Course Structure and Objectives
Overview of Course Content:
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Sessions 1 - 5 set the scene, by reviewing the historical development of the field, by discussing the scientific method, by discussing definitions of "health" and "population", and by proposing social inequalities in health as a topic for discussion in the remainder of the course as we develop the theme of trans-disciplinary thinking.
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Sessions 6 - 7 discuss the basis for constructing an academic discipline in a new field such as population health. They review a selection of the conceptual and theoretical models that have been proposed in discussing population health. These run from the overall "macro" models that cover environmental, social, and biological health determinants, to mid-range models (such as theories of health behaviour), down to small-scale conceptual approaches that are relevant to a small aspect of population health.
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Sessions 8 - 10 return to a discussion of paradigms of science and cover transdisciplinary thinking, complexity theory and alternative models for causal explanations in health.
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Session 11 is an integrative session that invites students to apply the course content to discussion of contemporary Canadian public health.
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Sessions 12 & 13 are reserved for student presentations
Learning Objectives:
Note: The theme of inequalities in health will be used in many sessions to illustrate the population health approach
1. To demonstrate awareness of variations in health status within and between societies and to review ways of setting priorities in tackling health issues.
2. To be familiar with various categories of scientific explanation, and to apply these to thinking about population health issues.
3. To outline the logical challenges involved in developing an integrated, transdisciplinary explanation for variations in health.
4. To review leading conceptual models in population health that seek to explain (and intervene on) the interactions between social circumstances and health.
5. To develop a cogent conceptual explanation for a significant population health issue that blends insights from several disciplines.
We live in an era of ready access to information. Hence, this course
does not aim to provide you with facts or figures so much as to stimulate
discussion of how we think about the "facts". T.S. Eliot wrote
"Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have
lost in information? It is for lack of wisdom, not lack of information, that
the people perish."
Link to Course evaluation
