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Fay W. Boozman College of Public
Health
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Carol Cornell, PhD, Women’s health; minority health; cardiovascular behavioral medicine; community-based participatory interventions
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PROFESSORS
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Warren Bickel, PhD, Substance abuse treatment and prevention |
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Paul G. Greene, PhD, Cancer prevention; tobacco control; adherence |
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James M. Raczynski, PhD, Prevention and control of chronic diseases; community-based approaches for risk reduction; racial and ethnic health disparities |
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Alan VanBiervliet, PhD, Public health informatics and information systems; eHealth technologies; community health education and promotion; disability prevention and management
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Delia Smith West, PhD, Obesity prevention and treatment; behavioral diabetes and cardiovascular risk reduction interventions
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ASSOCIATE PROFESSORS
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LeaVonne Pulley, PhD, CHES, Survey research methods; approaches to assess community capacity; health communications |
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Jan S. Richter, EdD, CHES, Theories of health behavior; health promotion in the school setting; adolescent health and human sexuality; worksite health |
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Katharine E. Stewart, PhD, MPH, Behavioral interventions for those at risk for or living with HIV disease; medication adherence; leadership skills development
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ASSISTANT PROFESSORS
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Karen Hye-cheon Kim, PhD, Faith and health; psycho-social-cultural aspects of health; community-based participatory research; minority health
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Rebecca A. Krukowski, PhD, Obesity prevention and treatment, built environment approaches to chronic disease risk reduction, measurement of the food environment, health disparities, health policy |
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Christine E. Sheffer, PhD, Tobacco cessation; tobacco control; behavioral interventions in primary care; systems-based interventions; chronic pain, assessment
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HEALTH BEHAVIOR AND HEALTH EDUCATION
SPECIALTY TRACK
The MPH with a specialty in HBHE provides students with in-depth training in health behavior and health education program planning, implementation, management, and evaluation. Didactics and preceptorship experiences are designed to develop students’ abilities to select and apply appropriate and culturally- responsive behavioral and social change strategies to enhance health within communities and at-risk populations.
Upon satisfactory completion of the MPH with a specialty in HBHE, graduates will be able to achieve each of the following learning objectives by fulfilling the related academic requirements and by demonstrating competence within preceptorship and capstone experiences.
(1) Theory
· Identify, describe, and apply major theories and concepts that are utilized in educational and behavioral approaches to health enhancement and risk reduction.
· Describe how cultural, economic, and other demographic factors may influence health behaviors and individuals’ responses to various types of behavioral and educational programs and interventions.
· Select and apply appropriate health behavior theories and related concepts for public health interventions.
(2) Methods
· Describe the advantages and disadvantages of various intervention research methodologies, such as qualitative vs. quantitative approaches, or pre-experimental vs. quasi-experimental vs. randomized/controlled designs.
· Design and apply a survey to assess the impact of a specific health behavior on a given population in a public health setting.
· Describe the following items as they apply to survey development in public health research: such as scales, scores, norms, reliability, validity, scale construction and item analysis.
(3) Evaluation and Assessment
· Discuss the general framework for evaluation of community-based interventions and methodologies, addressing qualitative and quantitative approaches as appropriate.
· Design appropriate process, impact, and outcome evaluation strategies for community-based health behavior intervention programs.
· Design appropriate evaluation strategies for population-directed social marketing and health communication interventions.
(4) Application/Best Practice
· Evaluate
reports (including both scientific and technical reports, both
peer-reviewed and non-peer-reviewed) of behavioral and educational
health programs, and assess the programs' designs, methodologies, and
evaluation strategies, as well as the validity of the reports'
conclusions.
