Course subject: Health Studies (HLTH)

An introduction to the philosophical, historical, ecological, legislative, and ethical foundations for understanding the practice of public health in Canada. The course is delivered in a 2-week block at the beginning of the MPH program sequence on the UW main campus. For MPH student only. The course must be successfully completed by MPH students before proceeding to other courses in the MPH program sequence.

A critical analysis of health policy formulation, implementation and evluation related to population health initiatives and health care delivery. The course will include discussion of the role of various regional, provincial, and national agencies in health care policy formation. It will examine various health care systems, their funding and how the Canadian healthcare system compares with systems in other countries. Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.

This course is an introduction to biostatistics for those planning a career in public health. Students will learn various biostatistical techniques, how to apply those techniques in the analysis of data from health studies, and how to interpret the results from those analyses. Topics include types of data, descriptive statistics, probability, distributions of data, exploratory data analysis, confidence intervals, hypothesis testing, regression analysis, analysis of variance, and brief exposure to categorical data analysis and survival analysis. Emphasis will be on conceptual understanding of topics as well as carrying out various data analysis applications.

This course introduces the principles, methods, and uses of epidemiology in the practice of public health. After completion of this course, students will be able to critically read and interpret epidemiologic research and clearly communicate epidemiologic findings. They will be familiar with health status measurement, data sources, screening, surveillance, outbreak investigation, and metholds to support program planning and evaluation. Students will have a sound understanding of basic epidemiologic concepts, including prevalence, incidence, study designs, measures of association, bias, confounding and causal inference.

An overview of theories, research findings, and applications of health communication and risk communication in public health. The course examines theories of group interaction and mass communication related to community perceptions of public health problems and practices, the impact of new technologies on public health communication, intercultural issues in health communication, health literacy, social marketing, and links between health communication and public health policy. Prerequisite PHS 601.

The various programs and services, particularly in the non-medical areas, will be discussed. Emphasis will be placed on various programs which are available to the elderly residing in the community, such as home care and homemaking services, various outreach programs, including day hospitals, placement and coordination services, geriatric assessment services, vacation relief beds and foster home programs. The reasons for the changes which have taken place over time will also be investigated. In addition, the cost-effectiveness and methods how such cost-effectiveness can be evaluated will be outlined. As with HSG 703, students in this course will be expected to undertake some field work.

This course focuses on health data as a key component of all health informatics systems. Topics include ontologies and other classification taxonomies found in health systems, data standards (with a focus on Canadian implementations of international standards), privacy and security of health data, client/patient assessment tools, and ethical considerations.

Methods and applications of intervention evaluation in public health, as a means to ensure the effectiveness, accountability and continuous improvement of public health interventions. Basic evaluation models and concepts of evaluation design are provided as an introduction, including the relationship between intervention planning (organization and program planning) and evaluation. Case examples are used to illustrate methodological, political and ethical challenges of program evaluation in the public health context.

This course focuses on the process by which decisions are made and how decision-making processes can be codified and machine supported. It will include topics such as reasoning and inference, techniques for managing uncertainty and information representation. The course is anchored in a systems thinking approach to problem solving.

This course focuses on the fundamental methods that are commonly employed in modern health informatics research in order to collect, store, organize, process, analyze, and communicate data/information/knowledge. Emphasis is on computerized methods and concepts. Students will gain both theoretical knowledge and practical experience so that they can apply the learned methods in practice after completing this course.

One of the major aims of heal informatics is to help health professionals make better decisions. To this end, diverse models and methods of decision making and decision support have been developed and implements in health care settings. This course reviews theories, methods, and technologies for aiding the process of making decisions in health care.

Methods used to assess human health risks associated with biological, chemical and physical exposures in the environment, focusing on hazard identification, dose-response assessment, exposure assessment, and risk characterization. The course examines the strengths and weaknesses of various types of risk assessment approaches, the inherent uncertainties in each stage of risk assessment, and the interactive role of risk assessment and risk management in public health decision-making. Course open to MPH students. Others may be admitted with consent of instructor.

This workshop oriented course provides a foundational overview of various qualitative research processes beginning with philosophical underpinnings, and continuing through theoretical perspectives, methodologies, methods, analysis, and write-up. Specifically, ontological and epistemological approaches of prediction, understanding, emancipation, and deconstruction will be introduced and discussed as students immerse themselves in rigorous fieldwork in relation to current qualitative trends in health and well-being.

An exploration of the socioeconomic determinants of health, the role of economics in public health policy, and the uses of economic evaluation methods in public health decision-making. Course open to MPH students. Others may be admitted with consent of instructor.

An exploration of the complex set of relationships among public health, environment and planning at the community and global levels. Topics covered include the concept of sustainable development and how it relates to public health.

This course examines the application of information technologies and information systems in public health practice. Selected topics include managing information to deliver value; data standards in public health; privacy, confidentiality and security in public health; surveillance systems, informatics of toxicology and environmental public health. Course open to MPH students. Others may be admitted with consent of instructor.

