Syllabus

Schedule

Course Weeks

Week 1 Feb 27 – Mar 6
Week 2 Mar 6 – Mar 13
Week 3 Mar 13 – Mar 20
Week 4 Mar 20 – Mar 27
Week 5 Mar 27 – Apr 3
Week 6 Apr 3 – Apr 10
Week 7 Apr 10 – Apr 17
Week 8 Apr 17 – Apr 21 (Sunday)

Each week opens on Wednesday at 12:01 AM Eastern Time. Each week closes on Wednesday at 11:59 pm ET, with the exception of Week 8, which ends on Sunday at 11:59 pm ET. Specific due dates can be found within the Blackboard Calendar feature in your Global Navigation. For more information, review the following article:

https://help.blackboard.com/en-us/Learn/9.1_SP_12_and_SP_13/Student/110_Nav_My_Blackboard

The assignment/discussion descriptions mentioned below are summaries. Please make sure to review the full assignment prompts in Blackboard.  There may be additional readings/videos that are not mentioned in this weekly summary, make sure to carefully review the modules in Blackboard. 

Week 1 – Organization and history of public health service delivery

Learning Objectives

• Analyze types of public health organizations and variables that define effective organizations to determine organizational success factors
• Explore the history of public health services in the US to assess the effectiveness of the overall public health system

Readings and Lectures

Readings

• Novick & Morrow Text:
  • Chapter 2: Historical Developments in Public Health
  • Chapter 4: Public Health Administration and Practice Framework
  • Chapter 5: Organization of the Public Health System
• U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. (1999). Achievements in Public Health, 1900–1999
• Healthy Community Brookfield (HCB) Case Study

Lectures

• Course Introduction/Overview (10 minutes)
• Week 1 Introduction (9 minutes)
• Focused Lecture: Affordable Care Act (8 minutes)
• Focused Lecture: Essays, Citations and Scholarly References (5 minutes)
• Guide to Final Project (8 minutes)

Activities

Discussions

• Introductions
  Introduce yourself in a minimum 5 minute audio or video recording. The introduction should include as much information as you wish to share about your background and experience, educational journey and any personal information about your family, etc. Respond to at least one of your co-learners. Record your introduction using  Screencast-o-matic and upload your file to the discussion board.

• Effective Public Health Organizations
  Original Post: There are many types of governmental and non-governmental public health organizations. Choose one type of organization that you think is the most effective in public health services delivery and discuss in an essay why you think it is the most effective programmatically and financially. Use examples to illustrate. Support your post with a minimum of two external references.

  Response Post: In an essay format, respond to a co-learner and argue why you think his/her type of organization may not be the most effective. Use examples to illustrate. Support your post with at least one external reference.

Week 1 Quiz

By the end of Week 1, let your instructor know (via course message) the time zone where you reside. Your instructor will use this information to assign you a partner (co-learner) early in week 2 for your role-playing assignment due in week 3.

Week 2 – Leadership, management and governance 

Learning Objectives

• Evaluate leadership, management and governance principles to determine  relevancy and efficacy of approaches to a public health service delivery
• Analyze skills of accomplished leaders to determine knowledge and attributes important to leadership success

Readings and Lectures

Readings

• Novick & Morrow Text:
  • Chapter 12: Leadership for Public Health
• Healthy Community Brookfield (HCB) Case Study
• State Health Departments and Governance Structures (CDC)
• Zastocki DK. Board governance: Transformational approaches under healthcare reform. Front Health Serv Management. 2015;31(4):3-17.
• Carlson V, M.P.H., Chilton MJ, M.P.H., Corso LC, M.P.A., Beitsch, Leslie M,M.D., J.D. Defining the functions of public health governance. Am J Public Health. 2015;105:S159-S166.

Lectures and Videos

• Week 2 Overview Lecture (6 minutes)
• Week 2 Focused Lecture: Board Governance (4 minutes)

Activities

Discussion

• A Good Leader
  Original Post: Think about someone you have worked for, or with, who you consider to be a good leader. Describe the attributes that they exhibited that made them a good leader. Explain whether each of these attributes was an example of good leadership skills or good management skills, and why you would classify them as such. Use examples to illustrate. Support your post with a minimum of two external references.

  Response Post: Argue why the leader identified by one of your co-learners may not be the best leader for another type of organization. Use examples to illustrate. Support your post with at least one external references.

