Module 4: Health Promotion

Principal module aims

The module will allow students to understand approaches used for health improvement.

This module 4 of our MPH course will help students become familiar with approaches that are used in public health around health improvement, management for public health and current and emerging topics in health promotion.

Learning outcomes

Successful completion of the module leads to the learning outcomes. The learning outcomes identify the knowledge, skills and attributes developed by the module, which in turn are mapped to the knowledge, cognitive and practical academic principles of the overall programme.

Through critical appraisal of literature, verbal and written discussion and debate with lecturers and peers, and submission of assessments; students should, upon successful completion of the module, be able to:

  1. Demonstrate a comprehensive knowledge and critique of health improvement approaches.

  2. Critique public health management techniques (e.g. commissioning, change management, management of the media).

  3. Explain key health improvement topics (e.g. nutrition, physical activity, mental health and wellbeing, sleep, alcohol).

  4. Apply a health needs assessment approach to identify public health programmes to address health priorities.

  5. Find and interpret data and information from a range of sources to decide on the health priorities of a population.

  6. Apply an appropriate balance of different approaches to policy questions.

  7. Critically examine whether a public health intervention is working.

Teaching Topics

Week 1   Defining health promotion

Week 2   Settings for health promotion and assessment needs

Week 3   Understanding individual and societal change

Week 4   Organisation of health systems to support public health

Week 5   Evaluation of health system organisation (frameworks & audit)

Week 6   Evaluating and communicating impact of health promotion activity

Assessment

Part A: A 10-minute (individual) presentation on a topic related to health promotion (30%)

Part B: A written report (2,000 words) on a topic related to health promotion (70%)