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Syllabus

Graduate Programs in Public Health

GPH 733 Health Informatics – Spring B 2022

Credits - 3

Description

Course Description

Informatics – the interdisciplinary practice of managing and analyzing large datasets – is rapidly establishing itself as a core feature in all areas of healthcare.  As public health adapts to this new information-driven reality, public health informatics itself is also evolving, bringing forth both obstacles and opportunities.  This course will address the challenges of collecting, analyzing and communicating data, and will introduce how this data could be used to inform public health initiatives and improve health outcomes.  It will also look at the ethical concerns that arise when dealing with the sensitive information this data often carries, which is now more easily collected – and shared – than ever. 

Course Format

This course will be delivered in 8 weekly online modules, with each module beginning on Wednesday at 12:01 AM ET and ending the following Wednesday at 11:59 PM ET, except for the last week (Week 8), which will begin on Wednesday and end on Sunday. Note all times are Eastern Time. Students will watch online lectures produced by the course instructor and field experts, engage in readings and other media provided by instructors, and will learn from one another through the discussions and written assignments. 

Materials

There are no required textbooks for this course. Readings are all accessible via the library, or are linked to within the course. 

Learning Objectives and Outcomes

Course Outcomes

By the end of the course, you will be able to:

  • Identify opportunities to advance public health using informatics methods and tools for interpreting data.
  • Apply evidence-based understanding of data to the design and presentation of an intervention for improving the health of a community.
  • Analyze privacy, confidentiality, security, and data integrity as it relates to informatics.
  • Describe fundamental informatics principles and their application to public health initiatives and principles.
  • Communicate the purpose, scope, and steps of an evidence-based intervention to affected stakeholders.
  • Identify stakeholders and stakeholder relationships using systems thinking tool.

Public Health Competencies

FC 3. Analyze quantitative and qualitative data using biostatistics, informatics, computer-based programming and software, as appropriate

FC 9. Design a population-based policy, program, project or intervention

FC 12. Discuss multiple dimensions of the policy-making process, including the roles of ethics and evidence

FC 13. Propose strategies to identify stakeholders and build coalitions and partnerships for influencing public health outcomes.

Assignments

Step 1 – Identify data-sets and issue, and briefly describe your idea for a topic (due Week 2 – first post by Sunday of Week 2)

This initial assignment will be submitted via the discussion, where you will discuss your and your classmates’ contributions and try to provide each other feedback to help them with their final projects going forward.

Hunting and fetching data can be a challenging, interesting and rewarding task.  A data set is a collection of data.  As leaders in the public health sector, you will often be presented with data to make sense of for determining services needed or developing public health policies.

For your initial discussion post:

Identify at least two data sets on a topic you are interested in. You will be using these datasets for future assignments so be thoughtful about what you are selecting. You may use publicly available datasets or any from your workplace. Be sure to de-identify any personal information.  

Along with the data-sets, include:

  • What are you thinking about for the topic of your final project, and how do you plan to use these datasets for it? What healthcare issue/situation are you going to use them to portray?
  • Describe 4 characteristics, 2 for each dataset, from the Characteristics of Quality Information Document.
  • Why was the data collected for these datasets?
  • What/who is the organization/researcher (s) that collected the data?
  • What does the organization/researcher(s) aim for the outcome of collecting the data?

There is no minimum word count for your initial post, but you should cover all of the above.

Post a thoughtful response to at least 2 other classmates (by the end of Week 2) and cover the following:

  • Do the datasets suit your classmate’s topic?
  • What do you think of your classmate’s topic?
  • Do the data sets constitute quality information?
  • Do you have any other suggestions?

Step 2 – Identify stakeholders (due Week 4)

Identifying stakeholders is essential for any project.  It also helps to guide you in how you develop your presentation.  For this assignment, you must identify stakeholders in the healthcare issue you have decided to use for your final project.  This analysis will help you to map relationships between all the stakeholders involved in and affected by that healthcare issue.