Assignment: Governance

Read and reflect upon the Healthy Community Brookfield (HCB) Case Study. Put yourself in the position of Jack Price, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of HCB. As the governance leader for HCB, you will spend time tomorrow orienting Richard Russell, the new Executive Director, to the organization. Create a 3-4 page agenda in bullet-point format with detailed notes for the new executive’s orientation. At a minimum, you should consider the following as you prepare an agenda.

• Brief overview of HCB
• Role of Board of Directors and Chairman in planning and decision-making
• Board expectations of new Executive Director
• Significance of the organization’s history
• Programs and services
• Community relations
• Organization’s staff – culture and engagement
• Vulnerable programs, unmet community needs and financial uncertainty
• Quality improvement program needs
• Overall strengths and weaknesses of the organization

Support your assignment with a minimum of 2 external references.

Week 3 – Conflict resolution, negotiation and mediation

Learning Objectives

• Examine the similarities and differences of the concepts of conflict resolution, negotiation and mediation to assess their respective effectiveness in conflict situations
• Apply mediation and negotiation techniques successfully in a conflict situation

Readings and Lectures

Readings

• Mary E. Mills, Conflict in Health Care Organizations.  Journal of Health Care Law & Policy. 2002; 5(2): 502-523.
• Berlin, JW, Lexa, FL. Negotiation techniques for healthcare professionals. Journal of the American College of Radiology. 2007-07-01;4 (7): 487-491
• McGuigan, PJ. Negotiation best practices: What a healthcare professional needs to know today. The Journal of Medical Practice Management : MPM. 2015;30(5):354-357.
• Marcus, L. J., Dorn, B. C. and McNulty, E. J. The Walk in the Woods: A Step-by-Step Method for Facilitating Interest-Based Negotiation and Conflict Resolution. Negotiation Journal. 2012; 28: 337–349. doi:10.1111/j.1571-9979.2012.00343.x

Lectures and Videos

• Week 3 Overview (5 minutes)
• Focused lecture: Negotiation & Mediation Techniques (6 minutes)
• CaliforniaCourts: What is Mediation? (6 minutes)

Activities

Discussions

• No discussion posts this week.

Assignments

Assignment: Part 1 – Negotiation Role-Play

You will be role-playing with one of your co-learners to address an issue outlined in the Healthy Community Brookfield (HCB) case study. Your instructor will assign you a partner (co-learner) and the role of either HCB’s  new Executive Director or the Director of the local health department. You will demonstrate negotiation skills in a 10-15 minute recorded “meeting”. In this role-playing assignment, it is important that you plan your negotiation strategies in advance of the “meeting” and that the strategies are evident in the role-play. In the role-playing exercise, the issue outlined below may or may not be resolved through the negotiation process.

Note: For this assignment, you will need to submit an audio file of your negotiation role-play meeting. If you are unsure how to record an online conference call, please view these directions. When you are ready to turn in your assignment, both you and your partner should submit the file, even though they will be identical.

Role-Play Scenario: The Director of Brookfield County’s Public Health Department has sent a letter to HCB’s new Executive Director indicating an intent to terminate the department’s contract with HCB for three programs.  

Recently, the local county health department completed its Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) accreditation survey. As a subcontractor for three county-funded public health programs, HCB was also surveyed by the accreditation body. Survey results showed that HCB did not meet PHAB’s Domain 9 standards which require organizations to have a comprehensive quality improvement and performance management plan integrated into daily operations. The Director of the Public Health Department does not believe HCB has demonstrated progress on a corrective action plan to address this deficiency.

After receiving the letter from the Public Health Department Director outlining concerns about lack of progress on a corrective action plan, HCB’s  new Executive Director has set up a meeting to discuss this critically important issue with the Public Health Department Director. The Executive Director is committed to implementing a corrective action plan, since revenue from the three county-funded programs is essential for the fiscal stability of HCB. The Public Health Department Director is skeptical as to whether HCB program staff understand the significance of the deficiencies and have the knowledge and skills to implement a corrective action plan.

Assignment Part 2 – Write a Brief Paper Describing Possible Mediation Strategies

Write a brief opinion paper (maximum 1 page, excluding references) describing how you would use mediation strategies in the above scenario. Specifically, which mediation strategies would you consider using in this conflict situation and how would you implement those strategies. Support your paper with a minimum of two external references.

Week 4 – Community partnerships and constituent engagement

Learning Objective

• Examine the importance of community relationships and constituent partnerships to determine strategies for improvement in constituent engagement

Readings and Lectures

Readings

• Novick & Morrow Text:
  • Chapter 18: Engaging Communities and Building Constituencies for Public Health
• Principles of Community Engagement
  • Chapter 2: Principles of Communication
  • Chapter 4: Managing Organizational Support for Community Engagement
• Wise K. Why Public Health Needs Relationship Management. J Health  Hum Serv Adm. 2008;31(3):309-31.

