BSc (Hons) Public Health

Program Overview

This BSc (Hons) Public Health program equips students with knowledge, skills, and experience to pursue careers in public health. It focuses on protecting, promoting, and improving health and well-being through a comprehensive curriculum that includes modules on determinants of health, health promotion, and research methodologies. Students gain practical experience through volunteering and real-world projects, preparing them for roles in public health organizations, companies, and charities.

Program Outline

Degree Overview:

This BSc (Hons) Public Health program aims to equip students with the knowledge, skills, and experience necessary to pursue a career in public health. The program focuses on protecting, promoting, and improving the health and well-being of individuals, families, and communities both within the UK and internationally. The program emphasizes the social, cultural, economic, and political factors that influence health and well-being. Students learn to identify health patterns and trends within diverse populations, and they develop the skills to empower individuals and communities to make healthy lifestyle choices. The program's curriculum includes training in "Making Every Contact Count" (MECC), which focuses on taking opportunities to engage in conversations about healthy lifestyles with individuals.

Outline:

The program is structured over three years of full-time study. The course includes a variety of compulsory and optional modules.

Year 1:

• Compulsory Modules:
• Lifelong Learning for Public Health
• Determinants of Health and Wellbeing
• Health and Wellbeing across the Lifecourse
• Measuring Individual Health and Wellbeing
• Politics and Advocacy in Public Health

Year 2:

• Compulsory Modules:
• Health Promotion in Action
• Assessing Population Health and Wellbeing
• Health Protection, Systems and Emergencies
• Mass Media Health Communication
• Public Mental Health and Wellbeing
• Introduction to Research Methodologies and Methods in Public Health
• Optional Modules (one to be selected):
• Promoting and Developing Healthy Public Policy
• Designing, Delivering, Monitoring and Evaluating Public Health Interventions
• Developing Leadership for Health Improvement
• Professional Project: Public Health Intervention Project

Year 3:

• Compulsory Modules:
• Public Health in Action

Module Descriptions:

• Lifelong Learning for Public Health: This module focuses on developing academic, IT, reading, writing, and reflection skills to support ongoing learning.
• Determinants of Health and Wellbeing: This module explores the biological, social, and environmental factors (determinants) that influence health at various levels, including individual, group, community, and population.
• Health and Wellbeing across the Lifecourse: This module examines key theories of human development from pre-conception to old age, exploring how health issues change over time.
• Measuring Individual Health and Wellbeing: This module introduces tools and methods used to assess individual health and wellbeing, including questionnaires and measures of disease and health.
• Politics and Advocacy in Public Health: This module analyzes how politics, political institutions, and political perspectives shape policies that impact individual, community, and population health and wellbeing.
• Health Promotion in Action: This module focuses on health promotion approaches used to achieve behavior change, exploring theories and models of behavior change and strategies for engaging individuals and communities.
• Assessing Population Health and Wellbeing: This module covers community needs assessment, profiling, and surveillance in public health policy and practice.
Students learn to analyze population level demographic and epidemiological data to develop community health profiles.
• Health Protection, Systems and Emergencies: This module explores health protection principles and practices, emergency preparedness, and healthcare public health.
It focuses on environmental hazards and emergencies, including natural and technological hazards.
• Mass Media Health Communication: This module examines how mass media can be used to promote health and wellbeing, exploring multimedia concepts and theories of persuasive communication and social marketing.
• Introduction to Research Methodologies and Methods in Public Health: This module further develops students' research skills, covering qualitative and quantitative methodologies, study designs, data collection and analysis methods, and critical appraisal of research studies.
• Promoting and Developing Healthy Public Policy: This module analyzes public policy and decision-making processes that impact population health, exploring the importance of advocating for a "health in all policies" approach.
• Designing, Delivering, Monitoring and Evaluating Public Health Interventions: This module introduces the process of developing public health interventions, covering planning models, approaches to monitoring and evaluation, team-working, partnership working, and project management.
• Professional Project: Public Health Intervention Project: This module culminates the program with a practical assignment where students develop an outline business plan for a public health intervention project.
• Public Health in Action: This module allows students to apply their knowledge and skills through relevant work experience in a public health setting.

Teaching:

This program features a variety of teaching methods, including lectures, seminars, group work, practical sessions, and case studies. The program also provides opportunities for students to gain practical experience through volunteering in public health-related charities and not-for-profit organizations. Examples of real-world health promotion activities that students can participate in include organizing a World AIDS Day flash mob and leading a student-led health conference seminar.

Careers:

Upon completion of the program, graduates are well-equipped for careers in public health and health promotion within the public, private, and voluntary sectors. Potential career paths include:

• Public health roles in local councils or national agencies (e.g., public health, social care, housing, and leisure departments)
• Human resources departments in medium to large companies (focusing on staff wellbeing)
• Community projects run by charities (supporting local people to improve their health and wellbeing)
• Fundraising, research, and project management roles
• Direct community engagement work within the UK and abroad
Specific career titles graduates may pursue include:
• Training facilitator
• Project manager
• Programme officer
Graduates also have the option to continue their education by pursuing an MSc in Public Health and Wellbeing.

Other:

• The program is also offered at the University's partner institute in Oxford, Ruskin College.
• Students are encouraged to bring their own experiences and knowledge to enrich the learning environment and make the modules interactive.
• The program emphasizes the importance of team-working, partnerships, and community involvement.
• The program includes training in ethical frameworks for public health practice.

Tuition fees per year: £9,250 - UK £16,250 – International