Course Title:	CH510 - Community Health: Roles and Practice
Previous Title:	CH510 - Principles of Community Health Education
Department:	Health Sciences
Instructor:	Dr. Deryl Gulliford - E-Mail | Personal E-Mail |  Vita
E-mail	dgullifo@canyoncollege.edu
Personal E-mail	deryl@pldi.net
Phone (office BlackBerry®/cell):	(405) 219-6715
Phone (cell):	(405) 219-6227
Phone (home):	(405) 285-1974
Pager:	(877) 724-3711, PIN 5539
Address:	118 Gardenwood Dr, Holdenville, OK 74848-9528

Welcome to CH510 – Community Health: Roles and Practice

As your course facilitator, my desire for you is that you will benefit from an excellent text, Community Health Education: Settings, Roles, And Skills For The 21st Century, and from several interesting and challenging assignments that take you to informative sources on the internet. During our few weeks together, I will comment on your written assignments and make suggestions that may enhance your experience and your career.

My first request is that you provide me with a brief biosketch of yourself describing where you live, your occupation, your education goals, and what (if any) experience you have already had in community involvement. You may see my biography posted on the Canyon College website. Please inform me when you are ready to begin your work in this course with text in hand and mind focused.

I look forward to working with you and helping you gain a broader world view of the factors impacting on the health of our communities and the discovery of how you may participate.

Sincerely,
                              Deryl Gulliford, Ph.D., MHA

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

This course provides the foundation for graduate study within the community health concentration. This course examines the scope and potential impact of the community health educator as an organized health care discipline. Topics covered include the legal and ethical issues faced by health educators as well as their various settings and roles for community health education. The professional skills needed in the day-to-day work of the health educator as well as the changing role of the health educator will also be explored.

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

• Discuss the evolving professional preparation and certification of health educators.
• Assess the role of professional organizations.
• Discuss the legal and ethical considerations of health educators.
• Describe the settings and roles of the health educator.
• Identify the skills the health educator needs in their day-to-day role.
• Assess future trends in health education and health promotion.
• Discuss the leadership crisis faced by health educators worldwide.

REQUIRED TEXT: Online Bookstore

Breckon, D., Harvey, J., & Lancaster, R. Community Health Education: Settings, Roles, And Skills For The 21st Century (1998). Aspen Publishers.
ISBN #: 083420987X

SUPPLEMENTAL:

Students are encouraged to access supplemental material from health care literature including texts, journal articles, and the Internet.

ASSIGNMENTS:

Each week there will be a reading assignment followed by a written assignment. Read the chapters carefully, highlight important points, then review the materials before doing the written assignment. The reading assignment includes everything in the chapters including chapter introductions, objectives, and graphs. Each chapter contains a list of "Buzzwords" specific to the content of the chapter. Please become familiar with buzzwords and their definition. Be aware that internet URLs change periodically. If you have difficulty locating a site assigned, contact your course facilitator for assistance or correction.

Intellectual requirements of written work are evidence of: critical thinking, personal learning application to practice, application to social responsibility, objective/subjective perspectives, and mechanical integrity (spelling, grammar, punctuation, etc.).

The written assignment for week 4 will be the midterm examination and the written assignment for week 8 will be the final examination. The midterm and final examinations will be available in plenty of time. If it is not please contact the instructor and have it made available.

All written assignments must have the following information at the top left:

• Student’s name
• Course number and title
• Week #

SUBMITTING ASSIGNMENTS

The course week begins on Monday and ends on Sunday at Midnight. Assignments are due SUNDAY before midnight (in your time zone). If unusual or extenuating circumstances delay submission of assignments and the instructor is informed, then the penalty of 3% will be waived. Assignments submitted 72 hours after due date will not be accepted. If you have a special situation and need an extension, you must contact the instructor prior to the due date via e-mail explaining the problem and specify exactly when the assignment will be forthcoming.

Assignments may be submitted as attachments in WordPerfect, MS Word, or plain text. If you will be using another wordprocessor please contact the instructor to see if it is compatible with her wordprocessor. If it is not compatible, the instructor may ask you to convert the document to plain text.

If a student is late with assignments without contacting the instructor they will be administratively withdrawn from the course.