Lectures

• Week 4 Overview Lecture (4 minutes)
• Focused Lecture: Strategies for Engaging the Community (4 minutes)

Activities

Discussion

• Community Engagement
  Original Post: Identify an organization that has had to deal with a public health-related community relations challenge. Describe the situation and how the organization dealt with the community, community partners and other constituents. Do you agree or disagree with the organization’s response strategies? Describe why or why not. Support your post with a minimum of two external references. Support your post with a minimum of two external references.

  Response Post: Respond to a co-learner by proposing other strategies that the organization described by one of your co-learners could have used to address the community relations challenge. Use examples to illustrate. Support your post with at least one external reference.

• Assignment: White Paper
  You are the Public Relations Director for HCB. Develop a 2-3 page “White Paper” for the new Executive Director that will assist him in gaining an understanding of the current state of community relations. As you write the “White Paper”, take into consideration the nine guiding principles for organizations to apply when working with community partners outlined in Chapter 2 of Principles of Community Engagement (Second Edition). Describe your assessment of the current state of constituent engagement and partnerships between HCB and other key stakeholders in the community. Make at least three recommendations for future relationship building with those you believe to be the most important stakeholders in the community. Support your paper with a minimum of two external references.

Week 5 – Strategic planning, organizational mission & vision and environmental assessment

Learning Objectives

• Examine models of strategic planning to identify appropriate approaches for public health organizations
• Examine the importance of a public health organization’s mission and vision to determine how they guide an organization’s planning process
• Evaluate an organizational situation analysis approach to determine its relevance to complex challenges faced by public health organizations

Readings and Lectures

Readings

• Novick & Morrow Text:
  • Chapter 16: Strategic Planning in Public Health
• New Hampshire Red Cross Strategic Plan (used in this week’s discussion)
• HCB Case Study
• McHatton, P. A., Bradshaw, W., Gallagher, P. A. and Reeves, R. Results from a strategic planning process: Benefits for a nonprofit organization. Nonprofit Management and Leadership.2011; (22): 233–249. doi:10.1002/nml.20051
• Zuckerman, Alan M. “Successful strategic planning for a reformed delivery system.” Journal of Healthcare Management May-June 2014: 168+. Business Insights: Essentials. Web. 8 Apr. 2017
• Minnesota Dept of Health: SWOT Analysis

Lectures

• Week 5 Overview Lecture (5 minutes)
• Week 5 Focused Lecture- Organizational Mission & Vision (5 minutes)
• Introduction to Strategic Planning 4 Parts
• Peter Senge: Introduction to Systems Thinking
• Situational Analysis Video-SWOT Analysis Tool

Activities

Discussion

• Vision, Mission, and Strategic Planning
  Original Post: Read the New Hampshire Red Cross Strategic Plan. Describe how the organization has based the strategic plan on its vision and mission. Use examples to illustrate. Support your post with a minimum of two external references.

  Response Post: No response post this week. 

Assignments

• SWOT Analysis
  Re-read the HCB Case Study. Complete a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) Situation Analysis of HCB. Support your SWOT analysis with a minimum of two external references.

• Mission and Vision
  Review HCB’s current mission and vision. Write a new or revised mission and vision for HCB. Please refer to the Guide for Writing a Mission and Vision and this week’s focused lecture to assist you with this assignment. Support your work with a minimum of two external references.

Week 6 – Systems thinking: Theories, methods and tools

Learning Objective

• Examine systems thinking theories, methods and tools to determine their applicability to public health care delivery systems

Readings and Lectures

Readings

• Leischow, SJ, Best, A, Trochim, WM, et al. Systems thinking to improve the public’s health. Am J Prev Med 2008; 35 (2S): S196-S203
• Peters, DH. The application of systems thinking in health: why use systems thinking? Health Research Policy and Systems 201412(51): 1-6

Lectures and Videos

• Week 6 Overview (4 minutes)
• Focused Lecture – Process Mapping: A System Thinking Tool (9 minutes)
• CDC: The Value of Systems Thinking
• How Thinking in Systems can Change the World: Allison Bond at TEDxLangara

 

Activities

Discussion

• Systems Thinking
  Original Post: Identify a non-healthcare related system issue impacting most Americans. Describe how systems thinking could assist in addressing this issue. Describe a possible high-impact/low consequence approach to the issue. Use examples to illustrate. Support your post with a minimum of two external references.