In order to identify the stakeholders, you will be using what is called an Influence Diagram to visualize both the stakeholders and their relationships to one another. Please make sure that your Influence Diagram has the following qualities:

  • It includes the target population (of your final project)
  • It identifies at least 10 stakeholders
  • It groups/clusters the stakeholders into logical categories
  • It shows the influence-relationships between those stakeholders and the target population

Step 3 – Design Visualization (due Week 6)

Data visualization can be a critical tool for success for a project.  The more your stakeholders understand about your analysis the more likely you will be successful in making them understand and trust you.  Often, your stakeholders will not have expertise in data analysis. Having a visual representation of data can help with this a great deal.

Using the data sets you found and any other research done to increase your understanding of your healthcare issue and its context, develop an infographic representation of the situation you have identified.

Be sure to:

  • Make sure it uses layout and graphical elements to promote a clear interpretation of the data supporting your analysis
  • Make sure it is very readable
  • Make it visually interesting/compelling
  • Support every detail with sources
  • Cite all of your sources for the information you are using at the bottom

Step 4 – Deliver Presentation to Stakeholder(s) (due Week 7)

For this assignment, you will develop a video presentation. You’re making this presentation to the stakeholders you have identified; imagine you have representatives from them all in the same room. It will be assessed on its ability to recognize and communicate the results of your analysis, so that the complexities, stakes, and stakeholder involvement are clear, to a group with (likely) widely disparate expertise.  

It is suggested that you use the infographic as a large piece of this presentation, but don’t rely entirely on it. Use slides to go into greater detail, and make sure the presentation covers:

  • Description of healthcare issue, supported by sources/data
  • Citations for all external sources, including the data
  • Relationships between stakeholders and healthcare issue
  • Infographic with description and explanation
  • Ideas for the dissemination of information

Grading Policy

Your grade in this course will be determined by the following criteria:

Grade Breakdown

General Discussion (Weeks 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8)5 * 6 = 30
Week 2 Discussion (Final Project Step 1)10
Week 3 Data Analysis Quiz5
Week 4 Influence Diagram (Final Project Step 2)10
Week 6 Visualization Assignment (Final Project Step 3)20
Week 7 Final Project (Final Project Step 4)25
Total100

Grade Scale

Grade Points Grade Point Average (GPA)
A 94 – 100% 4.00
A- 90 – 93% 3.75
B+ 87 – 89% 3.50
B 84 – 86% 3.00
B- 80 – 83% 2.75
C+ 77 – 79% 2.50
C 74 – 76% 2.00
C- 70 – 73% 1.75
D 64 – 69% 1.00
F 00 – 63% 0.00

Schedule

  • Week 1: Mar 2 – Mar 9
  • Week 2: Mar 9 – Mar 16
  • Week 3: Mar 16 – Mar 23
  • Week 4: Mar 23 – Mar 30
  • Week 5: Mar 30 – Apr 6
  • Week 6: Apr 6 – Apr 13
  • Week 7: Apr 13 – Apr 20
  • Week 8: Apr 20 – Apr 24

Week 1: What is Health Informatics?

  • Weekly Outcomes
    • Define information/data.
    • Define the role of information in DIKW Hierarchy and healthcare decision making. 
  • Readings and Videos as Assigned
  • Assignments
    • Discussion: Personal introduction. 
      • Post a brief personal introduction. Share what you do, where you do it, and who with. Describe your familiarity with informatics. Discuss what you expect to get out of it and how it may help you in your work or the work you hope to do.
    • Discussion: Describe the DIKW hierarchy.
      • In your own words, describe the DIKW hierarchy. What is the difference between data and information? Information and knowledge? Knowledge and wisdom? Give an example. How do you see the DIKW hierarchy influencing public health? How is health informatics involved in this process?

Week 2 – Searching Data

  • Weekly Outcomes
    • Identify and define a health issue through analysis of data.
    • Analyze and describe the context of data.
  • Readings and Videos as Assigned
  • Assignments
    • Discussion: Find datasets, and decide on subject, for final project (see “Step 1” in the “Assignments” section above).

      • Hunting and fetching data can be a challenging, interesting and rewarding task.  A data-set is a collection of data.  As leaders in the public health sector, you will often be presented with data to make sense of for determining services needed or developing public health policies.

        For your initial post:

        Identify at least two data-sets on a topic you are interested in. You will be using these datasets for future assignments so be thoughtful about what you are selecting. You may use publicly available datasets or any from your workplace. Be sure to de-identify any personal information.  

