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Descriptor Details
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Descriptor Title
Introduction to Public Health
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C-ID Number
101
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Units
3
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Date of Last Revision
9/18/2023 10:55:13 AM PDT
General Description
This course presents an overview of the disciplines of community and public health. Topics include the basic concepts and terminologies of public health; an overview of various public health professions and organizations; the study, prevention and control of diseases in the community; the analysis of the social determinants of health; strategies for eliminating disease, illness, and health disparities among various populations; community organizing and health promotion programming; school health promotion; environmental health and safety; and an overview of the healthcare delivery system in the United States. Emphasis will be placed on the development of knowledge and preliminary skills to serve as an effective advocate for community and public health.
Prerequisites
No information provided
Corequisites
No information provided
Advisories
English, one level below transfer (i.e., eligibility for English composition (C-ID ENGL 100) and reading a course with an exiting skill of ability to read a college-level text.
Content
1. Public health discipline
a. Personal versus public health
b. Public health disciplines, professions, and organizations
c. Core functions
2. Historical achievements
a. Current impact
3. Analytical methods of public health
a. Epidemiology
b. Rates
c. Cases
d. Population at risk
e. Risk factors
f. Incidence
g. Prevalence
h. Natality
i. Morbidity
j. Mortality
4. Biomedical basis of public health
a. Infectious conditions
b. Chronic disease
c. Risk factors
1. Genetics
d. Prevention, detection and control
5. Whole School, Whole Child, Whole Community (WSCC) school health promotion model
a. Health Education
b. Physical Education and Physical Activity
c. Nutrition Environment and Services
d. Health Services
e. Counseling, Psychological, and Social Services
f. Social and Emotional Climate
g. Physical Environment
h. Employee Wellness
i. Family Engagement
j. Community Involvement
6. Community organizing and health promotion programming
a. Assessing needs
b. Setting goals and objectives
c. Developing interventions
d. Implementing interventions
e. Evaluating results
7. Social, cultural and behavioral factors in public health
a. Health inequities
b. Demographics
1. Maternal and infant
2. Child
3. Adolescent
4. Adulthood
5. Senior
c. Racial, ethnic and minority groups
d. Education and socioeconomic status
e. Community concerns (not limited to)
1. Dual Diagnosis/Co-Occurring disorders
a. Addiction
b. Mental disorders
2. Obesity
3. Violence
8. Social determinants of health
a. Gestational endowment
b. Social circumstances
c. Environmental conditions
d. Behavioral choices
e. Access to medical care
f. Individual and community health status
g. Local, state, national, and global health organization and policy
9. Healthcare system
a. Public health versus Western medicine
b. Population-based services
10. Environmental issues in public health (not limited to)
a. Clean air
b. Clean water
c. Garbage
d. Food and drug safety
e. Population control
f. Emergency preparedness
1. Natural disasters
2. Violence
11. Workplace safety
a. Intentional injuries
b. Unintentional injuries
c. Prevention
1. Occupational Safety and Health Association (OSHA) regulations
12. Public health information
a. Credible resources
Lab Activities
No information provided
Objectives
Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- Define important fundamental concepts in community and public health.
- Distinguish the difference between personal and public health.
- Identify different public health disciplines, professions and organizations, and explain how each contributes to the field of public health.
- Describe the historical achievements in public health and their impact today.
- Demonstrate the use of basic epidemiological methods, such as the analysis of rates, and the definition of cases, population at risk, risk factors, incidence, prevalence, natality, morbidity, and mortality.
- Outline strategies for prevention, detection and control of infectious conditions and chronic disease.
- Identify the components of the Whole School, Whole Child, Whole Community (WSCC) model designed to improve learning and health in our nation’s schools.
- Outline the process of community organizing and health promotion programming.
- Analyze current public health issues and describe how they affect the health status of specific populations of age, gender, race and ethnicity, minority, education level, and socioeconomic status.
- Describe the Dual Diagnosis/Co-Occurring Disorders approach to treating people who suffer from both an addiction and a psychiatric disorder.
- Describe the interplay between the social determinants of health, including gestational endowment, social circumstances, environmental conditions, behavioral choices, and access to medical care, in determining individual and community health status, and local, state, national, and global health organization and policy.
- Analyze the organization, financing and delivery of various medical and population-based services in the United States healthcare system.
- Distinguish how preventative health differs from the traditional Western medicine approach to treating disease and illness.
- Describe the inter-relationship between human beings and their environment and public health initiatives and policies to protect the planet.
- Identify common practices that contribute to intentional and unintentional workplace injuries and public health policies that would reduce their occurrences.
- Communicate orally and in writing in the scientific language of the discipline.
- Interpret and evaluate public health and medical information from general and subject specific library and credible Internet sources.
Evaluation Methods
May include:
Exams
Quizzes
Written Assignments
Projects
Textbooks
McKenzie & Pinger, An Introduction to Community Health
Schneider, Introduction to Public Health
Riegelman, Public health 101
Descriptor Administration
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Public Review Needed
No
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Next Descriptor Review
No information provided
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Resubmission Requirements for Courses
Descriptor changes were administrative only
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Resubmission Deadline
Fall 2032
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Comments
No information provided
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Notes
No information provided
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Keywords
No information provided
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