Introduction

HED 2206 is designed to introduce you to community health topics relevant in today's society. You will examine in depth the issues, responses, ramifications, and potential solutions to a variety of community health problems. You will engage in problem-based learning by completing cases studies, which require problem-solving and reasoning skills, as well as an ability to search for information needed to understand the mechanisms responsible for the problem and determine how it may be resolved.

This course is organized into nine units. In each unit you will find

1. Learning Objectives
2. "Test Your Knowledge" pre-tests
3. Reading Assignments (from your textbook, other sources, and PowerPoint presentations)
4. Lecture
5. Assignments

You should progress through each unit in the order listed above and upon completion turn in each unit assignment. The lectures include many examples that will assist you in completing the homework. In addition to the unit assignments, there is a final project that requires research, creativity, and a scientifically supported written paper.

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Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course you should be able to:

1. explain the concepts of health, disease, health promotion, and disease prevention as they relate to a community
2. identify physical, social, cultural, community organization, and other factors affecting community health
3. define and describe the most common rates used in epidemiology and learn the various sources of health data
4. discuss the roles of select community health problems and their related risk factors
5. describe the health status of adults and minorities in the United States
6. explain the role of the community in health planning
7. apply the steps of rational health program planning to a health problem
8. analyze health information and research findings presented in popular media, scientific, or other professional sources.

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Textbook

The required text for the course is:

McKenzie, J.F., Pinger, R.R., and Kotecki, J.E. (2005). An Introduction to Community Health. 5th ed., Sudbery, MA: Jones and Bartlett.

The textbook can be obtained from the Higher Grounds bookstore at the Friday Center in person, by ordering online, or by printing and mailing the book order form.

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Course Expectations and Requirements

This course requires you to be an active learner and participant. You will need to study the assigned reading materials, lecture notes, and PowerPoint presentations, and research topics on the Internet and in professional journals. You will be required to reflect on past unit assignments to build an understanding of the process of improving community health, and apply this understanding to a variety of health issues. The following course requirements will be used to assess your knowledge and performance in the course:

Unit Assignments (40 percent, 100 points each): In each of the nine units, you will be assigned various tasks, such as reviewing Internet sites, collecting data, answering questions, and writing.

Case Studies/Journal Entries (50 percent, 100 points each): Five of the unit assignments are case studies, and are based on a learning technique called problem-based learning (PBL). In PBL, the problem or case serves as a stimulus for applying problem-solving/reasoning skills. The case requires you to search for information needed to gain a greater understanding of the mechanisms responsible for the problem and determine how it might be resolved.

Final Project (10 percent, 100 points): You will choose a community health problem of interest to further investigate, such as infant mortality, heart disease, or diabetes, and apply the concepts from the course to create an overall plan that could be used by a health educator to improve community health. In the project, you will outline the scope of the problem, the factors that contribute to the problem, prevention and intervention strategies, and resources available for addressing the problem. Essentially, you will create a case study of a hypothetical community with a specific health problem, outline all aspects of the problem, and finally develop a planned approach to improve health status of that community.

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Grading

Your course grade is based on the following percentages:

Unit Assignments and Case Studies: Grades are based on the organization and quality of your responses. Also, you will be evaluated on your ability to apply, describe, and interpret scientific principles and use this information to support your ideas.

Final Project: Your final project will be graded based on the following criteria:

• style (35 percent overall)
  • organization (10 percent)
  • readability/grammar (15 percent)
  • references (10 percent)
• content (65 percent overall)
  • discussion of the scope of problem (20 percent)
  • discussion of determinants/risk factors and intervention strategies (35 percent)
  • resources (10 percent).

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Honor Code

All work done in relation to this course is bound by the Honor Code. It is essential that you adhere to the principles outlined in the Honor Code at all times. All work that you reference must be cited in APA format. The UNC Writing Center offers handouts on several topics, including one on plagiarism and one on APA style. A good online APA guide comes from the Purdue Writing Online Writing Lab (OWL).

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Course Mechanics

PowerPoint Presentations

To view the PowerPoint presentations associated with chapters in your textbook, you need either PowerPoint or the free PowerPoint viewer. If you do not have either, download the free Microsoft PowerPoint viewer at PowerPoint Viewer 2003. There are instructions for installation on the download site. After installation, clicking on the links in your lesson to the slideshow will launch the PowerPoint Viewer.

