Curriculum: Master of Science in Community Health & Prevention Science

This is a foundational course in health promotion and education that explains what health educators do within the field of public/community health. Philosophical underpinnings of the profession, historical genesis, ethical principles, behavioraland social science theories and models, qualitative and quantitative methods, and educational methods are discussed.

The purpose of this course is to introduce students to theory, research, and practice in prevention science as related to community health and human services. Students will also be introduced to the various research-based strategies in prevention. This course will offer information related to the fundamentals of prevention including preventing risky behaviors and promoting healthy behaviors. In addition, risk factors and protective factors across the lifespan will be discussed.

This course provides students with the basic skills to assess needs, plan, implement and evaluate community health promotion programs in a variety of settings. Students will be exposed to avariety of health promotion and education program strategies such as political advocacy, media utilization, and community organizing.

Different measurement and evaluation techniques used in health promotion and education will be discussed in this course. Emphasis will be given to developing new valid and reliable instruments for process and impact evaluation of health promotion and education interventions. Choosing evaluation designs, applying appropriate statistical procedures, using evaluation technology, interpreting results and making recommendations for policy, practice and research will be covered.

The purpose of this course is to introduce the concepts, theories, and methods of implementing evidence-based health, behavioral health, and social science-related interventions. The course also discusses methods for conducting rigorous research on implementation.

The purpose of this course is to investigate sources of grant funding at the federal, state, and local level. Another primary purpose is examine grant announcements, RFPs (Request for Proposals), and example grant proposals. Students will also practice developing a grant proposal.

This course will introduce students to the basic concepts of health education research. Students should be able to apply these concepts to develop high quality health education research projects and to evaluate research done by others. The course will also provide the skills necessary to conduct a thesis or project within the Health Promotion and Education Program. The information from this course is vital to the successful completion of a thesis, project, comprehensive exam or portfolio.

This is an introductory statistics course intendedto provide students with the ability to: 1) selectthe appropriate statistical tests based on a givenhypothesis, 2) run descriptive and inferential statistics in SPSS, 3) interpret the results of descriptive and inferential statistics, and 4) read and interpret the statistical analysis presented in research articles.

This is a stress reduction course that focuses on techniques for stress reduction and their application. Students are exposed to techniques for relaxation, effective communication, managing anger, reducing anxiety, physical activity/exercise, healthy nutrition, and efficient time management. Graduate students plan,implement, and evaluate a stress reduction program in family, school, community, worksite, or patient care setting.

This course provides students with current information on human sexuality from a health promotion/health education perspective. Students are provided with factual information that helps them to examine their personal feelings and attitudes regarding sexuality. The course explores a wide array of physical, psychological and social aspects of sexuality. Major emphasis areas of the course include sexual communication, sexual anatomy and physiology, societal influences, gender dimensions, sexual orientation, sexual behaviors, effectiveness rates of contraceptives, sexual dysfunctions and treatments, sexual consumerism, sexuality education, and effective strategies in teaching youth about sexual issues. The roles of health promotion and health education in sexuality education are also addressed.

This course examines how drug use affects human behavior and impacts society. Modalities for treating, preventing and regulating psychoactive drug-related problems are discussed. Specific health education and health promotion approaches to dealing with the problem of drugs are emphasized. The students learn how to develop and evaluate health education and health promotion interventions for dealing with drugs.

This course aims to sensitize students to forces shaping health and disease in multicultural societies and to raise students' level of awareness of health issues specific to minority populations. The course also provides practical experience in assessing health indicators for vulnerable populations and applying public health education principles to selected population needs.

This course aims to examine concepts and methods in the study of vulnerability in health, and, in particular, strategies and future directions for resolving disparities in health care access, quality, and health status at the community and national levels. Vulnerability risks will be defined, and implications for public health and social and human services delivery will be discussed. A comprehensive approach incorporating individual and community factors and current government and private initiatives will be reviewed. Also included will be interpretation of the existing knowledge and programs for application at the community level.