Announcement
New MPH Program
The Behavioral Science [note the name is being changed to “Health Behavior” Concentration Curriculum
Concentration Objectives
The behavioral science concentration will prepare public health practitioners for a variety of positions related to community development, health program implementation, and health education. Students will learn how to design, implement, and evaluate evidence-based interventions that are directed toward identified public health problems in populations. Bachelor’s level training in social and behavioral science is good preparation for this program, but students will come from a variety of educational backgrounds. Upon completion of the program, MPH students will be able to
- Describe the role of social and community factors in both the onset and solution of public health problems.
- Identify the causes of social and behavioral factors that affect health of individuals and populations.
- Identify basic theories, concepts and models from a range of social and behavioral disciplines that are used in public health research and practice.
- Apply ethical principles to public health program planning, implementation and evaluation.
- Specify multiple targets and levels of intervention for social and behavioral science programs and/or policies.
- Identify individual, organizational and community concerns, assets, resources and deficits for social and behavioral science interventions.
- Apply evidence-based approaches in the development and evaluation of social and behavioral science interventions.
- Describe the merits of social and behavioral science interventions and policies.
- Describe steps and procedures for the planning, implementation and evaluation of public health programs, policies and interventions.
- Identify critical stakeholders for the planning, implementation and evaluation of public health programs, policies and interventions.
Required Core Courses (26 credits)
All MPH students, irrespective of their concentration area, are required to complete a basic core of required courses. The required core courses and course descriptions are as follows:
SPM 501 Epidemiology Principles (4 credits)
Introduction to the basic principles, methods and uses of epidemiology
SPM 507 Introduction to Health Care Organization (3)
Broad introduction to health care delivery in the U.S. Examines topics such as health manpower, ambulatory care, hospitals, long-term care, managed care, financing, cost containment, and quality of care.
SPM 527 Study of Health Behaviors (3)
Examination of selected approaches for explaining people's health-related behaviors (i.e. cultural, economic, social structure, social psychological) and a review of intervention strategies designed to modify health-related behaviors.
SPM 533 Principles of Public Health (3)
Provides an introduction to the concepts and practice of public health at the community, state, and national levels. Addresses the philosophy, purpose, history, organization, function, tools, activities and results of public health practice along with a number of important health issues and problems facing the public health system.
SPM 535 Biological Basis of Public Health (3) (waived for students with a health professions background)
Intended for students with little or no background in the biological sciences and health professions. The course provides a broad overview of public health topics related to human health and disease focusing on disease etiology with particular emphasis on parasitic and microbial infections plus a review of the anatomy, physiology, and pathology of selected major organ systems and associated diseases of public health importance.
SPM 549 Environmental Health (3)
An introductory course that explores the role of environmental factors in health with an emphasis on characterization, assessment, and control of environmental hazards. Topics include application of toxicologic and epidemiologic methods in assessing risk and setting exposure limits; the nature of and control of hazards associated with food, water, air, solid and liquid waste, occupation, and radiation; risk communication and management, environmental justice; and environmental laws. The course concludes by examining the impact of human activity, such as energy use and pollution, on the environment and how human-induced environmental change, in turn, impacts public health and that of the planet as a whole.
SPM 590 Graduate Seminar (0) (required for full-time students)
The seminar is intended to inform faculty and students in SPM about new and continuing areas of research and public policy issues in public health and epidemiology. Invited speakers will include a mixture of SPM and Roswell Park faculty, graduate students, faculty from other departments at the University at Buffalo (UB), and nationally and internationally recognized experts in public health and epidemiology from outside the University.
STA 506 Introduction to Statistical Computing for Public Health Practitioners (3)
The purpose of this course is to familiarize students with PC-based statistical computing applications for public health. It is a companion course for SPM 505: Introduction to Biostatistics. The course will develop basic skills in the use of a statistical package through classroom demonstrations and independent lab assignments that will complement the material covered in SPM 505. The course will emphasize data definition, verification, descriptive and inferential statistics and graphical presentation. The course should familiarize the students with the use of a statistical package and give them the skills needed for effective data management, data manipulation, and data analysis at a basic level.
