PUBLIC HEALTH INTERVENTIONS

The 
Public
Health Interventions studio 
provides an integrated approach to the theory and practice of designing, implementing, and evaluating interventions to improve health in the context of a complex real world. The studio will expose students to major theories of public health intervention, how to integrate understanding of these theories in the planning and evaluation of public health interventions and programs, and how these interventions and programs can be effective given the complexity of social and health systems. The studio introduces frameworks to address the complexity inherent in improving the health and quality of life of individuals and populations. 

 

Individual concentrations in the studio explore multiple dimensions of how interventions can improve health and quality of life, including how: (a) individuals’ interpretations of and interactions with the social environment affect their behaviors and well-being; (b) interventions and programs can be designed to improve knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, and achieve population impact – and evaluate if, in fact, they do have impact; and (c) systems thinking can be used as a tool to evaluate and understand the complex systems that interact to affect health and quality of life. Students will complete this studio with a solid understanding of the inter-relationship among theory, program planning, implementation and evaluation, and with the skills to apply these insights to the practice of service delivery, policy advocacy, and research. 

 

This studio is being offered via face-to-face instruction, supplemented with asynchronous work for the Fall 2022 semester. Asynchronous content consists of elements such as recorded lectures accessed through CourseWorks and interactive modules. Students will be provided with a timeframe within which the asynchronous content must be completed. Live sessions will be offered on the Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC). Whether content will be asynchronous or live is indicated throughout the syllabus. All times and due dates listed are in Eastern Daylight Time. Students are expected to complete the readings, surveys, labs, and watch recorded lectures by the stated deadlines.

• W 5:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m.
• 1.5-4 points

GLOBAL AND DEVELOPMENTAL PERSPECTIVES

GLOBAL & DEVELOPMENTAL PE

The
Global and Developmental Perspectives
studio consolidates and extends students' analysis of the field of public health through the exploration of global and developmental perspectives on challenges and strategies to address them. Lifecourse research recognizes that adverse exposures experienced by individuals and populations, both biological and social, during critical developmental periods (including prenatal, childhood, and adolescence) have specific, cumulative, and often long-standing implications for health which may not manifest until many years later.

The concept of globalization and its interconnected and interdependent forces and relations are used as the basis for considering the increasingly global nature of public health practice and its politics regarding both the nature of health risk and inequity and the capacities to address these. Globalization and its causal pathways linked to patterns of risk, illness, injury and mortality will be explored; and also the effects of colonization, decolonization and the Cold War, and neoliberal reforms and globalization in creating conditions that exposed the globe to intense migration, trade and ecological shifts that have intensified the risks of old and new diseases and exacerbated public health disparities. Developmental and global perspectives are crucial to addressing primary health care, and disease-specific approaches include maternal child health (MCH), communicable disease (CD), and non-communicable disease, and injury (NCDI), the consideration of which is woven into the studio schedule. 

Concentration: Lifecourse

The
Lifecourse
concentration is the first of the two concentrations in this studio. The concentration contains 5 classes, including 2 demography-focused units. In this concentration, students will learn how lifecourse approaches have emerged in public health, how health varies within and across the stages of the lifecourse and across societies shaped both by biological and social pathways that shape our identities and health, how demographic data is collected and spans the lifecourse, and how an understanding of this variation improves public health policies and programs, as well as identifies targets for interventions. 

The concentration emphasizes the importance of historical context and time (e.g. socioeconomic, cultural) in shaping health across the lifecourse. The approach particularly focuses on individuals and the connections between

• R 5:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m.
• 1.5 points

HEALTH SYSTEMS

The
Health Systems studio
contains three concentrations which, taken together, provide an overview of health systems in the United States and around the world.

 

In
Health Economics
, students will look at health from an economic perspective, which offers unique insights into the determinants of health and the functioning of health systems. Students will learn about such concepts as scarcity, opportunity cost, individual choice, decentralization, efficiency and quality, externalities and public goods. The concentration will prepare students to understand the varied components of health care costs, major economic theories of health insurance, models of investment in health, and issues of health behavior and choice.

 

In
Comparative Health Systems
, students will learn about the historical foundations of the health care systems in Germany, England, Canada, and Australia and how those health care systems function today, with a focus on financing, coverage, population-level health outcomes and health disparities. We will examine similarities and differences across these cases studies and how they compare to the United States. We will also discuss how lessons learned from these countries may be relevant to health policy debates in the United States.

In
U.S. Public Health and Health Care Systems
, students will learn about the historical foundations of the U.S health care system. How did the system evolve?  How is it organized? Who pays the health care bill? What role does government play (and how do different levels of government share these tasks)? What best explains the politics of health reform? How has the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, enacted in March 2010, impacted the uninsured, the effort to contain health care costs, and the effort to improve the quality and efficiency of the American health care system?  What are the pros and cons of the nation’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic?  How has the nation responded to racial and other disparities in health care access and quality?  What are the key issues on the nation’s long-term care policy agenda?  What are the key market-driven health care trends and how are they changing the health system?

