Community Health & Wellness

This seminar course introduces Community Health and Wellness (Health Services) students to the major.  Students will engage in learning activities to promote success in the program by familiarizing themselves with career options related to the major.  The course will include a broad overview of current issues related to healthcare in the United States and beyond.

This interdisciplinary seminar course provides an overview of the foundational concepts and principles of health and human services. It aims to introduce students to the fundamental knowledge, skills, and practice benefits of an interdisciplinary approach to care. By integrating various perspectives, students will gain an introductory understanding of the roles, responsibilities, and collaborative nature of the professions in promoting health, well-being, and functional independence.

The course will enable students to receive initial exposure to health care systems and attitudes applicable to the health care industry.  The concepts of health, wellness, and preventative care are evaluated as well as ethical and legal responsibilities of today's health care provider.  More specifically, this course introduces and describes the U.S. health care system, addressing its components and complexities.  The historical basis for the system's organization will be discussed, as well as the various modes of health care delivery and the ways health care is organized, financed and delivered in the United States.

This course introduces students to an overview of the disordered physiological processes associated with disease and/or injury that can occur in the human body. This course will highlight the underlying cause and effect of health, wellness, and illness in individuals and populations and prepare students to effectively communicate with community health practitioners and medical professionals.

This course introduces the concepts and principles of the research process in the health sciences that will lay the foundation for the understanding, appreciation and application of research in health care. Students will become familiar with research terminology and develop an understanding of methods of inquiry including the development of a question. Topics will include ethical considerations when conducting research, research designs, data collection and analysis, and the processes and procedures for conducting research. Students will be able to critically read and evaluate existing research, identify the strengths and weaknesses of different methodological approaches, and enhance their ability to think and reason critically in order to make ethical decisions involving research.

This course provides an overview of medical terminology and pharmacology. Students will learn the appropriate medical terminology for symptoms, diseases, treatments, and medical tests, enabling them to communicate effectively with interprofessional teams. Students will develop an understanding of medications and their impact on the body systems. The course covers the basic principles of pharmacology, including pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, medication development, the FDA approval process, and interaction effects of medication.

An introductory study of a specific topic in Community Health and Wellness. Intended for freshmen and sophomores, or for students with little or no background in the subject. The student may repeat the course, but not the same topic.

The purpose of the course is to provide the student with an understanding of the application of the social and behavioral sciences to health.  The course reviews behavioral, social and cultural factors related to individual and population health and health disparities over the life course.  Public health issues related to individuals and populations will be examined in terms of social and behavioral theories, empirical research findings, and methodologies.

Concepts and constructs of wellness and health promotion are studied and analyzed in relation to one's self and the public's health.  Students will integrate health behavior theories along with models of community health promotion and wellness with the objectives of Healthy People.  Students will apply wellness and health promotion principles and strategies to one's own life and a proposed target population within the community.

Clinical Neuroscience is a comprehensive introductory course for Occupational Therapy (OT) and Health Science (HS) students with an orientation towards the scientific and medical foundations underlying the basic neurosciences, and the clinical conditions and approaches encountered by OT and HS practitioners.  Basic neuroanatomy and neurophysiology will be emphasized, and will be accompanied by extensive discussion of clinical applications and neurological conditions that the practitioners will encounter in patients entrusted to their therapeutic care.

This course introduces the basic principles and methods of epidemiology, with an emphasis on critical thinking, analytic skills, and application to health policy.  Topics include outcome measures, methods of adjustment, surveillance, quantitative study designs, and sources of data.  Students will practice using epidemiology to better understand, characterize and promote health at a population level through experiential learning activities.

This course focuses on the development of advocacy and leadership at the local, state, national, and international level.  Students will study topics including ethics, policy making and legislation/regulation of community health and wellness concerns at all levels.

Students will work in small project teams with faculty advisement to complete a scholarly, culminating capstone project.  The faculty-led small group project allows student(s) to demonstrate application of knowledge gained. The baccalaureate capstone is an integral part of the major's curriculum design and is completed over the course of two semesters.

Students will work in small project teams with faculty advisement to complete a scholarly, culminating capstone project.  The faculty-led small group project allows student(s) to demonstrate application of knowledge gained. The baccalaureate capstone is an integral part of the major's curriculum design and is completed over the course of two semesters.

An advanced study of a specific topic in Community Health and Wellness. Intended for juniors and seniors, or for students with an appropriate background in the subject. The student may repeat the course, but not the same topic.