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This course unit is designed to introduce students to the key principles of public health and project management for health.  

The unit will introduce the core domains of public health including prevention, promotion and protection.  It will explore what Public Health roles are and include, both in the public and private sector. It will explore what we mean by theory, models and the evidence and how we apply these to our understanding and exploration of public health issues and practice.  

Through playful learning, students will need to understand different behaviour change and health promotion models and their use for public health interventions. Students will design a health promotion game which will demonstrate the main components of planning a public health intervention. They will then go onto design an evaluation tool and use it to show the success of their health game.  Working with groups and communicating with them is some of the core learning for this module. It will set them up with the skills needed for designing an intervention as a health champion later in the programme,

The unit will run in Semester 1, Year 1 of the BSc Public Health programme.   The course unit will be delivered over a period of 10 weeks and will include a blend of synchronous and asynchronous teaching and learning activity.

The unit aims to introduce students to the  principles of public health, the theory behind planning a Public Health intervention and the skills needed to evaluate a health promotion intervention.

The unit will introduce the core domains of public health including prevention, promotion and protection.  It will explore what Public Health roles are and include, both in the public and private sector. It will explore what we mean by theory, models and the evidence and how we apply these to our understanding and exploration of public health issues and practice. The unit aims to consider the key values of public health including equity, social justice and evidence-based action.    
 

Students will be able to: 

Indicative content:
Unit topics include (but are not limited to):

1. The key principles of health and public health
2. Behaviour change models and three health promotion models and their use for public health interventions
3. The theory behind and the main components of planning a public health intervention
4. The theory behind and the creation of health intervention evaluation
5. Reflective theory and communication theory to ensure the ability to communicate well with groups and individuals on health, will also be covered
6. History and evolution of public health
7. Theories, Models and Evidence – How do they inform our understanding of Public Health issues and Approaches?
8. Values and Principles: Equity, Social Justice, Ethical Principles

Core domains of public health: 

• Prevention, Protection, Promotion
• Public health structures and governance at local , national and global levels.
• Using evidence to inform public health practice and identify public health needs
• Ethical considerations in public health interventions
   

Learning and teaching processes will include 10 x 2-hour on-campus seminar sessions. These sessions will combine taught content with interactive workshop exercises and case discussions. Students will be encouraged to work both independently and as part of a group, and there will be opportunities for students to share ideas, resources and questions on the unit online discussion area. Additional e-learning materials will be provided to facilitate independent study. Students can choose to complete formative ‘self-test’ quizzes to assess their knowledge and understanding at the end of each block of learning. Students will be able to submit one 500-word draft of their assignment and will receive written formative feedback on this draft.

• Outline the key principles of health and public health.
• Identify different behaviour change and health promotion models and their use for public health interventions.
• Explain the main components of planning a public health intervention.
• Demonstrate an understanding of health intervention evaluation.
• Demonstrate the ability to reflect on communication with and education for groups and individuals on health.
• Demonstrate how Theories, Models and Evidence support understanding of public health issues and their underlying determinants as well as inform the action taken to address these concerns.
• Demonstrate an appreciation of the values of public health in terms of equity and social justice.
• Explain the main domains of public health, including health promotion, health protection, disease prevention, healthcare public health and global health.
• Outline Public Health roles and careers across public and private sector enterprise.
• Demonstrate an understanding of ethical, political, ecological and sociological considerations in public health decision-making.
   

• Discuss contemporary public health challenges and interventions at local, national, and global levels, considering health inequalities, governance structures and policy frameworks.
• Discuss the relationship between deprivation and ill health.
• Consider how to evaluate successful health interventions. 
   

• Apply digital literacy skills to search for evidence relevant to public health practice.
• Communicate public health messages effectively, using appropriate methods for different audiences. 
• Work in a group to produce a game to improve health knowledge.

• Collaborate with peers to explore different approaches to contemporary real-world public health challenges.
• Reflect on personal development and learning, with reference to pre-understanding, biases and new knowledge and perspectives.  

Students will receive written feedback for both their group assignment and indiviudal written assignment.

• Levy, B.S. (2019) ‘’, 3rd edition, New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
• Marmot, M. (2016) ‘’, 2nd edition, London, Bloomsbury.
• Mastroianni, A,C. et al. (eds) (2019) ‘’, New York: Oxford University Press.
• Robinson, S. (ed) (2023) ‘, 3rd edition, Abingdon, Oxon; Routledge.
• Somerville, M. et al. (eds) (2016) ‘’, 2nd edition, New York: John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated.
• Venkatapuram, S., & Broadbent, A. (eds) (2023) ‘’, Abingdon, Oxon; Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.