Public health

Aims

This module, the academic components of which will be delivered via lectures, seminars, workshops and tutorials will encourage and enable students to undertake activities that will further develop and enhance their knowledge and understanding of epidemiological approaches and their application to public health practice. It particularly aims to develop a practical understanding of how the techniques used to undertake epidemiologic studies can be used to gather and interpret knowledge which can support the planning and implementation of public health initiatives and evaluate existing activities. It confers 15 points at level 11.

Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module, students should be able to:

• Critically analyse and evaluate the application of the principles of epidemiology in the context of public health and social action

• Critically analyse, compare and evaluate a range of epidemiologic study designs and their appropriate application to public health practice
• Critically appraise, analyse and evaluate the role of chance, bias and confounding in current literature where epidemiological data are significant

• Assess, quantify and compare the risk of health related outcomes in populations and population subgroups
• Determine key principles underpinning population-based prevention of ill health including scientific and ethical considerations for population-based disease screening.

Syllabus

• Sources of epidemiological data
• Risk and measures of health anddisease
• Types of epidemiological study designs: e.g. descriptive studies, case control studies , cohort studies and intervention studies
• chance , bias and confounding
• Screening
• Surveillance
• Social action and epidemiology

THE TOPIC CHOSEN IS ALCOHOL ABUSE AND THE GEOGRAPHICAL AREA IS ROYAL BOROUGH OF LONDON !

Summative Assessment
There is one assessment associated with the module – a coursework assignment of3,000 words, associated with the learning outcomes of the module.

Coursework assignment

You are a public health specialist working in an area with high levels of social deprivation. At a local community meeting, members of the community highlighted their concerns about the suspected high levels of various health conditions, including alcohol abuse, HIV/AIDS, coronary heart disease and diabetes, in their geographical area. You have been asked to choose and investigate one of these issues further and propose intervention(s) to support the community to address your chosen issue.

In an essay of 3000 words, critically analyse and evaluate ways in which epidemiological methods (including epidemiologic study designs and investigations)would be used to gather and interpret knowledge in relation to your chosen health issueand support the planning and implementation of a public health and social action initiative.
Marking Criteria

The assignment will be marked out of 100% and will be weighted as 100% of the final mark. The pass mark is 50%. Comments will be provided on the feedback sheet in relation to the following criteria:

• Evidence of attention to purpose
• Extent to which the content is underpinned by critical analysis and evaluation of relevant literature
• Demonstration of a developed, reasoned argument
• Application and synthesis of relevant theory into practice settings
• Overall presentation, including structure, fluency, coherence and referencing
Recommended Reading

Barton B & Peat J (2014) Medical Statistics: A Guide to SPSS, Data Analysis and Critical Appraisal (2nd edition). Chichester:Wiley-Blackwell.

Berkman, L.F. and Kawachi, I. (2000). Social Epidemiology. New York: Oxford University Press.

Bhopal, R. (2008) Concepts of Epidemiology: An integrated introduction to the ideas, theories, principles and methods of epidemiology.(2nd edition) Berkshire: Oxford University Press.

Coles L., Porter E. (2008) Public Health Skills: A practical Guide for Nurses and Public Health Practitioners. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Coggan,D., Rose, G., Barker, D. (2003) Epidemiology for the uninitiated. 5th ed. BMJ Publishing Group

Donaldson L.J. & Scally L. (2009) Donaldson’s’ Essential Public Health (3rd revised edition). Radcliffe Publishing Ltd.

Dos-Santos-Silva, I (1999) Cancer Epidemiology: Principles and Methods. World Health Organisation’s International Agency for Research on Cancer. Lyon, France: IARC.

Earle, S Lloyd, CE Sidell, M and Spurr, S (2007). Theory and research in promoting promoting Public Health. London: SAGE Publications

Gray M. (2009), Evidence-based health care and public health: how to make decisions abouthealth services and public health, Churchill Livingstone.

Greenhalgh, T. (2010) How to read a paper: the basics of evidence-based medicine (4th edition). Oxford: Wiley Blackwell.

Hebel, J.R. & McCarter, R.J. (2012) A study guide to Epidemiology and Biostatistics
Seventh Edition. Washington: Jones and Barlett Learning.

Oakes, J.M. and Kaufman, J.S. (2006) Methods in Social Epidemiology. San Francisco: Wiley and Sons.

Orme, J., Taylor, P., Harrison, T., Grey, M. (2007) Public Health for the 21st Century. (2nd edition): Berkshire: Open University Press.

Porta, M (2008) Editor A dictionary of epidemiology fifth edition Oxford: Oxford University Press

Rothman K.J., Greenland S. & Lash T.L. (2008) Modern Epidemiology (3rd edition) Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

Scriven A, Garman S (2007) Public Health: social context and action. Berkshire: Oxford University Press.

Webb P & Bain C (2011) Essential Epidemiology: An Introduction for Students and Health Professionals (2nd edition).Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Wilson F & Mabhala M (2008) Key Concepts in Public Health. London: Sage.
Wood M (2014) Epidemiology: Study Design and Data Analysis (3rd edition) London CRC press (Taylor & Francis group)
URLs:

AFTERnow: http://www.afternow.co.uk/
Association ofPublic Health Observatories:http://www.apho.org.uk/
Department of Health: http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/index.htm
Glasgow Centre for Population Health: http://www.gcph.co.uk/
ISD Scotland: http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/CCC_FirstPage.jsp
NHS Health Scotland: http://www.healthscotland.com/
National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence: http://www.nice.org.uk/
PHORCaST: http://www.phorcast.org.uk/
Public Health England: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/public-health-england
Scottish Community Development Centre: http://www.scdc.org.uk/
Scottish Government: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Home
Scottish Public Health Observatory: http://www.scotpho.org.uk/home/home.asp
Skills for Health: http://www.skillsforhealth.org.uk/
UK Faculty of Public Health: http://www.fph.org.uk/
World Health Organisation (WHO): http://www.who.int/en/
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