Fall/Winter/Spring The supervised practicum is intended to enhance basic or applied research skills. The placement may involve a combination of research design or program development, data collection (using quantitative or qualitative methods), analyses, interpretation, and presentation. A contract stipulating practicum objectives, and work to be completed to meet these objectives must be jointly approved by the student, the practicum supervisor, the academic supervisor, and the practicum coordinator. A written report by the student, together with a letter from the field supervisor, are used by the co-ordinator to evaluate student performance. This course is intended for Masters level students. Graded on a Cr/NCr basis. Prerequisite: consent of instructor.

An advanced program and policy evaluation course that provides theoretical knowledge, skills, and application of program evaluation approaches, including organizational and program planning. A more in-depth coverage of topics will be presented, including case studies and the understanding and use of program and policy intervention theory. This includes the creation of logic models, the identification of the purpose of the evaluation, the development of an appropriate evaluation design, and consideration of factors associated with knowledge use.

Key concepts necessary for successful evaluation practice and management are discussed and applied using case examples. Evaluation practice examples that are discussed include learning to understand and incorporate consideration of diversity, societal, organizational and environmental context in the conduct of evaluations. Key project management concepts relevant to each step of the evaluation of intervention will be covered, including (but not limited to) selecting research questions and focusing design considerations, budgets, timelines, politics, and contingency plans as well as creating and working in teams.

This course provides in-depth coverage of measurement and survey methods needed for evaluation data collection and other research or clinical applications. Various measurement approaches will be studied, including classical test theory and item response theory. Students will learn how to develop a measure or questionnaire and test its reliability and validity, or to critically appraise an existing measure or questionnaire. Issues and methods related to administering health measures or questionnaires will be covered, including sampling and ethical issues.

The course introduces the concepts, methods, and applications of Geographic Information System (GIS), with a focus on spatial analysis in public health. The strong emphasis on assignments that require application of concepts and methods provides students with hands-on experience of important GIS applications in public health, including disease surveillance and control, disease risk estimation, health service planning, mapping disease, disease cluster detection, and analyzing environmental hazards at the neighbourhood, municipal, regional, and international level. Students will learn the fundamentals of GIS, methodologies for analysing spatial data, study design, spatial data issues and interpretation of the results of analyses for GIS applications in public health. There is no prerequisite for this course. However, basic knowledge of statistics with an interest in information technology, public health, and mapping is highly desirable.

Course content includes normative and non-normative development across the lifespan as it is relevant to individual and population health and public health programming. The human is treated as an independent system nested within an environmental system. Consideration will be given to the interaction of the commonly recognized developmental domains, the individual's context, and wellness. Topics of discussion may include the impact on health and wellness of developmental continuity, resilience, transitions, and milestones.

The focus of the course is on basic physiological and immunological mechanisms involved in major contemporary health problems, including those which are contributed to by behavioural factors.

This course introduces the application of epidemiologic methods to the study of older persons. This lecture/discussion will present core epidemiologic concepts and methodologic issues in epidemiologic students of older persons. We will then study predictors of health and three major health outcomes: longevity/mortality, functional status/disability, and disease. Students will critically evaluate epidemiologic studies in aging research and will investigate a specific topic in this field in depth.

The aim of this course is to equip students with advanced knowledge and skills to understand, conceptualize, design, conduct, and critically evaluate qualitative health research. It is designed for students wishing to develop their own research at the master's or doctoral level. Emphasis is on: 1) exploring the relationship between techniques designed to gather particular kinds of data and the broader epistemological and theoretical questions underpinning qualitative health research; and 2) giving students an opportunity to practically engage with key qualitative research skills (interviewing, data analysis) and to reflect on the ethical, theoretical, and practical issues that arise in conducting qualitative research in health settings.

Building on HLTH 606, this course provides an in-depth survey of theory and methods in epidemiology, focusing on answering complex research questions using epidemiologic methods. Course topics include modeling multinomial, count, rate, and survival data and disease transmission; infectious disease dynamics; assessing the reliability/validity of measurement instruments; an in-depth examination of various study designs (e.g., case control, nested case control, case-cohort, randomized controlled trials, panel studies, and hybrid study designs); critical appraisal of the medical literature; and systematic reviews and meta-analysis.

An in-depth analysis of specific topics of interest. Representative topics may include advanced epidemiological and statistical methods for health research, cancer prevention and control, advanced health program evluation, psychoneuroimmunology, addictions, caregiver issues, etc. The form of the study may include a literature review or the planning and execution of and execution of an independent study leading to a mamor paper for possible publication.

The purpose of this course is to introduce students to different ways of designing and implementing research within the topic area of work and health as well as some of the practical, political and ethical challenges. The course content will include an examination of the epistemological positions assoicated with different types of research questions, analysis of case studies of research in work and health, and discussions of proposed research questions and proposals that examine problems from a variety of disciplinary perspectives. The course will also include presentations by researchers and practitioners from the work and health domain, who will facilitate discussions on the challenges and opportunities of conducting and applying research in this area.

This seminar is a forum for student presentations about results of or proposals for research. Invited speakers will also present results of research from time to time. Attendance at the seminar is required for two terms (i.e., during the candidates' first two years in the program). Attendance beyond that is encouraged. The range of topics that will be addressed in the seminar crosses all areas of investigation in the collaborative program. Grading will be on a credit/no credit basis.