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Master of Public Health (M.P.H.)
Health Promotion
The HEALTH PROMOTION TRACK is designed for students who are interested in developing, implementing and evaluating strategies that address health promotion issues at multiple levels.
Drawing on the Department of Sociomedical Sciences' strengths on the study of social determinants of disease and health, health behavior is conceptualized as an interactive product of the social environment and thus Health Promotion requires strategies that extend beyond the level of the individual to target interpersonal, organizational, community, economic, political, and cultural factors.
Consequently, health promotion theories and practices such as the Stages of Change model are moderated by social, cultural, and environmental interpretations that attend to the situational and historical factors that construct health crises and public health interventions.
The Health Promotion Track is in a unique position to draw on the multidisciplinary resources of the Department of Sociomedical Sciences in order to apply approaches that range from the history and ethics of public health to the study of health in the era of globalization to the process of developing, implementing and evaluating public health interventions.
In the area of principles and theory of health promotion we expect that by the end of the program the student will be able to:
1) Evaluate the state of the art of health promotion; Analyze the foundations of the discipline of health promotion;
2) Articulate the historical and philosophical bases of health promotion;
3) Explain the dominant theories and conceptual frameworks in health promotion from an ecological perspective - encompassing the individual, interpersonal, organizational, community, social, and policy levels;
4) Explain how theories and conceptual frameworks are used to inform the development, implementation, and evaluation of health promotion interventions emphasizing the basic tenets of an ecological perspective - individual, social network, organizational, community, and policy-level determinants of behavior and their transactions.
Graduates of our track should have the capacity to apply a systematic process to design and develop implementation plans for multi-level health promotion interventions based on theory, empirical findings from the literature, and data collected from the intended intervention recipients.
In the area of designing and implementing health promotion interventions we expect that by the end of the program the student will be able to:
1) Establish a system that links intervention planners with potential intervention users;
2) Specify what must change and who must do the changing at each ecological level in order to positively affect the health problem;
3) Select theoretical methods postulated to effect change at each intervention level;
4) Translate theoretical methods into practical intervention strategies;
5) Design supporting intervention activities and materials;
6) Pilot test and refine supporting intervention materials;
7) Design a logical scope and sequence plan for intervention components; and, 8)Design a plan for intervention adoption, implementation and sustainability.
In the area of evaluation of health programs, we expect that graduates from our track will be able to:
1) Identify and address threats to validity in the design and implementation of health promotion strategies;
2) Design an evaluation plan for process and outcome evaluations;
3) Design indicators to assess program implementation and to measure the impact of a health promotion program;
4) Propose and describe quantitative and/or qualitative methods to be used to analyze evaluation indicators;
5) Analyze evaluation results to draw conclusions about the program's impact; and,
6) Translate evaluation results into implications for public health practice and policy.
Students should have some work experience in public health or a related field before entering this program. All M.P.H. students must complete a practicum requirement.
In addition to the practicum, Health Promotion students must complete a master's essay or integrative project which may be done in conjunction with the practicum experience.
The Evening Program in Health Promotion is for working professionals, and others who find evening study preferable, who want to develop advanced skills in health promotion and disease prevention.
Professionals studying in this program will learn to plan, implement, and evaluate health promotion and disease prevention programs in government health agencies, community based organizations, and the private sector.
The Evening Program can be completed in five semesters by taking three courses per semester.
Students attend classes two evenings per week in an early session and a late session.
Courses, requirements, and faculty are the same as for the Health Promotion track, including the master's essay/ integrative project.
For students who are working full-time in the field of public health, in an area related to their program track, the practicum time requirement is decreased.
For more information about Health Promotion, please contact the track coordinator, Dr. Marita K. Murrman (mkm27@columbia.edu).
SMS Programs
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