing, and interpreting qualitative findings. Focusing in particular on focus group data (though individual interview data can also be used), this course introduces a variety of approaches to qualitative data analysis, with a focus on applying thematic or framework analysis, and facilitates their application and manuscript development through hands-on group work and work outside of class.
Increasing demand for transparency and accountability, particularly with respect to donor-funded humanitarian programs, has heightened the need for skilled evaluators. To this end, students in this course will become familiar with various forms of evaluation and acquire the technical skills necessary for their development, design and execution through lectures and discussion, exercises, guest presentations and real-world examples. Specifically, students will discover evidence-based methods for identifying stakeholders, crafting evaluation questions, designing instruments, sampling and data gathering to achieve good response rates, analysis and synthesis of information for report-writing and case studies.
This course will provide an overview of the regulatory and legal aspects that govern and shape global health, including both hard and soft law instruments. Many reforms and innovations in global health law have occurred in response to crisis and advocacy (such as the Doha Declaration, the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and the PIP Framework). Yet, not all instruments have been equally effective in achieving their goals. The course will examine how these legal instruments shape global health and responses to disease as well as the context in which these reforms arose and will critically consider these instruments in their political context to understand how different interests have shaped the effectiveness and impact of law on global health. Topics covered would include: human rights, justice and global health, pandemic response (the international health regulations and the pandemic influenza preparedness framework), corporate power, trade law and global health (including the TRIPS Agreement and tobacco control), non-communicable diseases and law (including the framework convention on tobacco control and the international code on breastmilk substitutes), equity and the ongoing pandemic accord negotiations, and using global health law to address rising threats such as antimicrobial resistance and climate change. Through lectures, case studies, and critical discussions, students will gain foundational knowledge, assess the impact and limitations of global health laws, and develop skills for identifying areas for reform and advocacy. This course aims to give students 1) an overview and foundational understanding of key global health law instruments and how they operate 2) a critical understanding of the shortcomings and strengths of the instruments and 3) the ability to identify areas for reform and advocacy efforts to improve global health outcomes. Readings for this course will consist of interdisciplinary global health law scholarship, legal scholarship and public health policy research.
Migration is a complex social phenomenon which deeply affects human life. Immigrants face difficulties adjusting to destination environments and are potentially exposed to adverse policies and experiences such as discriminations and stigma, affecting their well-being, regardless of reasons for migration. Understanding migration and its impact on health is important for disease prevention, preserving the health and rights of migrants and assuring the well-being of the communities of which they are a part of. This course will identify and analyze the economic, institutional, socio-political and cultural factors affecting the health and well-being of immigrants in the US. It will assess past and existing policies and programs to ascertain the extent to which they respond(ed) to the needs of the populations. This course will look at existing health disparities among immigrant populations. Students will explore structural factors affecting the health of immigrants and the existing health disparities. Students think critically about programs and policies that address important health disparities in the context of immigration issues.
Children who experience safe, stable, and nurturing childhoods that foster resilience undoubtedly experience better lifelong health and well-being. The 1998 landmark study, Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), demonstrated that when adults recalled negative experiences, they had significantly higher rates of poor lifelong physical and emotional health. It is through the exposure of the developing brain to this constant toxic stress that results in changes to brain infrastructure, ultimately reducing executive function and increasing the risk of poor lifelong health and well-being outcomes. Despite adversity and presence of ACEs, research has shown that positive childhood experiences can have long-lasting protective effects on adult well-being and health. Designed for second-year students, this service learning course will explore (1) the scientific evidence underlying the impact of childhood adversity on health and social functioning across the lifespan, and (2) strategies to address both the causes and consequences of ACEs and trauma. Students will integrate the knowledge gained in the classroom by developing a service project with their peers. This course will be open to students from other Columbia University professional schools, including but not limited to The School of Nursing and the School of Social Work.
All people have a right to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services, including the millions of people in the world who are affected by conflict, forced displacement, natural disasters or other emergencies. Complex emergencies pose many barriers to the implementation, quality and accessibility of SRH services at the same time as they also carry direct risks to SRHR, including gender-based violence. Most emergency-affected populations include large numbers of women and adolescents, but their SRH needs have too often been neglected in emergency interventions. This short course will help students to understand the challenges of and opportunities for provision of SRH services in humanitarian settings and related policy issues, which constitute a relatively new field of public health. The course will invite experts in this field from organizations active in service provision or advocacy.
