SPH 541A - Public Health Practice & Professional Skills I

1 unit (fi 4)(VAR, 2-0-0)

Building on foundational concepts, knowledge, and skills introduced in pre and corequisite courses and continuing with problem-based learning, students work in teams to address challenging public health scenarios. The course emphasizes qualities and skills for effective team work essential in public health practice, including critical thinking, self-awareness, reflection and reflexivity, collaboration, and deliberation. Implications of normative, Indigenous and anti-oppressive approaches to effective teamwork are introduced to shape principles to guide effective practice. Students practice skills required for conceptualizing and assessing public health problems and planning interventions, including systems thinking, using evidence, assessing stakeholders and community members, anticipating and transforming conflict, applying ethical principles, and communicating effectively. SPH 541 is a required course for the degree of Master of Public Health in General Public Health. Prerequisites: SPH 530, SPH 536. Corequisites: SPH 535, SPH 537, SPH 562, SPH 563, or consent of instructor.

SPH 562 - Understanding and Improving the Health of Populations

3 units (fi 6)(VAR, 3-0-0)

An exploration of concepts and theories used to explain why poor health and health inequities occur within and across populations, including Indigenous and other racialized populations (etiology), and interventions public health practitioners use to change complex systems to address factors that contribute to these problems. Etiologic topics include conceptions of health and wellness; population health vs. clinical care; historical and global trends in population mortality, morbidity, and health inequities; causal and systems thinking, and the impact of biological, behavioural, sociocultural, political-economic, and environmental factors on population health and health inequities. Intervention topics include advocacy, community and systems capacity building, and implementation of policies, and programs that support key public health functions - health promotion and protection, the prevention and control of infectious and chronic diseases and injury, and emergency preparedness and response, governance, infrastructure, financing and organization. Intersectoral partnership, collaborative action, and political will are reviewed to support health in all policies to improve public health. SPH 562 is a required course for the degree of Master of Public Health in General Public Health. Prerequisites: SPH 530. Corequisites: SPH 535, SPH 536, SPH 541, or consent of instructor.

SPH 303 - Health Promotion in an Unequal World

3 units (fi 6)(EITHER, 3-0-0)

Health promotion employs a diverse range of targeted and population-level social and environmental actions to advance health, well-being, and equity. It involves multi-sectoral collaboration to help communities, individuals, and governments address public health issues. Health promotion action takes the form of healthy public policy, creating environments that are supportive of health, and strengthening community and individual capacity and skills to improve their control over their health. In this course, students will be exposed to the fundamental concepts, principles, theories, and contemporary practices within the field of health promotion, as a core function of public health. Additionally, the course introduces the students to health promotion using lenses of health equity and social determinants of health. The curriculum aims to impart both practical and theoretical knowledge encompassing the planning, development, implementation, and evaluation of health promotion-focused public health interventions.

SPH 541B - Public Health Practice & Professional Skills I

1 unit (fi 4)(VAR, 2-0-0)

Building on foundational concepts, knowledge, and skills introduced in pre and corequisite courses and continuing with problem-based learning, students work in teams to address challenging public health scenarios. The course emphasizes qualities and skills for effective team work essential in public health practice, including critical thinking, self-awareness, reflection and reflexivity, collaboration, and deliberation. Implications of normative, Indigenous and anti-oppressive approaches to effective teamwork are introduced to shape principles to guide effective practice. Students practice skills required for conceptualizing and assessing public health problems and planning interventions, including systems thinking, using evidence, assessing stakeholders and community members, anticipating and transforming conflict, applying ethical principles, and communicating effectively. SPH 541 is a required course for the degree of Master of Public Health in General Public Health. Prerequisites: SPH 530, SPH 536. Corequisites: SPH 535, SPH 537, SPH 562, SPH 563, or consent of instructor.

SPH 546 - Public Health Practice & Professional Skills II

2 units (fi 4)(VAR, 2-0-0)

Building on SPH 541- Public Health Practice and Professional Skills I, students continue to practice and strengthen professional competencies through working in teams to address complex public health scenarios. This course highlights the action implementation and evaluation phases of the assessment-planning-action-evaluation cycle, and emphasizes the knowledge, skills, and behaviors needed in inter/intra-organizational teamwork and collaboration, including: assessment of the implementation context - such as the political climate and political will - ethics and values in decision-making, financing of health initiatives in the Canadian context, budget cycles and accountability, economic evaluation and resource allocation considerations, and governance. Teams continue to build stakeholder assessment skills - who needs to be at the table and their roles and responsibilities and accountabilities; and project management skills - scoping the work, developing a resource plan, including budget, work plan, and evaluation plan, and developing an advocacy briefing note in support of their proposed initiative. Particular attention is given to the implications for, and impacts of, policy making on, Indigenous people and other equity seeking groups. SPH 546 is a required course for the degree of Master of Public Health in General Public Health. Prerequisites: SPH 530, SPH 535, SPH 536, SPH 541, SPH 562. Corequisite: SPH 537, SPH 563, or consent of instructor.