Syllabus

Schedule

Course Calendar

Wednesday – Wednesday 
Week 1: Oct 30 – Nov 6
Week 2: Nov 6 – Nov 13
Week 3: Nov 13 – Nov 20
Week 4: Nov 20 – Nov 27
Week 5: Nov 27 – Dec 4
Week 6: Dec 4 – Dec 11
Week 7: Dec 11 – Dec 18
Week 8: Dec 18 – Dec 22

The assignment and discussion descriptions mentioned below are summaries. Please make sure to review the full prompts in Brightspace.

Week 1: Course expectations and rhythm; professional expectations and commitment; foundational understanding of health education programs; behavioral theories refresher

Learning Outcomes:

• Reflect on the commitment to health equity and social justice as part of the health education professional’s role, while adopting them as core values
• Analyze a health issue and determine which behavioral theories would be the most appropriate to apply during program development
• Manage outcome expectations and understand the role of health education programs within the larger framework of public health initiatives, with special attention to health policies

Learning Activities:

• Discussion: Applying Behavioral Theories to Program Development
  • Initial Post

    You are presented with a few population and health goals below.

    1. From the lists, choose one (1) population, one  (1) health goal, and state which behavioral theory you would apply to develop an educational program.

    2. Justify the behavioral theory you chose by connecting its components to what is needed for a successful educational program.

    3. Title your post with your chosen population and health goal.

       Priority Population Options (choose 1)·         

       • Older adults living in an assisted living community
       • Students of a local middle school/junior high school (specify rural or non-rural)
       • Elementary school-aged children
       • Parents of school-aged children

       Health Goal Options (choose 1)·         

       • Increase the use of contraceptives
       • Increase quit smoking or vaping rates
       • Increase pledges to never start smoking or vaping
       • Increase physical activity
       • Decrease distracted driving
       • Decrease online bullying

• • Start a dialogue with one classmate who has not received a response to their initial post.

    • Offer a different behavioral theory that could be used to guide a program for their population.
• Week 1 Assignment: Health Equity Reflection
  In chapter 2, under the section titled, “Health Equity in Health Education Professionalism,” the authors refer to the pursuit of “…health equity as a central responsibility of all health education professionals.” Intently read this section and identify a sentence or two that truly resonates with you. In your reflection, which should be between 350 and 500 words:
  • Include the section you are reflecting on
  • Share why this section resonates with you (this could mean you strongly agree or disagree; either way, it should prompt a strong reaction)
  • Describe the connection between what you read and how it will relate to your work in designing health education programs (it may be useful to refer to sections from chapter 3 as well)
• Week 1 Acknowledgement of Academic Engagement Quiz

Week 2:Introduction to human-centered design and its application in health education design

Learning Outcomes:

• Apply Design Thinking, also known as Human-Centered Design, while designing health education programs

Learning Activities:

• Discussion: Addressing Constraints During Program Development

  Initial Post

  Notice how Dietz addressed the constraint of fear and reluctance, by reimagining the experience for patients. Thinking back to your first discussion, recall the health goal and population you chose. In your initial post:

  • State the health goal and population you selected for your week 1 discussion post.
  • List and describe two constraints experienced by that population in regard to your health goal.
  • Suggest a creative recommendation to address. The recommendation should not be a widely known standard of care. You may, however, build on a standard approach to make it creative and aligned with the constraint.

  Response Post

  It is now time to build on the recommendations posted by a classmate, through the “yes, and…” activity. 

  Choose a classmate, who has not received feedback, and start your post by affirming one of their recommendations and then build on it. The purpose of this exercise is to remain empathetic, foster collaboration, and not be dismissive of ideas.

• Week 2 Assignment: Applying Human-Centered Design Principles

  Authors Matheson, Pacione, Shultz, and Klugl state, “Behavioral change is more likely if the designer meets the patient where they are and builds a solution that works within their constraints.” Last week we focused on behavioral theories that are meant to predict behaviors, but they are limited in their ability to provide insight on constraints. Remember, constraints include both external and internal barriers experienced by the individual or priority population. 

  In no more than four paragraphs, respond to the following prompts in a meaningful way:

  • How can we apply design thinking principles in our attempt to meet people where they are AND build an educational program that considers influential constraints?
  • When design thinking principles are applied well, what can we expect from our program and the people we choose to engage?

Week 3: Prioritizing health issues; Identifying the health goal; differentiating between the priority population and the intended audience

Learning Outcomes:

• Prioritize possible health issues and select one health issue to be addressed
• Identify a health goal by understanding the health issue and its impact on the priority population
• Differentiate between a priority population and intended audience

Learning Activities:

• Discussion: Share resources from work on Major Assignment 1

  In this discussion post, you will share the resources you found while working on the assignment and describe the elements bulleted below.
  Initial Post

  • State the priority population you have chosen for Major Assignment: Health Education Program Background.

  • List media resources (E.g., news articles or video segments, Ted Talks, advertisements, interviews with perceived experts, popular books) that are focused on your health issue and/or priority population.

  • Consider all of the resources provided in the Major Assignment instructions and media resources you found, then list 3 to 5 different issues being discussed.