        Along with the data-sets, include:

        • What are you thinking about for the topic of your final project, and how do you plan to use these datasets for it? What healthcare issue/situation are you going to use them to portray?
        • Describe 4 characteristics, 2 for each dataset, from the Characteristics of Quality Information Document.
        • Why was the data collected for these datasets?
        • What/who is the organization / researcher(s) that collected the data?
        • What does the organization/researcher(s) aim for the outcome of collecting the data?

        There is no minimum word-count for your initial post, but you should cover all of the above.

        Post a thoughtful response to at least 2 other classmates (by the end of Week 2) and cover the following:

      • Do the datasets suit your classmate’s topic?
      • What do you think of your classmate’s topic?
      • Do the data-sets constitute quality information?
      • Do you have any other suggestions?

Week 3 – Analyzing datasets

  • Weekly Outcomes
    • Manipulate and analyze data in a dataset.
  • Readings and Videos as Assigned
  • Assignments
    • Discussion: Impact on healthcare.

      • View one of these videos:

        • TED Talk on IBM’s Watson andHealthcare
        • Joel Selanikio: The surprising seeds of a big-data revolution in healthcare
        • Electronic Health Records (EHRs) Can Save Lives- Regina Holiday’s Story
        • Big Data

        Post your thoughts (100 word minimum) about what you saw in the videos what impact it might have on healthcare and how it might impact your current or future role.

        Post a thoughtful response to at least 2 other classmates.

    • Quiz: Manipulating data in a dataset

Week 4 – EHR, Systems Thinking and Informatics

  • Weekly Outcomes
    • Analyze ethical repercussions of data, big data, and data sharing in health informatics.
    • Apply influence diagram to proposed intervention to map stakeholders and their relationships.
  • Readings and Videos as Assigned
  • Assignments
    • Discussion: Ethics of big data in public health.

      • Search the library for an article on Public Health and Big Data that brings up an issue that you believe has ethical dimensions either concerning privacy, ownership or data, or dissemination of data.

        Post a brief description of the article and include:

        • Why you chose this article?
        • What impact does it have on your understanding of the ethical concerns involved in leveraging data for healthcare purposes?

        Initial post should be a minimum of 100 words. Post a thoughtful response to at least 2 classmates. 

    • Influence Diagram: Use an influence diagram to define and organize the stakeholders involved in your chosen healthcare issue (see “Step 2” in the “Assignments” section above).

      • Identifying stakeholders is essential for any project.  It also helps to guide you in how you develop your presentation.  For this assignment, you must identify stakeholders in the healthcare issue you have decided to use for your final project.  This analysis will help you to map relationships between all the stakeholders involved in and affected by that healthcare issue.

        In order to identify the stakeholders, you will be using what is called an Influence Diagram to visualize both the stakeholders and their relationships to one another. Please make sure that your Influence Diagram has the following qualities: 

        • It includes the target population (of your final project)
        • It identifies at least 10 stakeholders
        • It groups/clusters the stakeholders into logical categories
        • It shows the influence-relationships between those stakeholders and the target population

        Follow the provided directions for working with a visualization tool to produce, and then save an image of, your diagram. Submit the image of your completed diagram for assessment.

Week 5 – Refining and Visualizing Data

  • Weekly Outcomes
    • Clean data to be used to propose an intervention.
  • Readings and Videos as Assigned
  • Assignments
    • Discussion: Refining the data for your final project.

      • Describe what conclusions you are finding in regards to the question you are answering and the data you have found. Include:

        • The question you are trying to answer
        • What you did to clean the data?
        • What have been challenges to analyzing the data?
        • What discoveries have you made in the process?

        Initial post should be a minimum of 100 words. Post a thoughtful response to at least 2 other classmates.

Week 6 – Creating a Visualization for Others

  • Weekly Outcomes
    • Create an infographic that cleanly contextualizes information from datasets and proposes an intervention for the selected healthcare issue.
  • Readings and Videos as Assigned
  • Assignments
    • Discussion: Share infographic with class

      • Find and share an infographic that you particularly like or are interested in. Answer the following question:

        • Why did you select the infographic?

        Evaluate for:

        • Visual composition – do the images and text flow well, is it readable, organized and pleasing to the eye?
        • Research and analysis – does it make a convincing argument or commentary, does the approach go beyond generalizations?