· Describe the problem definition, program
planning, program implementation, and evaluation components of the
community-based participatory research model.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
FOR MPH WITH A SPECIALTY IN HEALTH BEHAVIOR/HEALTH EDUCATION
In addition to the core courses, elective
course, preceptorship and integration project course, an HBHE student must
take the three required HBHE courses (PBHL 5623: Program Planning and
Evaluation; PBHL 5653: Theories of Health Behavior and Health Education; and
PBHL 5783: Health Communication), and (with the approval of the student’s
faculty advisor) choose a minimum of two other HBHE courses (6 semester
credit hours). The selection of these two additional courses should be
guided by the student’s professional interests and objectives.
A. Required Courses
PBHL 5623: Program Planning and Evaluation
This is a course in health promotion program
planning. It is designed to help the learner develop the fundamental
understanding and skills necessary to implement program planning,
implementation, and evaluation irrespective of setting. It provides both
theoretical and practical information in program development and
community-based participatory research. Prerequisites: PBHL 5133:
Introduction to Health Behavior and Health Education; or permission of
instructor.
PBHL 5653: Theories of Health Behavior and
Health Education
Addresses the social and behavioral
foundations of public health; emphasis on social and cultural determinants
that shape behavior through complex interaction; presents a socio-ecological
framework for understanding the relationship between human populations and
health status; locates health problems in the context of multilayered social
systems and temporal processes of change. Prerequisites: PBHL 5133:
Introduction to Health Behavior and Health Education; or permission of
instructor.
PBHL 5783: Health Communication
This course provides students with an in-depth
exposure to current theory, practice and research in health communication
with an emphasis on designing, implementing and evaluating mass media and
community-based health campaigns. Topics covered include Social Marketing,
Media Advocacy, Entertainment Education, and Participatory Learning in
addition to traditional social-psychological theoretical approaches to risk
reduction and health enhancing communication. Prerequisites: PBHL 5133:
Introduction to Health Behavior and Health Education; or permission of
instructor.
B. Elective Courses
PBHL 5213: Health Promotion in the Worksite
This course focuses on designing health
promotion and health education programs to enhance the quality of life for
employers/employees who spend one-fourth of their lives at the workplace.
Emphasis is on methods for conducting needs assessment and the planning,
implementation and evaluation of health promotion programs in the worksite.
PBHL 5543: Advanced Concepts of Human
Sexuality
In-depth examination of human sexuality based
on the premise that individual sexuality cannot be referenced to just one
theory or simply biological, psychological, sociological, or cultural
factors but from the complex interactions of these influences; designed to
stimulate learners to think critically forming conclusions in light of
scientifically gathered data.
PBHL 5643: Health Promotion in the School
Setting
The focus of the course centers upon the role
the public school can play in improving the health status of children and
adolescents. Emphasis is on the development, implementation and evaluation
of a coordinated school health program designed to promote the health and
well being of students and staff; and, includes an analysis of health
services, healthful school environment, and comprehensive health education.
PBHL 5683: Social Epidemiology
This course is designed to examine the
scientific basis for associations between social factors, both contextual
(e.g., poverty, housing, education) and interpersonal (e.g., racism, social
support, stigma), and health. In addition, students will be challenged to
consider social factors in understanding the epidemiology of diseases, the
design and implementation of health protection/promotion programs, and the
implementation of health policy. Prerequisites: PBHL 5173: Epidemiology
I; PBHL 5133: Introduction to Health Behavior and Health Education; or
permission of the instructor.
PBHL 5773: Survey Research Methods
This course will provide students with a
practical overview of survey research methods. Topics to be covered include
questionnaire and interview design; tailoring instruments for specific
settings, populations, and methods of administration; reliability and
validity; construction of scales and indices; sampling methods, assessing
sampling bias, and maximizing response rates.
PBHL 5813: Technology for eHealth: Theory
and Application
This course focuses on theories and practices
involved in the development and implementation of public health informatics
and eHealth programs to promote healthy behaviors within communities. The
course will prepare graduates to lead multidisciplinary research and
development teams involved in eHealth programs.
PBHL 5943: Health Communication Seminar
Examination of the role of communication in
health care settings; includes the study of theory and research concerning
the exchange of information and the mutual influencing of behavior among
people.
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