Health promotion

Description

The course will prepare scholars to design, implement, and evaluate health promotion programs at all levels from international to local. Health promotion is fundamental to public health and forms an integral part of all public health activities. Scholars will review the development of health promotion, study key documents such as the Ottawa Charter, Jakarta Declaration, and related international statements. Both the theoretical and practical aspects of health promotion will be examined, exploring different models of health and methods of achieving behavioural change on a population and individual basis. The evidence base for effective health promotion will be explored alongside evaluation methods and indicators.

Scholars will also be introduced to the basic principles, methods, and applications of screening in early detection and prevention of disease. They will be taught to calculate basic parameters of screening tests: sensitivity, specificity, positive, and negative predictive values. Also, they will be introduced to consider ethical and economic aspects of screening, as well as the planning and organization of screening programs. Special attention will be paid to the assessment of the effectiveness of screening, such as randomized-controlled trials, prospective cohort, and case-control studies. Evaluation methods, such as cost-effectiveness, cost-utility, and technology assessment will be explored. Cervical, breast, antenatal, and neonatal screening tests etc. will also be studied.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

1. Describe the development of health promotion and explain the importance of the key international and national health promotion documents
2. Explain a range of different theoretical models of health promotion and describe the processes involved in achieving behaviour change
3. Justify priority topics for health promotion programs in the national context
4. Critically analyze a range of different methods for use in health promotion activities
5. Justify the importance of an evidence-based approach within health promotion
6. Discuss the principles of early detection and prevention of major diseases
7. Plan and organize screening programs in the community
8. Apply adequate evaluation methods

Course Outline

1. Concept, basic principles, and values of Health Promotion (HP)
2. Health protection, health education, and prevention overlap as HP
3. Theories and models of behavioural change towards health
4. HP and vulnerable population groups
5. Practical implementation at the community level
6. Health promoting hospitals
7. Evidence base and outcome evaluation
8. Priorities in HP
9. Importance of different media techniques for HP
10. HP through social networks
11. Activism in HP
12. The role of motivational interview in change of human behaviour
13. Management of HP programs
14. Promotion of sexual and reproductive health of youth in Jordan and other countries in EMR
15. Scholarly presentations of seminar/field work

Training Delivery Methods

1. In-class method
2. Online method