Academic Catalog

Public Health Sciences (PHLS)

PHLS 1110G  Personal Health & Wellness  3 Credits (3)  
A holistic and multi-disciplinary approach towards promoting positive lifestyles. Special emphasis is placed on major problems that have greatest significance to personal and community health. Topics to include nutrition, stress management, fitness, aging, sexuality, drug education, and others. Repeatable: up to 3 credits.

Learning Outcomes
  1. Students will identify, describe and explain human health behaviors and how they are influenced by social structures, institutions, and processes within the contexts of complex and diverse communities. Students should: Develop an understanding of self and the world by examining content and processes used by social and behavioral sciences to discover, describe, explain, and predict human behaviors and social systems.
  2. Students will articulate how beliefs, assumptions, and values are influenced by factors such as politics, geography, economics, culture, biology, history, and social institutions. Students should: Enhance knowledge of social and cultural institutions and the values of their society and other societies and cultures in the world.
  3. Students will describe ongoing reciprocal interactions among self, society, and the environment. Students should: Understand the interdependent nature of the individual, family/social group, and society in shaping human behavior and determining quality of life.
  4. Students will apply the knowledge base of the social and behavioral sciences to identify, describe, explain, and critically evaluate relevant issues, ethical dilemmas, and arguments. Students should: Articulate their role in a global context and develop an awareness and appreciation for diverse value systems in order to understand how to be good citizens who can critically examine and work toward quality of life within a framework of understanding and justice

  
PHLS 2110  Foundations of Health Education  3 Credits (3)  
Role and responsibility of the health educator with emphasis on small group dynamics, oral and written communication skills, building community coalitions and introduction to grant writing. Cannot receive credit for both PHLS 2110 and PHLS 375. Repeatable: up to 3 credits.
Prerequisite(s): PHLS 1110G  

Learning Outcomes
  1. Define health, three levels of prevention, health education and health promotion, and describe the major determinants of health.
  2. Describe the 7 major areas of responsibility, major competencies and sub-competencies of a professional health educator and the CHES’s possible roles in various community health settings.
  3. Describe and examine the historical context and development of the profession of health education.
  4. Identify and critique major processes and practices of health education programming.
  5. Describe the steps involved in conducting needs assessments, program and intervention planning, implementation, and program evaluation.
  6. Identify, examine and describe elected health behavior change theories and models and explore possible applications in health education practice.
  7. Describe and discuss the process of community mobilization and building of a community coalition.
  8. Identify health issues and describe effective methods/strategies in health education advocacy.
  9. Describe and discuss the future trends and issues in the professional preparation and practice of professional health educators. 1
  10. Demonstrate effective and appropriate oral and written communication skills for health education professionals.

  
PHLS 2120  Essentials of Public Health  3 Credits (3)  
The course will focus on principles and major areas of public health, including ecological and total personal concept of health care system, epidemiological approaches to disease prevention and control. Repeatable: up to 3 credits.

Learning Outcomes
  1. Understand the sources of public health data, and how to interpret that information.
  2. Access existing health related data.
  3. Analyze health related data.
  4. Identify populations for health education programs.
  5. Incorporate data analysis and principles of community organization.
  6. Interpret results from evaluation and research.
  7. Infer implications from findings for future health–related activities.
  8. Have a basic understanding of health topics faced by various populations.