Vital Records and Vital Statistics: The
Vital Records & Vital Sta
Deaths due to COVID-19 have focused public awareness on death registration in a way that has not been seen since the 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic. Death registration is an affirmation of the conclusion of a person’s life and offers the opportunity and obligation to enumerate each death and document the final disposition of human remains. Though often considered “just administrative” birth registration can be seen as a public health intervention designed to protect basic human rights, connect people with upstream social determinants of health like education, housing, and income, and ensure that their existential drive to exist is acknowledged.
Vital records are the documents that catalog birth and death experiences millions of times each year in the U.S. Vital statistics are the subset of the information on these records that public health students and professionals appreciate in general, and turn to for meaning in times of devastatingly high levels of deaths. This course focuses on the history, policy, management, and protection of vital records and vital statistics in the United States and will open students’ eyes to the surprisingly fascinating world of vital events.
- W 5:30 p.m.-8:20 p.m.
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Instructor:
Gretchen Van Wye
Info - 1.5 points
Health Communication
HEALTH COMMUNICATION
Health Communication has emerged as an important field of theory, research, and practice in the 21st century. As recognized by several public health and global health agendas, well-designed and implemented health communication interventions can have a positive impact on public health and health care outcomes, as well as health equity. This course will introduce students to the field of Health Communication theory and practice, and its key action areas. It will prepare them to design, implement and evaluate health communication interventions within a systematic, participatory, engaging, process-oriented, and multidisciplinary framework that aims at behavioral, social, and organizational results and ultimately, improved public health outcomes.
As health communication is grounded in many theories and principles (e.g., behavioral and social change, marketing, intergroup, sociology, anthropology, cultural-centered and positive deviance theory, mass media and new media theory, medical models, community organizing, social networks, etc.) that are also shared by other disciplines in the public health, health care, and community development fields, these theories will be briefly reviewed as part of session two in relation to their specific application to health communication theory and practice. The planning frameworks and practical exercises included in this course are specific to the field of health communication and provide students with core competencies and skills for future work in health communication within the nonprofit, corporate, academic, and government sectors both in the United States and globally.
- T 4 p.m.-6:50 p.m.
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Instructor:
Renata Schiavo
h-index: 10 Info - 3 points
Data Visualization And Storytelling
Data Visualization & Stor
During this course, students will be introduced to the methods and techniques of creating infographics and data visualizations. They will learn about storytelling and how to create various charts using Tableau Desktop software. Students will also learn the practical aspects of managing a public health data visualization project. Tableau is becoming widely used and is now also connectable to the “big 4” SPSS/SAS/STAT/R, as such it is an essential data analytics tool for understanding and manipulating data for public health. Students will learn methodologies on how to approach public health data to create data visualizations that display statistics in a compelling form in Tableau. This hands-on introductory course will teach students to develop meaningful public health data stories that reveal insights. Students will utilize health data to tell visual stories and develop an aesthetic for presenting their findings to a lay audience.
- M 1 p.m.-3:50 p.m.
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Instructor:
Fay Al Bouguir
Info - 3 points
Health Advocacy
HEALTH ADVOCACY
For anybody who’s spent even a little time in public health circles, it doesn’t take much effort to list the many societal ills that desperately call for action. What’s equally important, though, is answering the classic question that’s bedeviled advocates for centuries: “What is to be done?” This course will help us sharpen our answers to that question through study of recent advocacy efforts around COVID-19; HIV/AIDS; climate change; reproductive rights; environmental justice/racism; mass incarceration and criminal justice reform (particularly in the context of the Black Lives Matter movement), and others. Along the way, we’ll also learn about enduring dilemmas scholars have identified that confront all health advocates. These include: the costs and benefits of working within (versus outside of) formal politics; framing rhetoric to reach wider audiences; the virtues and drawbacks of confrontational direct action; public apathy towards “health” issues; oppositional movements at complete odds with theirs; and more recently, the potential of social media.