The design, implementation, and evaluation of health interventions in complex emergencies requires a particular professional orientation and skill set. Throughout this course, students will gain practice with and understanding of the complementary roles of qualitative and quantitative approaches and how they can be tailored to emergency settings. By the end of the class, students should be competent in a range of skills including applying complex sampling strategies, designing surveys, leading focus groups and participatory activities with local stakeholders, estimating key epidemiologic indicators, and analyzing data and information from diverse sources. Through individual assignments, group work, lectures, case studies and participatory discussions, students will develop diverse skills and experiences that they will be able to apply to their future work in a range of complex field settings.
This course examines a range of historical and current issues relating to the politics and policies of abortion with a focus predominantly on the United States. It will review the history of abortion politics and policy in the United States – and examine how abortion has become so politically fraught – to better understand how access and outcomes have changed over time. In the seven sessions, students will analyze real-time policy debates and developments in the courts, in state legislatures and in federal policy. Students will review recent social science research and messaging research and will engage with a wide range of texts and resources and will hear from experts in the field. The class will delve into recent research studies on abortion access in the post-Roe environment and examine how various laws have impacted abortion access, how immigration status impacts access to care, and how abortion access impacts economic outcomes across the lifecycle. It will review the major Supreme Court cases that have impacted sexual and reproductive health and rights and explore ongoing litigation. Students will also have the opportunity to explore the ways that U.S. international policy have impacted abortion access internationally. Lastly, it will review how states are experimenting with policies that expand access to sexual and reproductive health care and allow students to imagine what inclusive, effective policies could look like at the state, federal and international level.
Contemporary armed conflicts and complex humanitarian emergencies create significant mental health burdens and psychosocial suffering that damages health and well-being, limits development, and enables cycles of violence. Taking a multidisciplinary approach, this course examines the sources of psychosocial vulnerability and resilience in situations of forced migration and analyzes what kinds of emergency psychosocial and mental health interventions are most effective, appropriate, and scalable. It reviews broadly the current state of knowledge and practice, surveys practical tools of holistic psychosocial and mental health support in emergency settings, and analyzes the current limitations of the field. The course probes how issues of culture and power shape understandings and measures of mental health and psychosocial well-being, and it invites critical thinking about the implications of the “Do No Harm” imperative in regard to psychosocial and mental health supports. It also encourages thinking about how psychosocial support relates to wider tasks of humanitarian relief, economic and political reconstruction, protection, and peace building.
Each year there are 146 million births, 57 million deaths, and the world population grows by 89 million people – about 243,000 per day or 10,000 an hour. This has an impact on the people and nations of the world--public health; economies; national security, environment, etc. in countless ways. This course focuses on the determinants of these changes and their consequences for the future health and well-being of the human population. This is also an introduction to how demographers study the determinants and consequences of population trends. The course provides an understanding of the field of demography, the study of human populations, and how they change by birth, death, and migration, and ultimately shape population health. The course builds on an overview in the CORE to demonstrate demographic issues and methods in public health. The course presents population issues and policies in global contexts as well as in the United States.
The objective of this course is to provide students with an understanding of the sources and content of international human rights law (IHRL) including who the law protects (rights-holders), who it obligates (duty-bearers), and how human rights are enforced in law and practice. The course will situate the human rights regime within the broader corpus of international law to protect rights in different contexts, including international humanitarian law, international criminal law and international refugee law. Key challenges and contemporary debates in international human rights law will be explored, including the relationship and relative importance of civil and political rights versus economic, social and cultural rights, and the role of the law in holding non state actors accountable for human rights abuses, including corporations and armed groups. The course will profile and discuss how the law has evolved and adapted over time to serve as a dynamic tool to protect individuals. In so doing, we will explore the historical role of civil society in shaping and influencing the development of the law. The course will begin with an overview of the origins and sources of international human rights law and the political factors that shaped its content and that continue to feature in contemporary debates around human rights. Session two will introduce students to the key global and regional mechanisms that seek to enforce human rights in law and practice. Subsequent sessions will explore a limited number of rights in more detail including the right to life, looking at both its civil and political rights dimensions, as well as economic and social rights to food, health and adequate housing that are critical to living a life of dignity. The right to be free from torture and cruel and inhuman treatment will also be explored and situated in the context of contemporary debates around its application to the private sphere including healthcare settings. The final two sessions will focus on the challenge of human rights protection in the context of conflict and displacement. Students will examine the international refugee regime as well as efforts that have been made to develop a framework to protect those who are internally displaced as a result of conflict. The final session will review basic concepts of international humanitarian law (IHL) – who it protects and who it obligates – and also examine the increasingly important relationship between IHL and IHRL, and the evolving system of international criminal law, exploring
Sexual and Reproductive Health, Rights, and Justice (SRHRJ) issues are often subject to intense political debate, overshadowing evidence-based approaches and rational discourse. This course is designed to equip public health students with the tools and skills they need to navigate these complexities and drive meaningful change. This is a course for students who want to understand and practice how their public health degree can be useful within advocacy movements. Together, we will explore the critical role of public health professionals in advocacy, with a focus on SRHRJ. Through a global lens, the course highlights strategies that professionals can use to foster equitable, evidence-driven advocacy. Students will learn to approach these challenges as evidence-based experts, strategic communicators, policy analysts, and collaborative leaders in advocacy movements. By the end of the course, students will not only understand the varied contributions to effective advocacy but also how to actively lead and participate in transformative movements.
