550.608.81
Problem Solving in Public Health
Location
Internet
Term
3rd Term
Department
Extradepartmental
Credit(s)
4
Academic Year
2025 - 2026
Instruction Method
Asynchronous Online with Some Synchronous Online
Auditors Allowed
Yes, with instructor consent
Available to Undergraduate
No
Grading Restriction
Letter Grade or Pass/Fail
Course Instructor(s)
Contact Name
Daniel Barnett
Contact Email
Frequency Schedule
Every Year
Resources
Prerequisite
Enrollment Restriction
Restricted to part-time MPH students and Training Certificate students
Uses divergent public health issues to illustrate a systematic problem solving process for use in addressing public health problems. Includes defining the problem, measuring its magnitude, understanding the key determinants, developing a conceptual framework of the relationships between the key determinants, identifying and developing intervention and prevention strategies (either interventions or policies), setting priorities among intervention options, understanding barriers to implementation and evaluation, and developing an effective communication strategy. Consists of lectures, discussions, small-group exercises, a group project, and individual assignments.
Learning Objectives
Upon successfully completing this course, students will be able to:
- Analyze a public health problem and evaluate intervention/policy alternatives using the problem-solving methodology
- Compare and contrast the utility of the methodology to solve public health problems that emerge at different periods in the life cycle and in different cultures and health systems
- Research a specific public health problem, prepare a written report, and present their recommendations to the class following the problem-solving methodology
- Recognize and discuss the complexity of policy development, including the politics of public health issues, the roles of interest groups and stakeholders, and the laws and social values that must be woven into successful policies
- Integrate human rights and ethical principles into the analysis of public health problems and recommended strategies
- Recognize the critical role of communication and collaboration in public health practice
- Conduct problem solving activities that model the methods of public health agencies
- Demonstrate critical and analytical thinking by submitting two individually prepared products (a self-assessment of the process & a critical analysis of the application of the problem-solving methodology to a public health problem)
Upon successfully completing this course, students will be able to:
Methods of Assessment
This course is evaluated as follows:
- 25% Written Assignment(s)
- 8% Discussion Board
- 12% Small Group Participation/Performance
- 20% Final Presentation
- 35% Final Paper
Jointly Offered With
This course is distinct from other courses offered at BSPH. Rather than content and subject matter, this course primarily focuses on the practice of applying the problem-solving methodology. This focus on process derives from the special course design where the core learning occurs through students' participation in real-time, interactive Small Group sessions.
Accordingly, students interested in taking this course should be advised of the following scheduling requirements:
• Students will not be able to add this course after the first day of the term
• There are several required prerequisite readings and an assignment to be completed prior to the first day of class
• Students will be assigned to a small group that will meet for 2 hours weekly each Thursday of the term; students will be assigned to recurring small group meeting time-slots based on their preferences elicited prior to the start of class (e.g., 8a-10am ET or 6p-8p ET, etc.); students are required to attend all small-group sessions; students who attend fewer than 6 out of 8 small groups cannot pass the class
• Small groups will present their group projects in a class-wide Final Presentation session in real time on the final Friday of the term (March 13, 2026); students who do not attend their own Final Presentation will not be able to earn any of the points associated with the Final Presentation
Please contact the course instructors for further information.