This course also contains a skills component, where students will learn basic legislative, legal, and media research that can aid advocacy efforts.
- R 4 p.m.-6:50 p.m.
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Instructor:
Merlin Chowkwanyun
Info - 3 points
Evaluation Of Health Programs
EVALUATION OF HEALTH PROG
Program evaluation is an essential competence in public health. Across all areas of public health, stakeholders pose questions about effectiveness and impact of programs and interventions. This course will examine principles, methods and practices of evaluating health programs. A range of evaluation research designs and methods will be introduced and strategies to address challenges in real world program settings will be emphasized. The course will incorporate examples of evaluations of actual health programs and opportunities to learn through professional program evaluation experiences of the instructor. The combination of lectures, textbook readings, examples, discussions, in-class exercises, and an extensive applied group assignment to design an evaluation for a real program will help students gain evaluation skills and an appreciation for the art and science of program evaluation. The goal is for students to learn competencies required of an entry-level program evaluator, including design and implementation of evaluation studies and interpretation and communication of evaluation findings.
- T 1 p.m.-3:50 p.m.
- W 8:30 a.m.-11:20 a.m.
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Instructor:
Robert E Fullilove
Info -
Instructor:
Michael P McNeil
h-index: 3 Info - 3 points
SMS Thesis Proposal
SMS THESIS PROPOSAL
The Master's Thesis is the capstone requirement of all students in all tracks of the MPH program of the Department of Sociomedical Sciences (SMS). The thesis is intended to reflect the training you have received in the MPH program and demonstrate your ability to design, implement, and present professional work relevant to your major field of interest. Writing the thesis is an essential experience that could further your career development. Employers seek in potential employees with a MPH degree the ability to write articles and reports, and want to see evidence that you can design studies, analyze data, write a needs assessment, and/or design a health program. If you plan to continue your academic studies, developing expertise and demonstrating your ability as a writer are two important skills required of doctoral candidates. A well-written paper is a great asset that you can bring with you to a job interview or include in an application for further study. The thesis ought to demonstrate your ability to think clearly and convey your thoughts effectively and thereby provide an example of your understanding and insight into a substantive area in which you have developed expertise.
- F 10 a.m.-11:30 a.m.
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Instructor:
Christian Gloria
Info - 1 points
Theories and Perspectives on Sexuality a
THEOR & PERSP ON SEXUALTY
This course will provide an overview of theoretical perspectives and concepts relevant to the study of sexuality, particularly as they relate to public health. This entails exploring perspectives from across the social sciences, with an emphasis on sociology, anthropology, and histroy, and somewhat more limited reference to work in psychology and political science. Drawing upon assigned readings, lectures, discussions and individual assignments, students will develop the capacity to identify the strengths and limitations of perspectives used to frame research and interventions related to sexuality. Although the substantive focus of this course is the theorization of sexuality, over the course of the semester we will address a more fundamental question in public health – namely, what shapes ‘health behaviors’? Developing a sophisticated conceptualization of why people engage in behaviors that have detrimental health consequences, or conversely why they fail to take health-enhancing actions, lays the foundation for effective health promotion policies and programs. Because a great deal of sexual health promotion programming draws implicitly on behavioral science and interpersonal-level determinants of health practices, a goal of this course is to counter-balance that through an emphasis on the broader structural and institutional determinants of sexual practices.
- T 4 p.m.-6:50 p.m.
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Instructor:
Anton Castellanos Usigli
Info - 3 points
Social and Economic Determinants of Heal
SOCL & ECON DETERMNTS OF
Disparities in health and illness related to social and economic inequality in the U.S. Theoretical and empirical research on factors linked to class, gender, racial and ethnic differences that have been hypothesized to explain the generally poorer health and higher rates of mortality among members of socioeconomically disadvantaged groups. Concepts, theories and empirical evidence will be examined to expand our understanding of the impact of structural factors on health behavior, lifestyles and outcomes.
