Health Science 237

Introduction to Health Education

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COURSE SYLLABUS

CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION:

Recommended Corequisites: ENGL 305 or 306. Introduction to the professional field of health education. Rooted in the broad field of public health, with an emphasis on the roles of health promotion and illness prevention. Stress is placed upon the relationship between health, the social and physical environment, health care delivery and personal health behavior.

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

Health Science 237 is the introductory professional course in the Health Education undergraduate program. The course provides health education majors with a foundational understanding of the professional field of health education. This course identifies and explores the theoretical and practical issues of the field of community and school health education. Students successfully completing this course will identify and apply health education principles to health challenges facing individuals, groups and communities.

Students will receive a fundamental understanding of the role of the health education in assessing, planning, executing and evaluating the health challenges that impact the wellbeing of today’s society.

This course will provide students with an experience that assists them in understanding the interrelationships between physical, social, and cultural forces in the etiology of disease and the ensuing practices of public health and disease prevention.

OBJECTIVES:

Upon completion of this course, students will be able to demonstrate specific knowledge with respect to:

Identify the roles health educators play in achieving Healthy People 2010 health objectives.
Describe the tools used by health educators to bring about health change.
Demonstrate an understanding of how to obtain and utilize measures of community health needs.
Identify the elements of any effective health education plan.
Describe the essential components of a Coordinated School Health Program.
Discuss the role evaluation plays in health education and demonstrate an understanding of the different types of evaluation procedures employed by health educators.
Comprehend and communicate health education needs, concerns, and resources.

RESOURCES:

Course Textbook

Principles & foundations of Health Promotion and Education, Randall R. Cottrell, James T. Girvan and James F. McKenzie. The text is available from the campus bookstore, as well as from online bookstores such as Amazon, Barnes and Noble, etc.

SCHEDULE:

Week	Date	Topic	Text and Other Reading
1	1/19	TOPIC: Course Introduction and Overview Course Mechanics Health education: A field of study Health education: A profession Current status of health education Defining terms, concepts and principles	Chapter 1, and Chapter 2
2	1/26	TOPIC: A Historical View of Health Education in Contrast to the Present Prehistoric period Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans Middle Ages Renaissance and Age of Enlightenment 1800s 1900s The Objectives of health education – Healthy People 2010	Chapter 3, http://www.ph.ucla.edu/epi/snow.html (Parts 1,2, &3)
3	2/2	TOPIC: Philosophical Foundations of Health Education The what and why of Philosophy Principles and philosophies associated with health Philosophical view points and their impact on health education	Chapter 4
4	2/9	TOPIC: Theoretical Foundations of Health Education The importance of theory Overview of health education theories and models Planning models Behavior change theories and models	Chapter 5
5	2/16	TOPIC: Ethics and Health Education The importance of ethics Ethical theories Common moral principles Ethical decision making Ethical issues in health education Ensuring ethical behavior	Chapter 6
6	2/23	TOPIC: The Health Educator’s Roles, Responsibilities, Certifications, and Advanced Study Credentialing Graduate health education Program accreditation Responsibilities and competencies of health educators	Chapter 7
7	3/2	TOPIC: The Settings for Health Education School health education Community/public health education Worksite health education Health education in health care settings Health education in colleges and universities	Chapter 8
8	3/9	Mid-Term Exam
9	3/16	TOPIC: Agencies/Associations/Organizations Associated with Health Education Governmental health agencies Quasi-governmental health agencies Nongovernmental health agencies Voluntary health agencies Philanthropic foundations Professional health associations/organizations	Chapter 9
10	3/23	TOPIC: The Literature of Health Education Types of information sources Components of a research article	Chapter 10
11	3/30	TOPIC: The Literature of Health Education Part Two Critically reading a research article Web based information	Sup 1
12	4/6
13	4/13	TOPIC: Future Trends in Health Education Demographic changes Social trends Medical care establishment Professional preparation and credentialing Changes in health education settings	Sup 2
14	4/20	TOPIC: Health Education and Cultural Competency Asian Culture	http://cbhed.com/
15	4/27	TOPIC: Health Education and Cultural Competency African American Culture	http://cbhed.com/
16	5/4	TOPIC: Health Education and Cultural Competency Latino/Latina Culture	http://cbhed.com/
17		TOPIC: Final Exam

COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING:

Final grades for this course will be based on the number of points accumulated by each student in the group presentation project, public health policy paper, attendance and participation exercises, and current issue summaries. Assignments are due at the beginning of class on their respective due dates. Late assignments will not be accepted and will earn a grade of “F.”

1. Grading

	Methods of Evaluation	Possible Points	Percent of Grade
1.	Participation/Attendance Exercises	60	25%
2.	Short Writing Assignments	60	25%
3.	Mid-term Exam	60	25%
4.	Final Exam	60	25%
	Total	240	100%

2. Percentage Point Distribution and Corresponding Grades

A = 90% - 100%	D = 50%-64%
B = 80% - 89%	F = <50%
C = 65%-79%

3. Methods of Evaluation

A. Participation/Attendance

Small-group participation exercises will be conducted at various times throughout the semester. You can think of the exercises as being interactive quizzes, in that they are generally not announced in advance, only attendance and participation is required for you to receive full credit. If you are not in class on the day of an exercise, there is no make-up for the points lost.

The majority of the exercises will consist of small group discussions and presentations of topics found in the current or archived MMWR and/or THN publications. Small groups should form around topics of common interest. Participation exercises will not be held on days on which issues papers and the policy paper are due.

B. Short Writing Assignments

Address each of the following three topics by writing a one page position paper. You are required to follow the American Psychological Association Writing Style Manual. Include a minimum of three academic resources for each paper as support for your positions.

Topic 1: America has the best health care in the world. (Due Feb. 9, 2009)
Topic 2: The U.S. obesity problem has its origins in corporate America. (Due March 23, 2009)
Topic 3: The only reasonable way to stop the AIDS epidemic is to have mandatory reporting of all cases. (Due April 27, 2009)

Please note that all written assignments are to be submitted electronically using TurnItIn.com. You will be added to the Turnitin.com class by the instructor and a login and a temporary password will be emailed to your CSUN account. The login and password are necessary for you to be able to submit work through Turnitin.com. In order to ensure that you will not run into problems on your first assignment, please try your login as soon as you receive your login information. Written assignments not submitted through turnitin.com will not be graded.

C. Mid-term Exam

All students are required to sit for the mid-term exam. It will contain approximately 60 multiple choice/true-false items. Prior to the exam students will receive a list of items from which the test items will be drawn. There are no make exams.

D. Final Exam

All students are required to sit for the final exam. It will contain approximately 60 multiple choice/true-false items. Prior to the exam students will receive a list of items from which the test items will be drawn. There are no make exams.

EXPECTATIONS OF STUDENTS

1. Commitment

Successful completion of this course involves a commitment. Assignments must be completed throughout the semester and turned in on a timely basis in order to receive full credit. Being committed to the course means that a student arrives to class on time, fully participates in class sessions, and immerses him or herself in the course content.

2. Academic Dishonesty

Academic dishonesty includes plagiarism of work by any other individual, cheating, or handing in other students work as your own. Copying and pasting material found on the Internet also constitutes academic dishonesty regardless of whether or not the source has been cited, particularly if it is unclear that the work was not written by the student. Please note that properly formatted direct quotations cited using the APA format are permissible. Any cases of academic dishonesty will be reported directly to the CSUN Office of Academic Affairs and a grade of "F" will be assigned for the course..

An additional note on academic dishonesty: Throughout the semester you will note that I tend to encourage students to work together both in formal groups and also informally. I do this because I believe that individuals learn more effectively when they are interacting with others. If you decide to work together with another student on an individual assignment, please keep in mind that every student is responsible for turning in their own unique work.