About
Social and Behavioral Sciences in Public Health
In recent years there has been a growing recognition that the social and behavioral sciences play a critical role in public health practice and in public health academics and training. Disciplines such as anthropology, psychology, sociology, and health education have emerged as important and essential subspecialties in both public health practice and research educational and training programs. The academic programs in the Department of Behavioral and Community Health Sciences are based on a strong theory and knowledge base in the social and behavioral sciences, with a heavy emphasis on social ecology, and are guided by the principles set out in the 2002 IOM Report on Educating Public Health Professionals for the 21st Century. The department is committed to competency-based education that directly addresses the core functions of public health as defined in the 1988 IOM Report.
The relevant social/behavioral knowledge areas include the role of social/behavioral factors in health and illness; health-related behavior of specific community subgroups; the context of populations served (economic, cultural, and political); community dynamics and principles of community development; models of health behavior; group change theory and intervention strategies; lay/professional health communication and interaction; structure of social/organizational networks and processes; program organization and management behavior; relationships between social structure, culture, health policy, political processes, economics, the law, and health behavior; and economic and cultural barriers to the use of health programs.
Assessment competency areas addressed in the academic program include the ability to assess community/population health status and needs; the identification of social/behavioral factors affecting the health status of the population; the incorporation of input from the community; the assessment of health status of specific community sub-groups; and the mapping of health resources and community assets.
Program development and assurance competencies include the ability to design and implement behavior change program on a community/population level; interventions within the cultural context; population-based communication techniques/social marketing; the ability to develop collaborative efforts; basic evaluation research design and methods (structure/process/outcomes); the ability to establish monitoring and assessment systems; and the ability to apply modern information technology.
Policy development competencies include understanding legal and political processes and procedures related to public health programs; the ability to translate scientific findings into policy recommendations; to communicate scientific findings to lay public and politicians; to document and communicate needs and resources to the lay public and politicians; and the ability to develop coalitions.
Cross-cutting competency and skill areas include participatory-based community practice, cross-cultural studies, and programming, and international health strategies. Students are also provided with a range of research skills in areas such as survey methods, statistical methods, ethnographic methods, demography, and knowledge of primary and secondary data sources.