Public Health Program and Policy Planning and Evaluation

Program Overview

The Graduate Certificate in Public Health Program and Policy Planning & Evaluation equips students with advanced skills in program planning, evaluation, and health policy analysis. It prepares graduates to design, implement, and evaluate health programs, while considering ethical implications and addressing diverse cultural needs. Coursework can be applied towards a Master's or PhD degree in related fields.

Program Outline

Degree Overview:

Overview:

The Graduate Certificate in Public Health Program and Policy Planning & Evaluation provides students with advanced training in planning high-quality evidence-based programs, expertise in project management and reporting, hands-on training in public health program evaluation, and a broad understanding of current and emerging health policy issues in the context of today's globalized world. This Graduate Certificate program prepares students to design, implement, and evaluate health programs and learn how to analyze and consider the ethical implications of health policy.

Objectives:

• Apply the principles of public health and healthcare program planning, budgeting, implementation, and management to government, organizational, and community initiatives.
• Design, execute and manage the evaluation of health programs using quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods designs.
• Develop research ethics protocols for submission and approval.
• Develop program logic models and evaluative frameworks to guide program evaluations.
• Identify and engage critical patients and stakeholders in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of health programs for infectious and chronic disease management and control; and to address/reduce health risk behaviours (e.g., addiction recovery).
• Develop public health programs that are inclusive and responsive to the diverse cultural values and traditions of the communities being served.
• Implement appropriate knowledge translation strategies for diverse stakeholders and audiences (e.g., briefing notes, reports).
• Critically analyze health and healthcare policy.
• Apply ethical principles to the analysis of public policy and governance.
• Use health research to make healthy public policy and healthcare system management recommendations.

Program Description:

• This certificate is ideal for those seeking to learn how to design, carry out, analyze, and report on the findings of health policies and programs without completing a Master of Science thesis.
• Coursework completed in this program can be used as credit toward the Public Health Specialization in the Master of Science (Health Sciences) or the PhD degree (Population Studies in Health) for students who later decide to pursue in one of these programs.

Outline:

Course Structure:

The program consists of:

• Three required courses:
• PUBH 5000 Applied Public Health Research Methods
• PUBH 5002 Advanced Program Planning, Implementation and Evaluation
• PUBH 5005 Advanced Health Policy and Ethics
• One elective course: Students can choose a course that furthers their skills in applied research, or apply the skills they have gained in a graduate course on global health care systems.
• PUBH 5001 Biostatistics I
• PUBH 5004 Qualitative and Mixed Methods Research (recommended background University-level research in Health Sciences (3.0 credit hours))