Public health professionals know what behaviors contribute to health; however, they know less about why people fail to adopt healthy practices. This course is based on the premise that the more we understand about why people behave the way they do, the more successful we will be as we develop and implement programs and policies designed to improve health. This course uses psychology, sociology and anthropology to improve our understanding of the determinants of health behavior and will provide an introduction to a variety of health behavior theories and basic qualitative research methods. Our intent is to develop practical strategies for understanding the social and behavioral foundations of public health, enabling us to plan effective interventions. Working individually and in groups, students will use conceptual frameworks such as BEHAVE to help identify a public health problem, select a target audience, conduct basic qualitative research to determine facilitators and barriers to engaging in a given practice, and propose several behavior change and communications (BCC) strategies based on an assessment of the situation. This course is intended to provide students a foundation for future coursework in program design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. The two sections of IH 720 that are offered in the Fall (as well as SB 721) focus more heavily on the contributions of psychology and sociology while the Spring section emphasizes anthropology. All IH concentrators and international, nonresident students who are not SB concentrators may substitute IH 720 for the behavioral sciences MPH core requirement, SB 721. Students who have taken SB 721 may not take this course for degree credit. Preference is given to IH concentrators for registration.

Note that this information may change at any time. Please visit the Student Link for the most up-to-date course information.