300

Prerequisite: PH 204 or Permission of Instructor

This course will focus on multilevel communication strategies and interventions, such as tailored messages at the individual level, targeted messages at the group level, social marketing at the community level, media advocacy at the policy level, and media campaigns at the population level. From a marketing standpoint, public health communication strategies will be studied in combination with other intervention efforts, such as community organizing or coalition building, to produce multilevel public health interventions. This course builds upon the core college competencies of written and oral communication in the context of public health.

Prerequisite: PH 205 (can be taken simultaneously) or Permission of Instructor

Epidemiology is the basic science of public health. It is a tool used identify the determinants of defects, disease and injury in human populations and provide a means of assessing the magnitude of public health problems and the success of interventions designed to control them. Epidemiology is universally regarded as a discipline that is essential for understanding and solving public health problems. It requires students to develop the capacity to organize, analyze, interpret and communicate knowledge (and data) in an applied manner. It also requires an understanding of the biological, behavioral, sociocultural and environmental factors associated with the etiology and distribution of health and disease. Topics covered in this course include: basic principles of epidemiology; measures of disease frequency; epidemiologic study designs: experimental and observational; bias; confounding; outbreak investigations; screening; causality; and ethical issues in epidemiologic research. In addition, students will develop skills to read, interpret and evaluate health information from published epidemiologic studies.

Prerequisites: PH 203 and PH 204 or Permission of Instructor

This course begins with an exploration of ethics, the moral relevance of health and the use of ethics in the assessment of health policy. Student will explore contemporary healthcare and public health policy issues and legislation (e.g. American Coverage Act, population-based exposure environmental toxins). Using the lens of ethical analysis to supplement other approaches to policy analysis, students will critically evaluate public health policy. Students will be introduced to microeconomic theory and empirical studies that will deepen understanding of how consumers, businesses, and the government influence healthcare expenditures (including its quantity and prices), healthcare quality, and patient health outcomes. Emphasis will be placed on the influences and responsibilities of the different agencies and branches of government.