Week 1:
Reading Assignment: Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, Appendix A

Written Assignment:

1. Reflecting on the content in the assigned chapters, visit the Web site for the National Health Information Center and prepare a one page (approximately 250-300 words) report on how information on this site can benefit your career as a health educator. Would you recommend the site to other health educators? If so, what recommendations would you make to assist other educators in their work? [Points: 3]
   
   http://www.health.gov/nhic/

2. Visit the Web site for the National Commission for Health Educational Credentialing, Inc. Submit a paper covering the following discussion points: [Points: 3]

• Discuss the advantage of becoming certified as you see it in your role or from the perspective of an employer or consumer.
• Discuss the requirements and benefits with NCHEC and other organizations that may offer similar certifications and credentialing.
• What organization(s) would benefit your career the most and why?

www.nchec.org

3. Visit the Web site for Healthy People 2000 and 2010 and review the content. How does the function of Healthy People 2010 contribute to Community Health, in your view? [Points: 3]
   
   http://odphp.osophs.dhhs.gov/pubs/hp2000
   
   http://www.health.gov/healthypeople/

4. Conduct a Web search of professional organizations associated with health education. Upload an annotated review of the organizations you have visited, and include the following information: [Points: 3]

1. name of site and URL
2. sponsorship of site
3. summary of content of site
4. comments as to usefulness of site

Based on your findings, what recommendations would you make regarding these organizations for you as an educator, now and in the future?

Week 2:
Reading Assignment: Chapters 5, 6, 7, 8, Appendix C

Written Assignment:

1. Discuss the differences you see between the code of ethics of SOPHE and AAHE, and identify how these differences might have an impact on practice. [Points: 3]

2. Prepare a 250-300 word statement on how the concept of community relates to your role as a health educator, including how you would enhance what you find as it exists today. Include the role of health educators in your particular community, as you have identified this in your experience. [Points: 5]

3. Search the Internet for your state or local government and identify health educator positions in your particular state or local government. Prepare a 2-page summary of your findings, including the URLs you visited and the agencies you reviewed. [Points: 3]
   
   www.state.XX.gov - (XX is the state abbreviation)

4. Search the Internet for volunteer agencies. Brainstorm how you would fulfill any one of the volunteer roles you identified in this search, and whether volunteerism and volunteering would be a suitable fit in your career plans.
   [Points: 3]

Week 3:
Reading Assignment: Chapters 9, 10, 11, 12, Appendix B

Written Assignment:

1. Based on your readings and your experience, prepare a 1-2 page summary of the role of community health education in a medical setting. What challenges would you face as a professional in a medical setting, and do you think this would be a suitable fit for you in your career plans? Why or why not? [Points: 3]

2. Based on your readings and your experience, prepare a 1-2 page statement on why work sites are an effective intervention point for health educators. [Points: 3]

3. Identify Risk Reduction Objectives that you would like to be included in your future role as a public school or university health educator. Prepare a statement regarding the importance of these objectives and why these are important to you in your future role. [Points: 3]

Week 4:
Reading Assignment: Chapters 13, 14, 15

Written Assignment: Mid-Term Examination. Includes Chapters 1 - 15 [Points: 25]

1. Visit www.ihpnet.org and learn about the role and function of the Interfaith Health Programs, then click on the light bulb for Practice Models in their database, do a search for various models near your location and write a 150-200 report on what you find in the context of IHP mission and your community needs. [5 points]

2. Referring Chapters 14 & 15, develop a job search and interview strategy for a CH Educ. job of your choice in 150-200 words. [3 points]

Week 5:
Reading Assignment: Chapters 16, 17, 18, 19

Written Assignment:

1. Base this assignment on the text and article, Andragogy: The Teaching And Learning Of Adults at the following Web site:
   
   http://www.learnativity.com/andragogy.html
   
   Prepare a 3 page paper, 500-word (minimum) summary of the principles of learning discussed in the article as you may apply them to different populations. Include these groups with special needs in your paper: adults, older adults and the frail elderly, children, teens, and at least one culture whose language is not the dominant language of the community. [Points: 10]

2. In 150-200 words, identify the similarities and differences between primary prevention strategies and intervention strategies using examples from your work, and discuss the role or scope of the health educator in each type of strategy. [Points: 3]

3. In 150-200 words, discuss how community organizations can be used to meet the goals of health education and describe one example from your reading or your experience. [Points: 3]

4. Based on the reading and your experience, evaluate your communication skills in the following five areas:

   1. informal communication skills,
   2. formal communication skills,
   3. listening skills,
   4. writing skills, and
   5. understanding of communicational skills.

   Based on your evaluation, comment on how your skills and sensitivities in these areas may be improved so that you can become a more effective health educator? [Points: 5]

Week 6:
Reading Assignment: Chapters 20, 21, 22

Written Assignment:

1. Based on your reading and experience, what are some ways that technology can be used by the health educator to improve the delivery of health information? Include in your discussion the technology that you currently use, if any, and whether it is appropriately applied to your role as a health educator. [Points: 3]

2. Based on a recent meeting that you attended, describe the meeting and indicate specific improvements you would implement that would have made it better or more effective. Incorporate Exhibit 22-1 on page 250. [Points: 5]

Week 7:
Reading Assignment: Chapters 23, 24, 25, 26

Written Assignment:

1. This assignment is based on a scenario that you will compose, below. It should be a minimum of 500 words. The scenario may be real, plausible, or imagined for the sake of this assignment. You are in charge of developing and presenting an educational seminar at a local health organization. Your scenario, sketched in 100 words or less (the topic, the audience, the organization, and the expected immediate outcome), will become the basis upon which to build items #2 through #5, below.