PDF Files

Some of your reading assignments are PDF files. Most people already have the Acrobat Reader installed on their computers, but if you do not, you can download it for free at Adobe Reader.

E-mail

If you change to another e-mail address, notify me and Janice Durham at the Friday Center of the change.

Submitting Assignments

To submit assignments for grading, click the "Submit Assignment" link provided at the end of each unit assignment and attach your file. Clicking this button provides you with an e-mail message that is pre-addressed to both me and the Self-paced Courses office, and has the course number and the correct submission number for that assignment in the subject line. You will need to type your full name at the end of the subject line and then attach to that e-mail the file containing your assignment.

Please make sure that you adhere to the following requirements:

• When you create your file in a word processing program, name the file with your last name, first name, and lesson number. For example, the file name of my first assignment would be “Miller Jill Unit 1.doc.”
• Prior to beginning your assignment, please make sure that all appropriate information, such as your name, assignment number, and date is at the top of the page.
• If the assignment involves answering questions, please copy the question and then follow it with your response.
• All assignments must be submitted in Word or Rich Text format. If you are working in WordPerfect or another word processing program, when you save your document, please select Word or Rich text as the file type (near bottom) in the save box.
• Please submit one unit assignment at a time. You will receive timely feedback on your work; however, please allow enough time for grading as it is possible that I have professional obligations at Winston-Salem State University or am on holiday.
• Avoid sending in several assignments at the end of your enrollment period, as it may be difficult to grade numerous assignments in a timely fashion. Create a feasible schedule for yourself that provides ample time to complete assignments and receive helpful feedback. Typically, in a semester-long course, students complete one unit every one to two weeks.
• Always submit your assignments as an attachment to an e-mail (not in the body of the e-mail). Include yourself as a recipient of the assignment for your own records.
• Always save a digital and hard copy of every assignment.

It is extremely important for you to save copies of any work you send via e-mail. If your instructor doesn't receive your message, you must have a copy of the e-mail with the attached file, indicating the date sent, to prove that you submitted the assignment on time. It is your responsibility to maintain copies of your sent e-mails as well as the attached files, as there is no way to guarantee that any e-mail message will be delivered.

Please check your e-mail software to see how it manages sent and saved messages. Some software automatically deletes messages one month after they have been sent; others only save messages if they are filed in folders; others save messages received but not those sent. You may need to send yourself a copy of your e-mailed assignment at the same time you send it to your instructor, or you may need to print a copy of the e-mail message and any attachments to keep in your paper files. No matter how your system works, make sure you know how to save a copy of all work that you submit to your instructor and that you save the copy for several months beyond the end of the course.

Other Questions

Contact me with questions regarding the content of the course and your progress. (There is an e-mail link at the top of every lesson page.) Please include “SPC HED 2206” in the subject line of your e-mail.

Contact the Instructional Designer at the Friday Center about problems with this Web site, including bad links.

If you have any logistical questions as you work through the course (enrollment, Onyen, credits, withdrawal, and so on), contact the Student Services staff at the Friday Center for Continuing Education (phone 919-962-1134 or 800-862-5669).

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How to Begin

Since this course is not held in a classroom, I may never meet you in person. Still, I would like to know something about you so that I can associate each e-mail message from you with something more than a name. Therefore, your first task is to send me a Personal Information Sheet: Save this Word Document to your hard drive (or copy and paste from this Web page into your word processing program), fill it out, and attach it to an e-mail to me. This also gives us a chance to make sure our lines of communication are working.

To begin, simply click the Unit 1 link and proceed through the lesson in the following order:

1. Learning Objectives
2. Test Your Knowledge pre-tests (do not turn this item in for grading)
3. Reading Assignments
4. Lecture
5. Assignment
6. Journal.

It is important that you complete the reading assignments AND review the lecture notes prior to attempting the assignment. Successful students in this course complete the reading and lecture notes prior to attempting the assignment, conduct additional research on the Internet, spend time reflecting on their own health behaviors and those of others, learn the scientific basis for health recommendations, and finally, observe their surrounding environment and how it prevents or promotes healthy lifestyles.

OK, it’s in your hands now….Time to get started!

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Units

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Unit 1