- T 8:30 a.m.-11:20 a.m.
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Instructor:
Kim J Hopper
Info - 3 points
Race and Health
RACE AND HEALTH
Over the 17 years that I have taught this course, I have tried to present students with articles that would provide an exposure to the growing body of research, commentaries, and critiques that discuss the relationships between race, ethnicity, and health. The premise upon which our work is based is rather simple: race is highly correlated with health status, but after many years of investigating this association, researchers are not entirely clear what this association means, nor are they clear how to use their research to improve the lot of people of color who are at risk for a wide variety of health conditions. Put more precisely, we don’t know what it is about someone’s race that causes the excess morbidity and mortality that is observed among members of so many ethnic minority groups. Typically, in the first class of the semester, students find this to be a puzzling way of defining the key issues in race and health. Given the dynamics of last year’s presidential elections where race played a huge role, it seems all the more bizarre to suggest that race is a concept of limited value to the science of public health. To students born in this country or who have lived here for an extended period of time, nothing could be more obvious than the fact that race matters. Racism is a fact of American life, and that its victims should suffer poorer health status than mainstream Americans seems almost self-evident. As the semester progresses and as the critique of current health research about race becomes more pronounced in the readings, students of all races, I hasten to add often feel compelled to say: “I don’t care what the articles say, race MATTERS!!!!!” Agreed. Race does matter, and it often matters in ways that are intensely personal, painful, and gut-wrenching. But the point of this course is not to deny the student’s personal experience of race, but rather to ask you to look beyond such experiences to develop a science of public health that specifies how and in what way race “acts” to cause the excess morbidity and mortality we observe in so many communities of color.
- W 1 p.m.-3:50 p.m.
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Instructor:
Robert E Fullilove
Info - 3 points
Introduction to Medical Anthropology
INTRO TO MEDICAL ANTHROPO
Overview of medical anthropology, the examination of health, disease, and medicine in the context of human culture. Examine the relationship between culture, structural factors, and health gain ways to utilize ethnographic, anthropological, and qualitative data in health interventions, policy, and evaluation gain critical skills in evaluating the adequacy and validity of formulations about 'culture' and 'tradition' in health programs and research become familiar with range of work on culture and health, domestically and internationally acquire skill in utilizing data about culture and health at macro and micro levels.
- R 8:30 a.m.-11:20 a.m.
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Instructor:
Kim J Hopper
Info - 3 points
Advancing Health Literacy
ADVANCING HEALTH LITERACY
Health Literacy is defined in Health People 2010 as “the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process and understand basic health information and services for appropriate health decisions” In this course we will explore the multi-layered interactions between health and literacy. We will begin by examining the issues related to literacy in the US and transition to the concept of health literacy. We will discuss issues related to reading comprehension, and usability of health related materials. The class will evaluate the major health literacy assessment instruments, learning how to administer these for different populations. We will focus on the role of language and culture as confounders to health literacy. Time will be spent assessing and then developing appropriate health materials for print, visual, auditory and internet venues. The course will shift towards examination of different health situations utilizing a health literacy approach including the research participants and informed consent, health literacy and medication/adherence, patient-physician communication models, and risk comprehension. Finally we will examine special topics including emergency preparedness. The classes are designed to include a mixture of didactic lectures, analysis of reading materials, group discussion and exercises.
- W 5:30 p.m.-8:20 p.m.