STA 527 Introduction to Medical Statistics (4)
Topics: Descriptive statistics, probability concepts (independence, conditional probability), probability distributions of random variables, sampling distributions, estimation, confidence intervals, hypothesis testing, analysis of variance procedures, linear regression, nonparametric methods. Computers and statistical packages will be used throughout the course. No extensive computer experience is required.
Behavioral Science Concentration Area Courses (15 credits)
Students will be required to select courses within their concentration area totaling 15 credits. The course descriptions are as follows:
SPM 523 Introduction to Program Planning and Evaluation (3)
Models and principles of program planning and evaluation are presented and contrasted. Data gathering techniques, design considerations, and implementation strategies are covered. Other topics include systems theory applications, strategic planning methods, proposal development, and report writing.
SPM 517 Methods of Survey Research (3 credits)
Introduction to survey research techniques, including: sampling, question construction, field methods, interviewing, coding, data processing, data analysis with standard computer programs.
SPM 519 Principles of Measurement in Public Health (3)
The course will cover basic principles and methods of measurement and their application in epidemiologic research. These include development and use of different types of instruments and scales for measuring biological characteristics and behavioral and social constructs, questionnaire construction and validation, sampling, data collection methods, and fundamental principles underlying data analysis and interpretation. Students will gain practical experience developing a questionnaire relevant to an epidemiologic issue, role-playing interview techniques in class, and resolving issues related to other data collection methods, sampling, and preparing data for analysis.
SPM 529 Field Experience in Program Planning and Evaluation (3)
Focuses on the application of program planning and evaluation principles within a field setting chosen by instructor and student. Supervised field experiences and seminars focus on applied and hypothetical problems.
SPM 528 The Public Health Practice of Tobacco Control (3)
Designed to prepare students to confront the practical problems of controlling tobacco use through local, state, and national public health agencies. In addition to providing core knowledge on tobacco-related issues, the course will include skills-based training that may be useful in future employment.
SPM 538 Community Health Assessment and Surveillance (3)
This course identifies elements in a community responsible for modifying the health behavior of the individual. Provides the needed information for designing plans to improve the health status of the community and its members. The course will help to identify quantitative and qualitative methods to conduct community health assessment, evaluation of community intervention programs, and the utilization of public health surveillance data to understand community health profiles. Case-studies and a practical experience will provide the students with training on how to work as a group with members of the community.
SPM 541 Medical Sociology (3)
Provides an introduction to research and theories on social features of health and illness, and on the organization and institutions of health care.
SPM 543 Public Health Practice (3)
Designed to provide students with the practice-based knowledge and skills necessary for the functional management of local, state, and federal health agencies. Topics include: administrative structure, governance, management issues, financing of public health programs, public budgetary development and approval process, political and medial influence on public health programs, intergovernmental relations, public sector-private sector collaboration, application of legislative and regulatory principles, public health program planning, and media relations and risk communication.
SPM 622 The Role of Physical Activity in the Etiology, Treatment and Prevention of Chronic Disease (3)
Designed for students who are interested in expanding their knowledge and understanding of physical activity research and the public health implications of an active or inactive lifestyle. The major emphasis will be on methodological issues in physical activity research, and the role of physical activity in health and chronic disease. The course is intended to develop critical thinking, research, and decision-making skills for independent researchers and clinicians.
ES 528 Health Promotion, Prevention and Wellness (3)
Health promotion is examined from a public health perspective, a community and corporate perspective and in terms of individual behavior change.
PTR 500 Cancer Control and Prevention (3)
Examination of selected approaches for explaining people's health-related behaviors (i.e. cultural, economic, social structure, social psychological) and a review of intervention strategies designed to modify health-related behaviors.
