Dec 02, 2024  
2024-2025 Undergraduate Catalog 
    
2024-2025 Undergraduate Catalog

PBH 110 Introduction to Public Health


(4 Credits)
This course provides an overview of public health globally, with an emphasis on the United States. The course focuses on the population health perspective, including the impact on the health care system and the environment and the specific needs of under-served populations. A history and background of public health are included to provide a framework for understanding how health and health care evolved globally and within the United States. This history is intricately connected to the discovery of the science of epidemiology, which also is discussed. The course provides an introduction to disease incidence and prevalence, and how the frequency, distribution, and determinants of disease affect how resources are allocated to target health conditions and health disparities. Methods used to detect diseases within populations are described along with educational interventions used to facilitate behavior change and disease prevention. Issues of health care delivery are included with a discussion of health care financing, reimbursement, cost containment, and utilization. Finally, students are introduced to the concept of social determinants of health promotion and disease prevention, including health communication and informatics, so that they may gain an understanding of the health disparities that exist today and the factors that contribute to this inequity.