SYKK2200B Public Health Course description

The course focuses on evidence-based public health work, with particular emphasis on health promotion and preventive efforts in community health services. Central themes include understanding how health challenges are distributed in the population. Therefore, you will learn how factors such as education, employment, living conditions, and the environment influence disease, health, and quality of life in the population at individual, group, and societal levels. The environment in which children and young people grow up is also part of the course.

In community health services, nurses have a significant responsibility to offer care and guidance to various population groups, including healthy individuals, vulnerable populations, and marginalised groups. One topic of discussion is how the development of service offerings and the use of technology in healthcare impact social, ethical, and political issues.

In this course, you will gain insight into scientific methods and undertake a group project related to practical internship (5 weeks), during which you will plan and execute a project under supervision. This project work provides the group with the opportunity to explore a chosen area of concern and employ suitable methods for data collection and analysis. The results will be presented orally as well as in written form as a project assignment.

In this course, you study together with students who are on exchange to OsloMet and much of the teaching is arranged with English-speaking groups.

To start this course, you must have passed:

• Passed the first year of study.

After completing the course, the student is expected to have achieved the following learning outcomes defined in terms of knowledge, skills, and general competence:

Knowledge

The student

• can describe the purpose, organisation, and coordination of health and social services and be aware of relevant laws and regulations
• can describe the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their significance for public health
• can explain how patients' health literacy affects lifestyle changes and shared decision-making
• can explain the relationship between work, social participation, and health
• can discuss factors influencing the environment in which children and young people grow up, and explain how activity and well-being affect health, well-being, and disease prevention for all population groups
• can describe key issues related to women's health
• can describe key issues related to sexual health and sexually transmitted diseases
• can explain how migration, displacement, and legal status can impact an individual's health
• can reflect on health promotion and prevention work at individual, group, and societal levels, emphasising how digital solutions can support preventive strategies and health-promoting measures
• can describe fundamental concepts, mechanisms, and tools behind digitalisation and explain how digitalisation shapes public and private life
• can describe the impact of digitalisation, technology availability, and the importance of digital competence on people's lives, public health, and social health disparities
• can describe social inequality in health and be aware of national and global consequences of inequality
• understand ethical challenges (related to privacy) in the use of technology in healthcare
• can explain how research can contribute to knowledge development to understand public health and societal needs, such as technological advancement
• have knowledge of how different issues guide relevant research methods

Skills

The student

• can reflect on ethical challenges related to public health efforts aimed at behavior change
• can identify various health promotion and preventive strategies and measures and evaluate them considering the Sustainable Development Goals
• can reflect on the Sami people's status as indigenous people related to the design of health and social services
• can provide examples of how digital solutions can affect social determinants related to health and lifestyle
• can apply professional knowledge and scientific methods to plan and execute a project in health promotion and preventive work
• can reflect on quality concepts in qualitative versus quantitative methods such as validity, reliability, validity, and reliability
• can reflect on ethical dilemmas related to the collection and use of health data in various contexts

General competence

The student

• can discuss factors influencing disease, health, and quality of life in groups or the population as a whole
• can discuss how technology and digital strategies can contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals
• can reflect on health risks in individuals dealing with demanding caregiving tasks, family substance abuse problems, individuals who have experienced neglect and/or violence in close relationships
• can discuss how digital technologies can build and influence interprofessional collaboration in healthcare
• can reflect on how different methodological choices can yield different types of knowledge

Lectures, teaching programs from the University Library, project-based practical training (five weeks) group work, self-study, and participation with presentations at seminars.

On successful completion of this course students are able to:

• use aesthetics in the creation of end products to make them meaningful to individual users, groups and/or society as a whole
• reflect critically on the role of aesthetics in a cultural and design related context
• challenge established perspectives and norms in the field
• make use of theoretical knowledge to reflect on and develop own practical work
• apply aesthetics as a methodological approach in practicing aesthetics throughout the design process

The most important teaching and learning methods for this course are lectures, courses, excursions, self-study, practical work and tutoring.

• 80% attendance at lectures, excursions, courses and other events
• presentation to fellow students and teachers

Individual or group [1] portfolio examination, which consists of:

• a research-based written assignment (50%)
• end product (50%)

A portfolio assessment provides an overall assessment awarding one grade for the whole portfolio. Any information on weighting of grades must be considered as supplementary information in connection with the final grade.

The examination result can be appealed against.

A grading scale of A (highest) to F (lowest) where A to E is a pass grade and F is a fail grade

Two internal. External examiner is used periodically.

[1] On a professional basis, students may apply to sit the examination group. Applications should be submitted lecturer/person with course responsibility at the start of the course.