Department of Health Behavior Courses

Core Courses

CPH 646: Ecological Influences on Health Behavior

Instructor: Mark Swanson

This course will explore the social and natural ecological forces that shape health behavior. It will focus on the concept that individual health decisions are made in a particular context, and that altering that context can reshape those decisions. Students will be exposed to both theoretical and case study material comparing individual/ educational approaches to public health with population-based approaches utilizing environmental change. The course will also cover the philosophical and ethical questions inherent in the choices between individual and population approaches to public health.

CPH 646: Kentucky Health Demographics

Instructor: Jeff Jones

This far-ranging course specifically emphasizes a deeper understanding of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: demographics, health issues, public health rankings, health infrastructure, genomics, and datasets. Drawing upon social/behavioral science theory, this course will also examine the connected pragmatic and theoretical issues of measurement and categorization. Genomics are a new level of demography at the cellular level. This course will provide a brief foray into the basics of human genomics and how they may present themselves in the context of Kentucky populations. At the end of this class, students will be expected to be familiar with the public health structures, population, and…most critically…how and where to access or gather data on a broad range of health issues involving Kentuckians’ health.

CPH 647: Research Methods for Public Health

Instructor: Dr. Richard Crosby

This course provides the student with basic knowledge about the design and analysis of research in the field of health promotion. The theory, design, applications, and analytic strategies used for various types of research are presented in a sequential format. Goals of the course include: 

1. gaining the ability to critically evaluate research in health promotion practice,
2. achieving competence in research methodology, and
3.  understanding the conceptual application of analytic techniques to data.

CPH 648: Health and Culture

Instructor: Dr. Linda Alexander

This course is designed to facilitate a deep understanding of the role of one’s culture in influencing the adaptation of health attitudes, practices, and behaviors. This course is required because it is a philosophy of the department that health educators involved in advocacy, policy, prevention, promotion and program evaluation, should be trained to understand how and why complex differences in and among diverse populations frame populations expectations regarding personal and community. As a part of this course, students will be required to examine their own cultural biases and strengths in an atmosphere of non-judgment, respect, and trust. An additional focus will be placed on health status, current trends, and health indicators for special populations identified through the Kentucky Health Objectives for the year 2003, as reported by the Kentucky Department for Public Health.