This course provides a science-based foundation for the relationship between modifiable risk factors for non-communicable and select communicable diseases and lifestyle behaviors. Students gain an understanding of why and how lifestyle behaviors are associated with the etiology of most leading causes of death in the United States.

This course will focus on developing leaders in health promotion management as leaders drive innovation and change within organizations. In this course, you will explore how the dimensions of health and wellbeing, along with the importance of awareness of self, others, and the environment, can provide the foundation for becoming a successful leader.

This course addresses three distinct forms of delivering health promotion messages to the individual consumer, small groups, and large populations of people. A social-ecological perspective will be used as a framework to address communication at individual, interpersonal, organizational, community, and policy levels.

In this course, students will:

∙ Apply foundational knowledge about effective health communication skills from the micro- to the macro-level.
∙ Design effective health communication materials for diverse audiences.
∙ Work collaboratively with a team to create an authentic and compelling social marketing campaign.
∙ Test documents for readability to improve health literacy and apply results to the creation of communication materials.
∙ Advocate for a piece of legislation with a local, state, or US official.

“In this course, students learn best practices and evidence-based strategies for designing, delivering and evaluating messages in the field of health promotion. We discover how we can more effectively and strategically promote health at the individual, organization, community and societal levels. And most of all, we learn how difficult and complex that process can actually be.” – American University Faculty Member

Topics covered include:

∙ Health behavior theories such as:
     ∙ The health belief model (HBM)
     ∙ Social cognitive theory (SCT)
     ∙ The transtheoretical model (TTM)
∙The diffusions of innovations model (DIM)
∙ Social marketing
∙ Program evaluation, advocacy, and effective presentation skills

By the end of the course you can:

∙ Describe the social-ecological model and its influence on health communication.
∙ Describe the characteristics of an effective social marketing campaign.
∙ Explain the concepts that define four theories of behavior change and describe how theory is used to influence health communication messaging.
∙ Explain the factors that influence health literacy.
∙ Explain the relationship between health policy and health communication.

Behavior Change in Health Promotion provides students with an overview of the theory and application needed for assisting individuals and groups to change lifestyle behaviors related to health promotion. It includes cognitive behavior techniques to change lifestyle behaviors such as smoking, obesity, stress or diet for the reduction of chronic disease risk. Students deepen their understanding of select theories and practices necessary for effective health behavior change.

This course was developed by Dr. Liz Cotter, whose work focuses on the evaluation of culturally tailored health promotion interventions and whose research has been published in journals such as Eating Behaviors.

Course objectives:

∙ Identify health concerns relevant to nutrition and eating behaviors, distinguish between health enhancing and health compromising behaviors and recommend the correct action(s) needed for treatment.

∙ Construct a comprehensive plan for intervention/prevention programming focused on behavior change both for themselves and for a group of their choosing.

∙ Recognize the nature of the stress response in the etiology and course of many health problems and recommend strategies to reduce stress.

∙ Demonstrate the ability to track and monitor a behavior of your choice, as well as reflect thoughtfully upon your experience engaging in a behavior change and create a plan for sustainable lifelong change.

“What I believe sets health coaching apart from more traditional methods of providing guidance or education is that health coaching encourages the individual to explore and eventually resolve their own ambivalence to change.”
– Dr. Liz Cotter

Topics covered include:

∙ Introduction to health behavior change and health psychology
∙ The link between stress and health
∙ Health-enhancing and health-compromising behaviors
∙ Cognitive-behavioral approaches to health interventions
∙ Chronic disease management and prevention
∙ Dynamics of patient/provider communication and interaction
∙ In-depth practice of health coaching skills

Introduces students to advanced principles in program planning for health promotion activities. Emphasis on the use of theories for the identification of health and lifestyle risk factors, including the development, implementation, and evaluation of programs to effectively reduce the risk factors associated with chronic disease.

This course provides an overview of the healthcare system in the United States and the emerging role of health promotion in enhancing health. Includes the different types of health promotion activities offered, clinical and theoretical foundations for initiating health promotion activities, and trends of health promotion strategies in managed care organizations. Students develop working models for the integration of health promotion programs into the existing system.

This course introduces the terminology, critical issues and current debates in the field of evaluation. Students assess their evaluation competencies and reflect on their evaluator identity. They gain the skills necessary to design monitoring and evaluation plans that reflect varying contexts, settings, and resources. Students also learn how to conduct a needs assessment, develop a program theory of change and develop a Logic Model.

Sample assignments and projects include:

∙ Analyze the needs and program theory of change for an initiative as described in an evaluation report.
∙ Logic model narrative summary
∙ Addressing causal mechanisms
∙ Identifying a performance evaluation approach
∙ Identifying an Impact Evaluation Approach
∙ Statement of Work (SOW) development

Course Outcomes

Upon completing this course, you should be able to:

∙ Discuss the importance of program theory of change.
∙ Discuss how and why needs assessments are conducted.
∙ Explain how a program theory of change is encapsulated into a logical framework.
∙ Discuss a logic model’s significance as it relates to the monitoring and evaluation of projects.
∙ Identify different types of performance evaluation.
∙ Describe what kind of data are needed for different sorts of impact evaluation.
∙ Identify the components in an Evaluation Statement of Work.

An in-depth review of validity, reliability, and objectivity as they relate to measurement techniques in health promotion programs. The primary focus is on the use and analysis of assessment instruments used to determine health risks and an understanding of epidemiological and evaluation concepts in health and fitness.

This course provides students with strategic knowledge about different models and approaches used to implement health promotion programs in workplace settings. Students conduct case studies of organizations’ worksite health promotion programs, conduct an evaluation of program outcomes, and make informed recommendations to advance each program.

Organizations are constantly changing in response to a wide array of internal and external system dynamics, often unintentionally but sometimes in a planned, methodical way. This course focuses on the latter, where organizational leaders work collaboratively to make good decisions about what to change and how to manage those changes, given competing priorities and limited resources. Picking up where front-end analysis leaves off, you will work with colleagues to prioritize a strategic need, define a solution, craft a compelling vision, and communicate a persuasive business case for that change. Then, you will analyze stakeholders, identify change levers and resistance, develop change metrics and strategies, and strategize your communication, engagement, learning, and sustainment activities. This course will help you become a more influential leader and catalyst for positive change within any organization.