NUR 518 Health Promotion and Risk Reduction (2)
This course examines the health behaviors and health promotion needs of individuals, families, and populations. Strategies to promote positive health behaviors and to reduce health risks are discussed. Theoretical, developmental, socio-cultural, and demographic factors for selected health promotion strategies are analyzed for use in formulating appropriate interventions to maximize health.
PSY 625 Community Psychology (3)
Survey of theories and practices in the developing field of community psychology and community mental health.
Field Training (i.e., internship) (6 credits)
The field training requirement is the same as currently exists for the extant concentration areas.
The supervised field training experiences allow students to synthesize the knowledge and skills developed during the academic portion of their program in a practical application setting. The field training experiences can be of various types depending upon student interest. For example, they could be as varied as working with a public health agency administrator, participating in a behavioral modification program, analyzing a public health agency’s behavioral data set, participating in a community needs assessment, or conducting a program evaluation.
The field experience consists of the equivalent of 240 clock hours and provides 6 credits. There is room for flexibility in how the hour requirement is met, for example: in one semester at 12 weeks at half-time (20 hours per week), on a full-time basis (40 hours per week for 6 weeks as, for example, during a summer), or over a 2 semester period (10 hours per week for 24 weeks). Students may request a waiver of the field training experience based upon their relevant prior education and work experiences. A field training experience involves students, their faculty advisors, and placement site mentors. Proposals for field training experiences are solicited from potential agencies and institutions predominantly in the Western New York area.
There are numerous outstanding opportunities for behavioral science concentration students to obtain practical experience in Western New York. Dr. Joan Dorn, Associate Professor in the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, directs the Western New York Wellness Works (WNYWW) project which is a matching grants program through the New York State Department of Health that provides support for worksite wellness programs in Western New York. This program results from a cooperative agreement among the New York State Department of Health, the State University of New York at Buffalo, School of Public Health and Health Professions, and the WNYWW Board of Directors. The WNYWW supports projects implemented by local area businesses to improve the health of their employees. This initiative recognizes the significant impact that worksite wellness programs can have on employee health and the work environment and hopes to show reductions in costs related to employee absenteeism, health care, and disability. Numerous scientific studies have shown the relationship between the implementation of multi-component worksite wellness programs and improved outcomes of worksite health, including decreased employee health care costs and absenteeism and increased productivity. More specifically, worksite wellness programs have been found effective in decreasing the number of risk factors for certain chronic and behavior based illnesses.
Dr. Leonard H. Epstein, UB Distinguished Professor in the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health and Health Professions, University at Buffalo, and the Chief of the Division of Behavioral Medicine, University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, has a long and distinguished career focusing on behavior and health outcomes particularly in the area of preventing childhood obesity, but also in smoking prevention and cessation, drug abuse and diabetes. His research studies have provided a rich environment for student involvement. Studies of childhood obesity prevention seek to understand factors that influence the choice of sedentary versus active alternatives, the parameters of the changes in sedentary or active behaviors associated with superior weight control, and development of interventions that modify childhood obesity and maintain these effects throughout development so as to decrease the prevalence of adult obesity.
The Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) Department of Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences, under the Direction of Dr. James Marshall, Research Professor in the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health and Health Professions, has had a long-standing and deep involvement in health behavior especially in smoking prevention and cessation both through community prevention programs and prevention research. RPCI has run monthly stop smoking clinics since the early 1980s as a service to the community to help smokers who want to quit succeed. Current topics of investigatory interest at RPCI include gene-environment determinants of nicotine dependence and cessation, new therapeutic modalities for smoking cessation and harm reduction, the internal documents of the tobacco industry, and the impact of local, national and international tobacco control policies. The tobacco control program at RPCI is under the direction of Dr. K. Michael Cummings, Professor in the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health and Health Professions.
AIDS Community Services of Western New York, Inc., is a not for profit community based organization committed to ending the AIDS epidemic and minimizing its effects in the eight counties of Western New York. AIDS Community Services offers a full array of educational programs and trainings geared towards at-risk individuals, service providers, and the general public. AIDS Community Services also collaborates with Project Reach which provides prevention, outreach, and supportive services to Buffalo's East Side and the University District.