• W 8:10 p.m.-9:10 p.m.
• 2.5 points

INTEGRATION OF SCIENCE AND PRACTICE II

INTEGRAT OF SCI & PRACT I

The different studios in the Mailman Core teach a set of foundational perspectives, knowledge, and skills. But the practice of public health requires applying this education in a context characterized by uncertainty, risk, competing interests, and conflicting values. In the fall semester, Integration of Science and Practice (ISP) involved contained cases where the stories and evidence were organized and arranged for us. Often the decision-points were relatively unambiguous. This spring we will expand our reach, taking on cases in a way that looks more like the real world. We will start with a complex case specifically selected to integrate key concepts from the Core Semester. You will write a policy memo by focusing in on an issue within the case that you find compelling. The policy memo will serve as a model for you to then construct your own cases in small groups and take responsibility for teaching an ISP session devoted to your case. This team-based approach to problem-solving will also allow you to bring the concepts you explore in Leadership and Development to bear in ISP. These student-led cases, drawing on a range of skills and tools, represent the culmination of the Core.

• W 6:40 p.m.-8 p.m.
• 1.5 points

PERSONAL LEADERSHIP IN PUBLIC HEALTH

The goal of the course is to provide students with an overview of some of the fundamental principles and practice of leadership as it applies to a career in public health, with a specific concentration on personal leadership development.  Students will focus on four critical competencies of personal leadership: 1) self-awareness, 2) power, 3) leading through others, and 4) negotiating effectively (Figure below).  Students will also critically examine traditional notions of leadership, exploring concepts of ‘who gets to lead?’, the inequities that result and the diversity of effective leadership roles and styles.  With this understanding, students will develop and improve their ability 1) to lead individuals and teams in a wide range of settings, including research centers and domestic as well as international public health organizations, 2) to perform more effectively as both team members and individual contributors to organizations and communities; 3) to promote their own leadership plan and credo.

Given its weight, it is important to stress that developing a leadership credo means more than coming up with a snappy one liner or finding just the right quote to capture your leadership style.  It is an opportunity to develop an authentic leadership stance – a set of beliefs and/or values that you stand for as a leader and that you expect from others who you will lead, whether as the head of an organization or a member of a team, to support and eventually allow them to follow you.  Your role is to move individuals towards success in meeting specific goals and overcoming certain challenges.  Developing your credo will enable you to verbalize how you will achieve this through an authentic presentation of yourself. This course aims at ensuring you are comfortable, capable and confident in the authenticity of You as a leader.

• R 6:40 p.m.-7:40 p.m.
• 1.5 points

Internship Class - Spring Session

The internship course provides a substantive opportunity for students to practice applying their expertise and skills in a real world setting. The course allows students to work with practitioners and public health/healthcare experts to explore their interests in more depth and to expand their knowledge of current environments in their fields. Students will reflect on their interests, values, and skills and how their internship, past experiences, and studies align with their goals. The course will provide the opportunity for reflection on work advancement, progress of skill development, connection to current coursework, and exposure to areas within their field. The course includes self-reflection and career interests assessment exercises, and builds on communication skills to train students to respond to challenging questions that they may encounter in the job search process. The seminar provides a supportive framework designed to enhance students’ applied, field-based learning experience by exploring common themes encountered in the fieldwork setting. The seminar will address the public health core competencies of leadership, communication, professionalism, systems thinking, interprofessional education. Learning objectives include: • Describe the Theory of Vocational Choice by John Holland and explain how it can help you choose a career in alignment with your interests. • Prioritize your career interests, values, and mission areas of interest and describe how they relate to your current internship. • Identify three current job descriptions that match your interests, values, and mission areas of interest. • Write at least three effective bullet points for your resume based on your current internship and based on your job market research. • List 3 sources of salary and job market research and information. • Negotiate your salary. • Communicate your short term and long term goals and three steps you plan to take to achieve them. • Describe how your internship has contributed towards your achievement of these goals.

PREREQUISITES AND PERMISSION: Students must submit a letter from their employer following the guidelines at https://isso.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/content/sampleletters/CPTemploymentsample.pdf  to
hk2778@cumc.columbia.edu
in order to obtain permission to enroll in this course. If you are continuing an internship with the same organization where you completed your required APEx or internship,

• Instructor: Heather Krasna
  h-index: 5 Info
• 0.5 points

ESSENTIALS TEACHING AND COMMUNICATION

• T 5:30 p.m.-8:20 p.m.
• Instructor: Leah Hooper
  Info
• 1.5 points