Public Health & Community Health Education program

PH 200 Introduction to Public Health This course serves as an introduction to the past, present, and future of public health. The course covers multiple issues including analytical methods, biomedical basis of disease, social and behavioral factors, and environmental health. Students examine what those issues are, what determines them, and how they can be addressed. As a survey of the entire field of public health, students explore persistent health disparities, determinants of health, and public health in an era of globalization. Offered Fall, Spring, Summer.

PH 204 Introduction to Global Health This course introduces participants to global health through its history, definition, determinants, and development as a field of study. The inter-connection between health problems in developed and developing countries and the interdisciplinary approach necessary to understand and address health problems and issues will be emphasized. Students will learn about the health status in regions of the world and various populations within those regions, and they will be able to suggest how health indicators are likely to change over time and explain why. They will also develop a basic understanding of the methods used to assess population health, and be able to discuss why some populations are healthier than others and what can be done to reduce health disparities. Offered Fall, Spring.

PH 335 Environmental Health This course will examine the interdisciplinary and global impacts of human-environment relationships. Emphasis is placed on the critical nature of our understanding these relationships in order to improve ecosystem health, human health and well-being, global economics and sustainability. Politics, economics, science, technology, human behavior (both individual and collective), history, ethics, and the media are examined for the purpose of improving the quality of life for all people through the creation of a sustainable global society. The science, methods and processes of environmental health will be considered. The role of environmental health in public and population health will be examined. Prerequisite: admission to the public health and community health education major or an environmental studies minor. Offered Fall, Spring.

CHE 400 Health Policy, Advocacy, and Community Organizations This course focuses on the process of engaging communities in health education and behavior change programs of various kinds. Several organizing paradigms for fostering healthy communities are examined, and their practical and ethical implications are considered. Skill development for community assessment, constituency-building, and leadership of participatory planning efforts is emphasized. Students are paired with health and human services, health policy and social justice agencies, and coalitions to gain an in-depth knowledge of agenda setting, legislative research, and legislative advocacy in relation to specific legislation being proposed in the Wisconsin state legislature. Course will tie policy theory to real-world practice. This course is taught largely at an undergraduate level. Graduate students will have additional course requirements/expectations. Prerequisite: PH 335; PH 340; CHE 360; CHE 370; junior standing. Offered Fall, Spring.

CHE 450 Implementation, Administration, and Evaluation of Health Education Programs Students will implement, administer, and evaluate a community health education program. Interventions will be based on professional best practices and social and behavioral theories and models. Data will be collected that allow students to evaluate goals, objectives, and activities. Students will be required to generate a report at the end of the semester that can be used to inform decision makers on the success of the program and can be added to the professional evidence base. Prerequisite: CHE 380, CHE 400. Offered Fall, Spring.

CHE 210