Program Overview

Public Health Advocacy Certificate Program

Overview

The Public Health Advocacy Certificate program is designed to equip students with the skills and knowledge necessary to translate research into practice, use evidence to inform public health policy, shift social norms and attitudes, and improve public health. The program focuses on the role of advocacy in public health policy making, providing students with theoretical and practical insights into the process.

Educational Objectives

Upon successful completion of the certificate program, students will be able to:

1. Discuss the role of political actors inside and outside governments in developing and implementing health policy
2. Identify other actors in the policymaking process and how actors such as the media help shape policy
3. Improve policies and laws and their development, adoption, and implementation
4. Increase and influence better use of resources for interventions and scientific inquiry
5. Set agendas in policy circles and the media environment through higher visibility and understanding of issues
6. Shift public attitudes, behaviors, and social norms toward better public health

Admissions

Admissions information for the certificate program is available on the Bloomberg School of Public Health website.

Sponsoring Departments

The Public Health Advocacy Certificate program is sponsored by the following departments:

• Health Policy and Management
• Health, Behavior and Society
• Population, Family and Reproductive Health

Requirements for Successful Completion

The certificate requires a minimum of 18 term credits. All required and elective courses must be taken for a letter grade, with a minimum grade of C required in all certificate coursework. Students must maintain a 2.75 or better overall GPA for all certificate coursework. The certificate program length is flexible and varies from student to student; however, the certificate must be completed within three years.

Course of Study

Students should check the BSPH course directory to confirm when courses are offered and to review prerequisites and instructor consent requirements.

Required Core Courses

Students must complete the following core courses:

• PH.301.645: Health Advocacy (typically offered online in 2nd and 3rd terms, and onsite in 4th term)
• PH.410.663: Media Advocacy and Public Health: Theory and Practice (typically offered onsite in 4th term)
• Students must select one of the following courses:
  • PH.301.644: Public Health Advocacy: Grassroots Organizing for Policy Change (typically offered online in 4th term)
  • PH.380.620: A Coalition-based SMART Approach to Public Health Advocacy (typically offered online in 4th term)
  • PH.410.672: Organizing for Public Health with the Evidence Based Effective Advocacy: Turning Public Will into Public Policy (typically offered onsite in 3rd term and online in 3rd and Summer terms)

Elective Courses

Students must complete a minimum of 9 credits from the following elective courses:

• PH.180.628: Introduction To Environmental and Occupational Health Law (typically offered online 4th term)
• PH.221.633: Policy Advocacy in Low and Middle-income Countries: Application for Real World Challenges (typically offered onsite in Summer Institute)
• PH.221.650: Health Policy Analysis in Low and Middle income Countries (typically offered onsite in 3rd term)
• PH.260.720: Communications Primer for the Public Health Sciences (typically offered 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, Summer and Winter Institute)
• PH.300.600: Introduction to Health Policy (typically offered online in 1st term)
• PH.300.610: Public Health Policy (typically offered onsite in Summer term)
• PH.300.650: Crisis and Response in Public Health Policy and Practice (typically offered onsite and online in 3rd term)
• PH.300.712: Formulating Policy: Strategies and Systems of Policymaking in the 21st Century (typically offered online in 2nd term)
• PH.301.627: Understanding and Preventing Violence (typically offered onsite in 2nd term)
• PH.301.660: Connecting Public Health Research with the U.S. Policymaking Process (typically offered onsite in 4th term)
• PH.306.650: Public Health and the Law (typically offered onsite in 3rd term)
• PH.308.604: Effective Writing for Public Health Change (typically offered virtually in Summer and Winter Institute and onsite in 3rd term)
• PH.308.701: Media Interviews and Applied Public Health Communications (typically offered virtually in Summer and Winter Institute and onsite 4th term)
• PH.317.610: Risk Policy, Management and Communication (typically offered onsite in 2nd term and online in 4th term)
• PH.330.667: Mental Health and the Law (typically offered onsite in 3rd term)
• PH.380.707: Advocating for Global Reproductive Health (typically offered onsite in Summer Institute)
• PH.380.771: Understanding and Changing International Reproductive Health Policy (typically offered onsite in 4th term)
• PH.410.622: Strategic Leadership Principles and Tools for Health System Transformation in Developing Countries (typically offered onsite in 2nd term)
• PH.410.653: Contemporary Issues in Health Communication (typically offered onsite in 1st term)
• PH.410.668: Policy Interventions for Health Behavior Change (typically offered onsite in 2nd term)
• PH.410.721: Translating Research into Public Health Programs and Policy (typically offered online 4th term)
• PH.550.608: Problem Solving in Public Health (typically offered onsite in Fall and Winter Institutes, and online in 3rd term)