Courses
The course descriptions below are correct to the best of our knowledge as of August 2012. Instructors reserve the right to update and/or otherwise alter course descriptions as necessary after publication. The listing of a course description here does not guarantee a course’s being offered in a particular semester. The Course Rotation Guide lists the expected semester a course will be taught. Paper copies are also available in the BUSPH Registrar’s office. Please refer to the published schedule of classes for confirmation a class is actually being taught and for specific course meeting dates and times.
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SPH SB 813: Web-based Health Communication Strategies for Public Health Interventions
This course covers key health communication principles and methods for planning and evaluating public health interventions with a focus on web-based strategies. Reflecting the multimedia nature of the web, we'll consider multiple content strategies such as blogs, brochures, podcasts, online modules, slideshows, social media and Youtube. During the semester each student will conduct formative research to develop a plan and a simple prototype for a web-based intervention. We'll cover how to define an audience, set clear objectives, draw on theory, critique and evaluate websites, design for accessibility, write for the web, and gather user input. Although the course emphasis is on the planning process and not web development technology, a series of hands-on labs will introduce students to some basic online content creation tools and provide instruction and support for creating a simple prototype. No technical background is necessary. -
SPH SB 818: Qualitative Research Methods
SB721 This course is designed to provide students with experience in the use and application of qualitative research methods for public health activities including needs assessments, research studies, intervention strategies, and program evaluations. Students are introduced to the quantitative versus qualitative data debate in social science research. Emphasis is placed on the practice of qualitative research and each student designs and conducts a research project. Throughout the semester students' field proposals, problems, process, and progress are discussed as are methodological issues including objectivity, sampling, data collection, ethics, and data analysis. Due to the intensive nature of the class, it is not suitable for auditors. -
SPH SB 820: Assessment and Planning for Health Promotion
This course will introduce students to neighborhoods of Boston and provide opportunities for acquiring and practicing community assessment skills. How do public health scientists and practitioners demonstrate that a health problem in a community warrants intervention? Students will learn to consult large data sets (such as the U.S. Census, hospitalization data, vital records, MassChip, and the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System) to determine health promotion needs of a specific neighborhoods and groups. Students will practice conducting literature reviews and health problem analyses to examine social determinants and propose ?webs of causation? for selected health outcomes. The focus of the course is on applying both quantitative and qualitative skills, learning to present data clearly and accurately, and communicating effectively using a scientific writing style. -
SPH SB 821: Intervention Strategies for Health Promotion
This course focuses on strategic planning for public health practice. Social science and maternal and child health approaches are included. Working through a sequence of written assignments, students develop a strategic plan for a program intervention designed to change health behavior or a health outcome. Work in class and during individual consultations is designed to give students practice with elements of the strategic planning process, ideas for their project, and interim feedback on their written assignments. -
SPH SB 822: Quantitative Methods for Program Evaluation
This course provides an overview of the major principles and methods associated with systematic evaluation of public health programs. The overall goal is to help students develop skills needed to plan, conduct, critique, and use evaluation research. The course covers: program logic models; formative, process and outcome evaluations; internal, external, validity; threats to internal validity; experimental and quasi-experimental designs; probability and non-probability sampling; questionnaire development; operationalization of variables; statistical analysis strategies; power analysis; and analysis of evaluation design. -
SPH SB 829: Intervention Design and Implementation to Reduce Health Disparities
This course will review current knowledge on the design and implementation of interventions to reduce health disparities and will provide students with plans and tools for creating and evaluating their own interventions to reduce or eliminate disparities. First, we will define health disparities from a broad variety of settings. Then we will review a model for intervention design applied to health disparity settings. We will apply study design and methodology to the evaluation of interventions. We will work through the steps of the intervention process, focusing on both the evidence needed at each step and the practical actions important to intervention success. Each step will include a critical analysis of the literature on intervention design and development. Students will work through problems designed to illustrate each of the steps. Finally, students will design their own intervention and evaluation plan to target the health disparity of their choice. This course will require students to work in groups outside of class time. -
SPH SB 860: Strategies for Public Health Advocacy
This course is for advanced MPH students. It will explore the role public health practitioners can play in advocating for programs and policies to improve the public's health that have been demonstrated to be effective through peer reviewed scientific research. Students will analyze the process of advocating for policy and program change based on scientific evidence at the city, state and federal level through the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government.