        Initial post should be a minimum of 100 words. Post a thoughtful response to 2 other classmates.

    • Infographic: Submit infographic on the subject of your final project (see “Step 3” in the “Assignments” section above).

      • Data visualization can be a critical tool for success for a project.  The more your stakeholders understand about your analysis the more likely you will be successful in making them understand and trust you.  Often, your stakeholders will not have expertise in data analysis. Having a visual representation of data can help with this a great deal.

        Using the data-sets you found and any other research done to increase your understanding of your healthcare issue and its context, develop an infographic representation of the situation you have identified.

        Be sure to:

        • Make sure it uses layout and graphical elements to promote a clear interpretation of the data supporting your analysis
        • Make sure it is very readable
        • Make it visually interesting/compelling
        • Support every detail with sources
        • Cite all of your sources for the information you are using at the bottom 

        Follow the provided directions for constructing the infographic using tools that are available to you.

Week 7 – Influences on Informatics and Final Project

  • Weekly Outcomes
    • Support proposal with evidence and transparency of process collecting and interpreting that evidence.
    • Propose an intervention to affected stakeholders.
  • Readings and Videos as Assigned
  • Assignments
    • Submit Final Project (see “Step 4” in the “Assignments” section above)

      • For this assignment, you will develop a video presentation. You’re making this presentation to the stakeholders you have identified; imagine you have representatives from them all in the same room. It will be assessed on its ability to recognize and communicate the results of your analysis, so that the complexities, stakes, and stakeholder involvement are clear, to a group with (likely) widely disparate expertise.  

        It is suggested that you use the infographic as a large piece of this presentation, but don’t rely entirely on it. Use slides to go into greater detail, and make sure the presentation covers:

        • Description of healthcare issue, supported by sources/data
        • Citations for all external sources, including the data
        • Relationships between stakeholders and healthcare issue
        • Infographic with description and explanation
        • Ideas for dissemination of information

        Follow the directions for recording, uploading (to Youtube) and submitting your presentation. The presentation can be no longer than 15 minutes in length. When you submit the link to the Youtube video of your presentation, please also attach the latest versions of your Influence Diagram and Infographic.

        Submit no later than the end of Week 7.

Week 8 – Mobile and Consumer Informatics

  • Weekly Outcomes
    • Hypothesize ethical concerns for the future of informatics and its spread into mobile/consumer sectors.
  • Readings and Videos as Assigned
  • Assignments
    • Discussion: Ethics of the future of informatics

      • How will you use this in the future?

        Any innovation that you see that might help in the future of informatics?

        How do you think the future of informatics will affect public health and public health policy?

        Or, a series of questions?

Student Resources

Online Student Support

Your Student Support Specialist is a resource for you. Please don't hesitate to contact them for assistance, including, but not limited to course planning, current problems or issues in a course, technology concerns, or personal emergencies.

Questions? Visit the Student Support Public Health page

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UNE Student Academic Success Center

UNE's Student Academic Success Center (SASC) offers a range of free online services to support your academic achievement. Writing support, ESOL support, study strategy and learning style consultations, as well as downloadable resources, are available to all matriculating students. The SASC also offers tutoring for GPH 712 Epidemiology, GPH 716 Biostatistics, GPH 717 Applied Epidemiology, GPH 718 Biostatistics II, and GPH 719 Research Methods. To make an appointment for any of these services, go to une.tutortrac.com. For more information and to view and download writing and studying resources, please visit:

Information Technology Services (ITS)

  • ITS Contact: Toll Free Help Desk 24 hours/7 days per week at 1-877-518-4673

Accommodations

Any student who would like to request, or ask any questions regarding, academic adjustments or accommodations must contact the Student Access Center at (207) 221-4438 or pcstudentaccess@une.edu. Student Access Center staff will evaluate the student's documentation and determine eligibility of accommodation(s) through the Student Access Center registration procedure.

Online Peer Support

Togetherall is a 24/7 communication and emotional support platform monitored by trained clinicians. It’s a safe place online to get things off your chest, have conversations, express yourself creatively, and learn how to manage your mental health. If sharing isn’t your thing, Togetherall has other tools and courses to help you look after yourself with plenty of resources to explore. Whether you’re struggling to cope, feeling low, or just need a place to talk, Togetherall can help you explore your feelings in a safe supportive environment. You can join Togetherall using your UNE email address.