2. How would you go about marketing this seminar? Include steps that you would take to determine the marketing approach, development of collateral materials, anticipated costs, and other related activities.

3. Describe how you would use the media to promote your seminar? Discuss advantages and disadvantages of specific types of media, and give the rationale for your selection.

4. What types of educational media would be most useful in developing your seminar? If you feel that there are particular types of educational media that would not be appropriate, identify these and state your reasons for your assessment.

5. Describe as specifically as you can how you would use printed materials in your seminars. Be specific and give examples.
   [Points: 10]

Week 8:
Reading Assignment: Chapters 27, 28, 29, 30, 31

Written Assignment: Final Examination. Includes Chapters 16 - 31 [Points: 25]

GRADING:

Written assignments, research paper, mid term examination, and final examination will be graded based on:

• Substance: Answer addresses question, statements are accurate, and opinions are supported, employing critical thinking, personal learning application to practice, application to social responsibility, objective/subjective perspectives
• Organization: Answers are organized, coherent, and logical.
• Mechanics: Grammar, syntax, spelling, typographical errors.

A letter grade will be assigned at the conclusion of the 8 week semester based on the above criteria. The scale is based on 132 points as follows:

A A- B+ B B- C+ C C- D+ D F

= = = = = = = = = = =

95% - 100% 90% - 94% 87% - 89% 84% - 86% 80% - 83% 77% - 79% 74% - 76% 70% - 73% 67% - 69% 60% - 66% Below 60%

"F" is for unsatisfactory work.

"D" indicates inferior work which in one or more respects falls below minimum acceptable standards but is of sufficient quality and quantity to count for credit.

"C" means the assignment was satisfactory, that is what one would expect from a college student. It is an average grade for students who give a reasonable amount of time, effort, and attention.

"B" is an above average grade for general achievement of a high order. The student has intelligently fulfilled the requirements of the course and has achieved a degree of excellence such as completeness, accuracy of knowledge, independence of work, creativity, and critical thought.

"A" is an exceptional grade reserved for excellent students indicating distinctly superior work who have thoroughly mastered the subject, displayed marked initiative and intellectual curiosity, and produced work of a superior quality.

You can not receive an A or B unless you truly earn it.

COMMUNICATION:

At the discretion of the instructor, you may be expected to visit the chat area of the Canyon College Web site 2-3 times weekly. More often is encouraged. At this time you will receive any updates that are applicable to your course. You will also post a weekly update of your progress. This includes what was covered in the text and what you learned in the readings that can be applied to a health care setting.

Prior to the beginning of the semester or within 2 days into the semester you must post a pre-course assignment (introduction). This should include your name, address, phone number (day and evening), e-mail address, fax number if you have it, and any specific directions for contacting you if I have to. Normally all communication will take place by email (and in the chat area at instructor's discretion) but in case of emergency I may need to contact you. If you can not be contacted at a certain place (like work) please do not list this number and make a notation that you can't receive calls during a particular part of the day.

The pre-course assignment should also include your biography. This can include your present job, reason for enrolling in this degree program, family, and anything else you would like to share. What you put in your biography is complete up to you.

I will be checking my e-mail at least 2 times/week. If you do not understand anything get in contact with me right away. Do not wait!!! Do not wait till week 8 to say that you do not understand something concerning week 4.

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY:

Academic integrity is highly valued at Canyon College. You are expected to complete all assignments by yourself using the text and other academic sources. If you use any outside sources, other than the assigned text, you must clearly cite sources using APA format or end notes. Whatever format you use must be carried out consistently. You are not to share any of your work with other students or potential students.

COMPRESSED TIME

The courses offered at Canyon College are in a compressed time format. Courses are 8 weeks instead of the usual 15-18 weeks. This means that what is generally completed over a 15-18 week period is compressed into 8 weeks. This has advantages as well as disadvantages. The advantage is that a student can take one course each compressed semester and actually complete 6 courses in a years time. If a student took one course each traditional semester they could only complete 2-3 courses in a year. The disadvantage is that the work spread out over a 15-18 week semester is accomplished in 8 weeks. Sometimes students take one of these courses as a quick fill-in thinking that they will not have a lot of work -- then feel overwhelmed with all the work that is actually involved. I am just trying to make everyone aware that students are expected to do what is generally required in any 3 credit course.