Public health leaders are needed to make the process of public health promotion and education work in supporting and initiating positive health behaviors and lifestyles. Leadership development and practice in public health education is of paramount importance, if we are to resolve the complex health challenges affecting people’s lives and communities throughout the world.

This course is designed to investigate the role of health promotion and education in the public health arena and to provide emerging public health professionals with key leadership tools and skills to strengthen the field of public health and the health education professions. The course will begin with how a health needs assessment is done. It will explore leadership, ethics, and management issues relevant to the competencies for Health Educators. Students will explore, apply and critique the history and theoretical foundations of health education programs. Students will learn the value of health promotion and its barriers, challenges, and opportunities linked with various public health issues, populations, and settings, how to identify and use public health data sets, factors that influence personal health decisions, preventive interventions directed at populations, and strategies for using population health principles to integrate health promotion into routine clinical and public health practice. The course will examine the philosophical, theoretical, and practical aspects underlying the planning, implementation, and evaluation of contemporary health promotion programs. Emphasis will be given to: (1) trends in the health promotion practice and research, (2) the skills associated with effective health promotion practice, and (3) the strategic importance of carrying out health promotion programs and policies in the context of various cultural and organizational entities.

By the end of the course each student should:

· Demonstrate an understanding of fundamental principles and practices in health promotion, education, and behavior; organization, principles, and practices in health administration; tools for translating epidemiological findings into public health action;

· Culture and apply the ability to critically use social science, health and behavior theories in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of health education and promotion programs;

· Work effectively with culturally diverse individuals and communities, and to apply principles for ethical conduct in health promotion, education, and behavior.