Abortion is healthcare and it is crucial for public health students to learn about abortion access in the United States and its significant impact on health outcomes. Abortion has become a complex topic, fraught with political interference and intersects with numerous aspects of healthcare, including reproductive rights, maternal health and social justice. Students will explore the real-word implications of abortion policy through readings, data analysis, vigorous class discussion and guest speakers. Understanding the medical, legal and ethical dimensions of abortions will allow students to develop a comprehensive understanding of reproductive health and the factors that influence it on the ground. By studying abortion, starting from the basics, students will explore the boarder implications of healthcare systems, policy development and overall well-being of individuals and communities. With this knowledge, students will be able to contribute to the development of evidence-based strategies, interventions and advocacy that address reproductive needs and promote equitable access to safe and comprehensive care.
Despite increasing resources invested into health programs in low- and middle-income settings, and despite significant knowledge and evidence around effective interventions, successful implementation and scaling of these programs often remains elusive. Too often, known solutions to common health problems are not applied, or are introduced incompletely, leading to a persistent gap between what is known and what is done in practice, referred to as the “know-do gap” by the World Health Organization. Implementation research, implementation science, or delivery science – all relatively equivalent terms – has potential to address this gap. As an emerging field derived from multiple disciplinary traditions, the terminology and approaches for implementation science are still evolving. The goal of the course is to provide students with shared language and basic practical approach that will allow them to apply implementation science to a real-world context based on their personal experience or interest. Through a combination of guided learning modules, synchronous sessions, asynchronous review modules, case-based group exercises, and individual work, participants will focus on how to develop and assess implementation strategies to promote the delivery of evidence-based health interventions. We will first review the basics of conducting implementation in developing world settings and how to design and integrate practical implementation research that can answer the questions: "what is happening?" (compared with what is expected), "why is this happening?" and “how can the situation be improved?” The course builds upon core methodological skills in research and program design, public health theory and organizing models, as well as insights gained through students’ field practice. The course reviews quantitative and qualitative study designs as they apply to specific implementation research questions, offering guidance on how students may design similar studies when confronted with implementation questions in their own work and experience. Over the 7 modules, each participant will develop specific elements of an implementation science proposal and compile them into a concept note and in-class presentation.
It is widely acknowledged that reducing maternal mortality is one of the major challenges to health systems globally. The increased diversity in the magnitude and causes of maternal mortality and morbidity between and within populations, as well as the highly inequitable distribution of poor maternal health between and within populations globally and locally, result in “wicked” problems and present a major challenge as we seek to address these varying needs. The complex web of factors that interact to drive high levels of maternal mortality makes a systems approach particularly useful for gaining insight into and addressing these issues. Increasingly, health planners and researchers are using systems thinking to make sense of health system functioning to reveal the dynamic relationships and synergies that drive maternal health and affect the delivery of priority health services. This course aims to provide you with the competencies to work in this complex post- SDG implementation environment. It is designed to focus on reducing maternal mortality and employs a systems approach to explore maternal health issues and analyze programs focused on maternal mortality reduction. Through this course you will gain substantive knowledge of issues related to maternal health and health systems strengthening and will develop skills in analyzing complex health systems and developing an integrated health system plan to address maternal mortality