Information Technology Services (ITS)

Students should notify their Student Support Specialist and instructor in the event of a problem relating to a course. This notification should occur promptly and proactively to support timely resolution.

ITS Contact: Toll-Free Help Desk 24 hours/7 days per week at 1-877-518-4673.

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The Career Ready Program provides tools and resources to help students explore and hone in on their career goals, search for jobs, create and improve professional documents, build professional network, learn interview skills, grow as a professional, and more. Come back often, at any time, as you move through your journey from career readiness as a student to career growth, satisfaction, and success as alumni.

Policies

AMA Writing Style Statement

The American Medical Association Manual (AMA) of Style, 11th edition is the required writing format for this course. Additional support for academic writing and AMA format is provided throughout the coursework as well as at the UNE Portal for Online Students.

Online resources: AMA Style Guide

Turnitin Originality Check and Plagiarism Detection Tool

The College of Professional Studies uses Turnitin to help deter plagiarism and to foster the proper attribution of sources. Turnitin provides comparative reports for submitted assignments that reflect similarities in other written works. This can include, but is not limited to, previously submitted assignments, internet articles, research journals, and academic databases.

Make sure to cite your sources appropriately as well as use your own words in synthesizing information from published literature. Webinars and workshops, included early in your coursework, will help guide best practices in APA citation and academic writing.

You can learn more about Turnitin in the guide on how to navigate your Similarity Report.

Technology Requirements

Please review the technical requirements for UNE Online Graduate Programs: Technical Requirements

Course Evaluation Policy

Course surveys are one of the most important tools that University of New England uses for evaluating the quality of your education, and for providing meaningful feedback to instructors on their teaching. In order to assure that the feedback is both comprehensive and precise, we need to receive it from each student for each course. Evaluation access is distributed via UNE email at the beginning of the last week of the course.

Late Policy

Students are responsible for submitting work by the date indicated in Brightspace.

Quizzes and Tests: Quizzes and tests must be completed by the due date. They will not be accepted after the due date.

Assignments: Unless otherwise specified, assignments will be accepted up to 3 days late; however, there is a 10% grade reduction (from the total points) for the late submission. After three days the assignment will not be accepted.

Discussion posts: If the initial post is submitted late, but still within the discussion board week, there will be a 10% grade reduction from the total discussion grade (e.g., a 3 point discussion will be reduced by 0.3 points). Any posts submitted after the end of the Discussion Board week will not be graded.

Please make every effort ahead of time to contact your instructor and your student support specialist if you are not able to meet an assignment deadline. Arrangements for extenuating circumstances may be considered by faculty.

Student Handbook Online - Policies and Procedures

The policies contained within this document apply to all students in the College of Graduate and Professional Studies. It is each student's responsibility to know the contents of this handbook.

Student Handbook

UNE Course Withdrawal

Please contact your student support specialist if you are considering dropping or withdrawing from a course. The last day to drop for 100% tuition refund is the 2nd day of the course. Financial Aid charges may still apply. Students using Financial Aid should contact the Financial Aid Office prior to withdrawing from a course.

Academic Integrity

The University of New England values academic integrity in all aspects of the educational experience. Academic dishonesty in any form undermines this standard and devalues the original contributions of others. It is the responsibility of all members of the University community to actively uphold the integrity of the academy; failure to act, for any reason, is not acceptable. For information about plagiarism and academic misconduct, please visit https://www.une.edu/studentlife/plagiarism.

Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to the following:

  1. Cheating, copying, or the offering or receiving of unauthorized assistance or information.
  2. Fabrication or falsification of data, results, or sources for papers or reports.
  3. Action which destroys or alters the work of another student.
  4. Multiple submissions of the same paper or report for assignments in more than one course without permission of each instructor.
  5. Plagiarism, the appropriation of records, research, materials, ideas, or the language of other persons or writers and the submission of them as one's own.

Charges of academic dishonesty will be reviewed by the Program Director. Penalties for students found responsible for violations may depend upon the seriousness and circumstances of the violation, the degree of premeditation involved, and/or the student’s previous record of violations.  Appeal of a decision may be made to the Dean whose decision will be final.  Student appeals will take place through the grievance process outlined in the student handbook.