Welcome to the PHE-101 Workshop Series Companion Page!
This page supports our eight-week workshop series, which covers key concepts from PHE-101. All students are welcome to attend. The resources below are designed to help you get the most out of each session and enhance your knowledge of Public Health related terminology, its historical evolution, fundamental theories, concepts and practice within the US, and its core values and ethical principles. We are excited to have you here and look forward to learning together.
Module One will emphasize the social determinants of health, the ecological model of public health. Determinants are all the influencing factors in life that shape who people are. Models help us to add structure and clarity to concepts and ideas. This model focuses on the connections and relationships amongst natural and social determinants affecting health. Epidemiology is the study of how disease spreads and how it can be controlled. Epidemiology helps uncover determinants of health so that public health professionals can study how they affect the way a disease spreads and impacts the community.
The Socio-Ecological Model:
- Individual: Individual attitudes, beliefs, knowledge, and behaviors.
- Interpersonal: Individual relationships, support groups, social networks, and cultural context.
- Organizations/Institutions: Schools, healthcare administration, businesses, faith-based organizations, and institutions.
- Community: Relationships and communications between organizations and institutions.
- Structures/Systems: Federal, state, and local regulations, laws, and the built environment (public works, infrastructure, etc.).
The Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) Five Domains:
For more information on the concepts from today's workshop, check out these other links:
- Glossary of health data, statistics and public health indicators (Public Health Terminology)
- How the Social Ecological Model Influences Health Outcomes - KARNA LLC
- Social Determinants of Health - Healthy People 2030 | odphp.health.gov (Breakdown of The Social Determinants of Health and real-world examples)
- What is Public Health? | CDC Foundation
Module Two will emphasize gaining the ability to identify which Public Health interventions have the most significant impact amongst the targeted population for your chosen topic/issue, as well as the roles the levels of prevention, data types, and disparities play pertaining to evaluating their actual impact.
Prevention V. Intervention:
Data Types:
The Two Pillars of Health Disparities:
For more information on the concepts from today's workshop, check out these other links:
Module Three will emphasize the means and methods of analyzing local community health statistics and public health services, as well as how to Identify and report pertaining to your selected final project topic/issue.
The linkage between Social Determinants of Health and Public Health:
Incorporating SDOH into public health strengthens public health capacity, ensuring everyone has a fair chance to achieve optimal overall health and wellness by improving access to: quality jobs, education, housing, safe environments, and healthcare.
Disease and Illness Patterns, Causes, and Effects:
Epidemiology: The study of Patterns, Causes, and Effects. The patterns, causes, and effects that epidemiology provides are achieved through:
The linkage between the Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) and Disparities:
For more information on the concepts from today's workshop, check out these other Academic Resource Center links:
- Social Determinants of Health | Public Health Gateway | CDC (Breakdown of The Social Determinants of Health and real-world impact within health and healthcare with examples)
- 230773.pdf (How epidemiology is utilized within Public Health and healthcare)
- Beyond Health Care: The Role of Social Determinants in Promoting Health and Health Equity | KFF (The application of the Social Determinants of health to develop equitable health implementations and resources)
Module Four will emphasize the means and methods of identifying disparities within populations based on their social position, as well as how to describe two public health responses via utilized interventions based on their rationale to apply to your selected topic/issue.
Population-Based Public Health Interventions:
- Interventions are actions that public health workers take on behalf of individuals/families, communities, and systems, to improve or protect health status.
They include the following:
- Surveillance: Ongoing, systematic collection, analysis, and interpretation of health-related data essential to the planning, implementation, and evaluation of public health practices.
- Disease and Health Event Investigation: Systematically gathers and analyzes data regarding threats to the health of populations, ascertains the source of the threat, identifies cases and others at risk, and determines control measures.
- Outreach: Locates populations of interest or populations at risk and provides information about the nature of the concern, what can be done about it, and how to obtain services.
- Screening: Identifies individuals with unrecognized health risk factors or asymptomatic disease conditions in populations.
- Case-Finding: Locates individuals and families with identified risk factors and connects them to resources.
- Referral: Makes a connection to necessary resources to prevent or resolve problems or concerns. Follow-up assesses outcomes related to the utilization of resources.
- Case Management: A collaborative process of assessment, planning, facilitation, care coordination, evaluation, and advocacy for options and services to meet client needs. It uses communication and available resources to promote safety, quality of care, and cost-effective outcomes.
- Delegated Functions: Include: 1) direct care tasks a registered professional nurse carries out under the authority of a health care practitioner, as allowed by law, and 2) direct care tasks a registered professional nurse entrusts to other appropriate personnel to perform.
- Health Teaching: Sharing information and experiences through educational activities designed to improve health knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, and skills.
- Counseling: Establishing an interpersonal relationship at an emotional level, with the goal of increased or enhanced capacity for self-care and coping.