Wellness Institute of Greater Buffalo and Western New York, with offices in the Buffalo City Hall, is involved in various projects where opportunities exist for interested students to do their field training:
- Erie County Physical Activity Coalition which promotes physical activity county wide
- Older Adults Action Team ("Passport to Wellness")
- Healthy Youth Program (fitness intervention for at-risk youths)
- America on the Move (www.americaonthemove.org)
- Be-Active New York State, a statewide promotion for active living (www.beactivenys.org)
- MOVE 4 LIFE, a personal program for health (www.move4life.org)
- Recycle-A-Bike Program, an after-school youth training program (www.gbnrtc.org/bikeped.htm)
- Walk Our Children To School Day (www.walktoschool-usa.org)
- Worksite Health Promotion Action Team
Dr. Gary C. Brice, Director, Community Relations & Corporate Communication Systems for Kaleida Health, oversees numerous programs directed at improving community health. Kaleida Health is the largest and most comprehensive health care provider in the Western New York area. Some of the programs include:
- Assessing community health needs (includes, for example, identifying community health status via community dialogues, community surveys and patient market research);
- Community disease prevention and wellness promotion programs such as pediatric immunization campaigns, adolescent pregnancy prevention, flu immunization programs, shaken baby syndrome education program, and diabetes screening;
- Partnering with the Black Leadership Forum Near East Side Community Health Task Force to deliver programs to reduce health disparities among minority populations;
- Improving health care access for individuals typically underserved by implementing innovative programs to address limited English proficiency, inadequate insurance, and health literacy.
The County of Erie Department of Senior Services is involved in many activities geared to linking seniors with various support services such as case management to serve home bound seniors, health promotion services, nutrition services, and adult protection services. The Department’s Wise and Well Program, under the direction of Ms. Dorothy J.A. Levitt, RN, MS, provides health promotion and disease prevention services. The formation and participation in community coalitions is also a prominent part of the Wise and Well Program. Coalitions have been formed that deal with tobacco, minority health, diabetes, physical activity, adult immunizations, advanced healthcare decision-making, and disease prevention.
The Center for Asthma and Environmental Exposure (CAEE) is a program within the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care at Kaleida Health – Buffalo General Hospital, and is affiliated with the University at Buffalo, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. Jamson S. Lwebuga-Mukasa, MD, PhD is the center’s director as well as director of Pulmonary and Critical Care and Associate Professor of Medicine. The CAEE conducts bench and community based research in the areas of asthma, respiratory disease, environmental exposures and lung-biology. The CAEE’s mission is to link population-based needs assessments to health care delivery in Western New York. Its goals include decreasing the morbidity due to asthma and other respiratory diseases through education and community outreach. Some of the projects conducted by the center include:
- School-Based Asthma Program - asthma screening, outreach and education to several schools including the Buffalo and Niagara Falls Public Schools Systems and Head Start Programs.
- Environmental Exposure Studies - investigating environmental exposures within the Cities of Buffalo and Niagara Falls, NY, relating to asthma and chronic respiratory illnesses due to pollutants and toxins.
- Community Outreach - provide asthma screenings, education and outreach to community members in the Western New York area by health fairs and community conferences.
Integrative Project (2 credits)
The integrative project requirement is the same as currently exists for the extant concentration areas. The purpose of the integrative project paper is for students to integrate core public health knowledge and skills. The integrative project is designed as a course, and students work with individual faculty members. A “General Instructions for the Master of Public Health Integrative Project” document is provided to faculty and students. This document provides in some detail guidance for different paper options including: (1) analyzing a public health problem, (2) writing a research grant proposal, (3) designing a program implementation, (4) writing a program evaluation proposal, and (5) descriptive epidemiology of a selected health problem. There is also the option to individualize a project paper depending upon the student’s interests and the faculty person they will work with on the paper.