  • Based on what you have discovered, finalize and state:

    • One health issue to be addressed

    • The intended audience (remember, this may differ from your priority population)

    • The health goal

• Major Assignment: Health Education Program Background
  • The purpose of this assignment is to identify a priority population, synthesize data, prioritize a health issue, and decide which aspects of the health issue you hope to address through your health education program

Week 4: Exploration of effective design, delivery, and methods; developing the program purpose; establishing program goals

Learning Outcomes:

• Make their program purposeful, by exploring the “so what?” of their health issue
• Establish program goals

Learning Activities:

• Live Session
• Discussion: Importance of Educating Your Intended Audience

  Initial Post
  Refer to your work from Major Assignment: Health Education Program Background and state your:

  • Health issue

  • Priority population

  • Health goal

  • Intended audience 

End your post by explaining the reason for your chosen intended audience. Why is it important to build an education program for this group? Remember, your priority population may differ from your intended audience.

Response Post
You will provide a meaningful response to (1) classmate. Review the intended audience your classmate listed and address the following:

• • describe (1) way they could gather feedback from the audience, and
  • brainstorm a way that they may incentivize the audience to foster engagement during the planning and development of the health education program.

As you provide feedback, consider the culture of the audience, a realistic way to reach them, and the appropriate way to gather information from them.

• Major Assignment: Refine the Purpose of Your Program

By now, you have identified the priority population, the health issue, the intended audience, and the health goal. This assignment will focus your attention on the intended audience and the health issue with more specificity. In chapter 6 of your textbook, the authors ask that you consider the “so what?’ in an effort to get designers to connect the health problem to the intended audience. This assignment will aid in anchoring your program to a defined program purpose.

Week 5: Adhering to accessibility guidelines while developing program components and materials; evaluation considerations

Learning Outcomes:

• Determine and rationalize health education design as it relates to accessibility concerns such as reading level, numeracy, and health literacy of intended audience and then apply such considerations during the development of health education program
• Apply Human-Centered Design techniques while creating program materials
• Develop an outline and program material for their health education program
• Discuss evaluation considerations during planning phase

Learning Activities:

• Major Assignment: Part A: Develop a Three-Session Program Outline
  During the last couple of weeks you focused on defining key elements related to your audience and health issue. Referring to all the valuable information you have gathered, you will now focus on developing an outline for your health education program.
• Major Assignment: Part B: Development 1 Program Material
  Consider possible materials you can develop to either supplement and/or complement your program. Familiarize yourself with the CDC Clear Communication Index and review the User Guide, which is also a required reading this week. Consider materials that can be assessed using this index (on the landing page see the material type options).

Using no more than a few sentences for each section, include the health issue, intended audience, when the material will be provided, how it should be used, why you decided to develop it, how design thinking was applied during development, and your experience using the  CDC Clear Communication Index.

Week 6: Design Studio—develop a session and pre/post-assessment

Learning Outcomes:

• Develop a complete one-hour health education session using the template provided
• Using program goals as a foundation, create learning objectives and milestones for each session
• Establish program evaluation processes

Learning Activities:

•  Major Assignment: Develop a Facilitator’s Guide and Pre/Post Assessment for One Session
  For this assignment, you will develop a facilitator’s guide for one of those three sessions and an accompanying pre/post assessment.

Week 7: Design Studio—record a section of the developed session

Learning Outcomes:

• Record a 12–15 minute mock section of a live program session
• Appropriately choose an effective delivery method for intended audience
• Foster learner engagement with concepts during presentation by including moments for active participation
• Evaluate understanding and/or increased skills among intended audience after the delivery of the section

Learning Activities:

• Week 7 Discussion: Using activities as learning checkpoints

  For this week’s assignment, you will record one section of your hour-long session. Thinking about the content you will cover in your recording, what are some checkpoint activities you could include to ensure that your participants understand you along the way? For this discussion post, consider ways you might “check in” with participants as you deliver information. This is different from the more formal pre/post assessment you created in week 6.

  Initial Post
  List and describe one activity you could carry out as a participant “checkpoint.” Be sure to provide context so the reader understands what is being asked of the session participants.

  Response Post
  In your response post to one classmate, assess if their “checkpoint” is an effective way to gauge understanding, and provide another possible activity that could be carried out.

• Major Assignment: Record a Section from your developed educational session

Week 8: Design Studio—expert evaluation 

Learning Outcomes:

• Evaluate the appropriateness of health education program, while considering the content, intended audience, and delivery method
• Identify areas for program improvement and provide potential solutions

Learning Activities:

• Week 8 Discussion: Course Reflection

Initial Post

• • Describe 1 to 2 things you found challenging and ways you overcame them
  • Describe 1 to 2 things you enjoyed most throughout this course

Response Post
Provide a short reaction to their post. You can share something encouraging, a suggestion regarding a challenge they highlighted, or use the“yes, and…” model.

• Final Assignment: Provide Feedback to a Peer’s Video
  Using the Recorded Session Peer Feedback Form, students will review a classmates video and offer meaningful feedback.

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