  Response Post: Respond to a co-learner as to the effectiveness of his/her approach to the identified issue. Describe possible alternative approaches to the issue and other unintentional consequences not considered by your co-learner. Support your post with at least one external reference.

Assignment

• Application of System-Thinking Theories, Methods and Tools
  Write a 2-page (minimum) paper identifying a public health challenge. Using Table 1. in the Peters’ article, identify one theory, one method and one tool you believe are applicable in addressing the public health challenge. Describe how you would apply each in addressing the public health challenge. Use a minimum of two external references in writing your paper.

Week 7 – Budgeting and resource management principles

Learning Objective

• Explain principles of budgeting and resource management, types of budgets and budgeting tools to determine applicability in public health organizations

Readings and Lectures

Readings

• Novick & Marrow Text:
  • Chapter 9: Public Health Finance
• Rundio, A. Nurse manager’s guide to budgeting and finance (Chapters 1&3). Indianapolis, IN: Sigma Theta Tau; 2012
• Fritze J. Is healthcare budgeting ethically justifiable? The European Journal of Health Economics : HEPAC. 2001;2(1):26-30.
• Guide to Writing Mission & Vision Statements

Lectures

• Week 7 Overview (4 minutes)
• Focused lecture – Budgeting & Budgets (10 minutes)
• Review Final Project Guide video

Activities

Discussion

• No discussion posts this week

Assignments

• Assignment A: E-mail to Staff
  You are the Manager of HCB’s Primary Care Clinics. You have been busy lately focusing on budget preparation for the upcoming fiscal year. Your staff is frustrated because you have been less available and are expressing concern that they do not understand why you are spending so much time focusing on budgeting. One staff member says to you, “Why are you doing the Chief Financial Officer’s job? Shouldn’t he be taking care of budgeting?” You have decided to prepare an email to send to your employees explaining budgets and the budgeting process.

  Prepare a comprehensive email to send to staff explaining the four budgets (as outlined by Rundio) required for a successful organization and budgeting process responsibilities for a department manager. Explain both in terms that employees can understand. Use a minimum of 2 external references to support your work.

• Assignment B: Submit Final Project – Video Slide Presentation

Week 8 – Evidence-based Decision-making

Learning Objective

• Examine methods and tools for evidence-based decision-making to determine success factors for effective leaders

Readings and Lectures

Readings

• Barends, E, Rousseau, DM, Briner, RB. Evidence-based management: The Basic Principles. Center for Evidence-Based Management. 2015
• Brownson RC, Fielding JE, Maylahn CM. Evidence-based Decision Making to Improve Public Health Practice. Front Public Health Serv Syst Res 2013; 2(2).
• Dale B. Creating your personal leadership philosophy. Physician Leadership J. 2015; 2(6): 64-66.
• Jacobs, JA, Jones, E, Gabella, BA, Spring, B, Brownson, RC. Tools for implementing an evidence-based approach in public health practice. Prev Chronic Dis 2012; 9:110324.  

Lectures and Videos

• Week 8 Overview (9 minutes)
• Focused lecture: Writing a Leadership Philosophy Statement (5 minutes)
• What is evidence-based management and why do we need it? (13:50)
• Evidence-informed Decision-Making- A guiding framework for public health (7:14)

Activities

Discussion

• Evidence-Based Leadership Decision-Making
  Original Post: Describe an actual or hypothetical public health challenge requiring evidence-based leadership decision-making. Use the EIDM “5-Ovals” Model presented in the video- “Evidence-informed Decision-Making- A guiding framework for public health” as a model to describe the challenge and possible decision-making process. Identify whether or not the model is adequate for decision-making. Support your post with a minimum of two external references.

  Response Post: NO RESPONSE POST THIS WEEK

Assignment

Paper: Leadership Philosophy Statement (maximum 1-page)
Formulate a statement describing your personal leadership philosophy. At a minimum, the statement should identify your vision and values, beliefs about evidence-based decision-making, change management approaches and diversity in organizations. Provide a minimum of two external references to support your paper.

 

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

UNE Libraries:

• Library Access for all students: Your library login ID and password are the same as the ones you use to log into Brightspace.
• Public Health Databases: https://library.une.edu/library-materials/find/research-by-subject/public-health/
• Library Questions: Ask a librarian or phone library staff at (207) 602-2361 or (207) 221-4330.

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:

• UNE Student Academic Success Center

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.

Career Ready Program

The College of Professional Studies supports its online students and alumni in their career journey!

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.