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Instructor:
Leah Hooper
Info - 1.5 points
Qualitative Research Methods
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH METH
In recent years especially, the need for mixed approaches to inquiry in public health research has become apparent in fields as varies as health promotion, policy formation and evaluation, service needs assessment, the social determinants of health, and program evaluation and outcomes measurement more generally. A critical understanding of the epistemological assumptions that underlie QRM, the distinctive features of the major schools in the field, the basic toolkit deployed on the ground (observation, interviews, focus groups, and sustained field work), along with its allied analytic equipment, is becoming an essential part of professional public health competence. This course surveys the principles and practices of qualitative research methods (QRM) as a set of investigatory approaches and tools. It does so chiefly from the standpoint of research design: its aim is less proficiency in the various technologies of investigation that will be covered than an appreciation of the logic of inquiry behind them. Research design addresses the core conceptual and measurement issues that a well-formulated research questions entails and informs methods of data production and analysis. Principal research design issues to be covered: selecting an area ripe for inquiry; developing a research question and specific aims; selecting populations, target groups and/or collaborators to be involved in the research; assessing resources (including time and access); specifying research outcomes; selecting an appropriate approach and allied methods of data production and analysis; project planning and data management; identifying audiences and disseminating findings. Key issues to be addressed include: capacities and objectives of qualitative social research; multi-method research; and, time permitting, the evolving relationship between difficult health problems and feasible research projects, including collaboration with affected communities.
- F 1 p.m.-3:50 p.m.
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Instructor:
Emily Paine
Info - 3 points
Theoretical Foundations of Sociomedical
THEOR FOUNDATIONS-SOCIOME
Theoretical Foundations of Sociomedical Sciences is the first in a two-semester seminar series that is required for all doctoral students in the Department of Sociomedical Sciences. This seminar will examine a number of the major theoretical traditions – and enduring problems – that undergird contemporary practice in the sociomedical sciences. The historical review in the fall – like the critical examination of current research projects in the spring – will be guided by the framing interests and signature emphases of the department: urban environs in transformation, social structures and axes of inequality, disparities in morbidity and mortality, agency and identity, social construction and production of health and disease, globalization and marginalization. The overall aim is to familiarize students with the relevant interpretive/analytic traditions, provide a rehearsal stage for testing out particular tools and frameworks in compare- and-contrast exercises, and build the theoretical foundations that will enable them to critically assess contemporary work in the field. Close reading, class discussion, and reflective writing will be the practical means we employ to get there.
- T 1 p.m.-3:50 p.m.
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Instructor:
Kim J Hopper
Info - 3 points
Quantitative Research Design for the Soc
QUANT RES DESIGN FOR SOC
This course will provide students with an in-depth overview of the methods involved in designing and evaluating quantitative research in health and social science research. The course will equip students with the skills to design their own quantitative research project. Students who complete the course will learn how to develop study aims, select an appropriate study design and sampling plan, create and evaluate measures, and write up methods and results. Throughout the course, emphasis will be placed on applying quantitative research methods to answer research questions within public health. Students will be encouraged to develop their research ideas and apply skills learned in class to answering questions of interest. The class is organized in an order that approximates a research proposal, such as for your thesis. Weekly assignments and exercises will follow the same order where students will be required to develop segments of a research proposal of their own. This will start from developing research questions and study aims based on a topic within sociomedical sciences, to picking a research approach, a study design, sampling procedure, measurements, and leading to analysis of research data findings and writing up of research reports.
- T 1 p.m.-3:50 p.m.
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Instructor:
Melissa Dupont
Info - 3 points
Seminar in Research and Professional Dev
SEM IN RESEARCH & PROF DE
This seminar is designed for pre-doctoral students from the Departments of Sociomedical Sciences, Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Population and Family Health who have been accepted to the T32, on Social Determinants of HIV, a training grant sponsored by the National Institute of Mental Health of the National Institutes of Health. Students in this T32 program are required to take this 2-year seminar (1 credit per semester). The seminar will highlight structural interventions designed to reduce the impact of HIV among underrepresented populations, professional development issues; funding mechanisms such as diversity supplements, diverse research careers for doctoral students in public health, and guest speakers who are experts in HIV structural interventions and social determinants of health. Students will lead many of the seminar discussions and they are given the opportunity to present their work in progress. Graded on a pass/fail basis.
- W 1 p.m.-2:30 p.m.
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Instructor:
Gina M Wingood
Info - 1 points