- Consultation: Seeks information and generates optimal solutions to perceived problems or issues through interactive problem-solving.
- Collaboration: Enhances the capacity to promote and protect health for mutual benefit and a common purpose. Collaboration involves exchanging information, harmonized activities, and shared resources.
- Coalition-Building: Helps promote and develop alliances among organizations or constituencies for a common purpose. It builds links, solves problems, and/or enhances local leadership to address health concerns.
- Community Organizing: The process by which people come together to identify common problems or goals, mobilize resources, and develop and implement strategies for reaching the objectives they want to accomplish
- Advocacy: The act of promoting and protecting the health of individuals and communities “by collaborating with relevant stakeholders, facilitating access to health and social services, and actively engaging key decision makers to support and enact policies to improve community health outcomes.
- Social Marketing: A process that uses marketing principles and techniques to change target audience behaviors to benefit society as well as the individual
- Policy Development: Places health issues on decision-makers’ agendas, establishes a plan of resolution, determines needed resources, and results in laws, rules and regulations, ordinances, and policies.
- Policy Enforcement: Compels others to comply with the laws, rules, regulations, ordinances, and policies created in conjunction with policy development.
Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Theories and Models:
- Ecological Models
- The Health Belief Model
- Stages of Change Model (Transtheoretical Model)
- Social Cognitive Theory
- Theory of Reasoned Action/Planned Behavior
- PRECEDE-PROCEED Model
Constructs and Measures for Health Behavior:
Constructs are concepts developed or adopted for use in a particular theory. The key concepts of a given theory are its constructs.
- Barriers: A person's estimation of the level of challenge of social, personal, environmental, and economic obstacles to a specified behavior or their desired goal status on that behavior.
- Dispositional Optimism: People's expectations for the future
- Environments: The types of environments that affect behavior may be physical (e.g., weather or climate, community resources, the built environment, the information environment) or social (e.g., social support, norms, beliefs, and attitudes) as well as objective (actual) or subjective (perceived).
- Illness Representations: Patients’ beliefs and expectations about an illness or somatic symptom.
- Implementation Intentions: If-Then plans that link situational cues with responses that are effective in attaining goals or desired outcomes
- Intention, Expectation, & Willingness: A belief that the single best predictor of an individual's behavior is simply his/her intention to engage in that behavior.
- Normative Beliefs: Individuals’ beliefs about the extent to which other people who are important to them think they should or should not perform behaviors.
- Optimistic Bias: The mistaken belief that one's chances of experiencing a negative event are lower (or a positive event higher) than that of one's peers.
- Perceived Benefits: Beliefs on the positive outcomes associated with a behavior in response to a real or perceived threat.
- Perceived Control: Perception that one has the ability, resources, or opportunities to get positive outcomes or avoid negative effects through one's own actions.
- Perceived Severity: The negative consequences an individual associates with an event or outcome, such as a diagnosis of cancer.
- Perceived Vulnerability: Reflects an individual's belief about the likelihood of a health threat occurrence or the likelihood of developing a health problem.
- Self-Efficacy: Direct predictor of intention and behavior.
- Self-Reported Behavior: The primary means of obtaining information about a person, placing it at the heart of the research history that underlies much of cancer diagnosis and care.
- Social Influence: Health-related behavior is influenced by a person's social context.
- Social Support: Encompasses at least three distinct types: perceived support, enacted support, and social integration.
- Stages: Behavior change involves movement through a sequence of discrete stages.
- Worry: A chain of thoughts and images, which are negatively affect-laden and uncontrollable.
For more information on the concepts from today's workshop, check out these other links:
- Public health interventions, definitions, and practice levels (Public Health Intervention Wheel) (Visual representation of the various components necessary for Public Health implementation, development, and sustainability)
- Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Theories and Models - Rural Toolkit (Definition and application of the various theories and models utilized for identification, development, and implementation planning)
- Constructs and Measures for Health Behavior | Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences (Definition(s) and management strategies for various constructs that affect public Health and healthcare implementations)
Module Five will emphasize the means and methods of identifying specific organizations, subdisciplines, and services (including tools as appropriate) provided as part of the larger interventions surrounding your final project issue, as well as how to select specific strategies, tools, and organizations appropriate for specific public health issues.
Identifying and Analyzing Stakeholders
- Stakeholders are those who may be affected by or influence an implementation/effort.
Stakeholder Characterization:
•Primary- Beneficiaries or targets of the effort
•Secondary- Those directly involved with or responsible for beneficiaries or targets of the effort
•Key- Government officials and policy makers
•Generally said to have an interest in an effort or organization based on whether they can affect or be affected by it.
Common Stakeholder Interest include:
Why Identify and Analyze Stakeholders’ Interests?
•It allows you to recruit them as part of the effort.
Advantages of Stakeholder Involvement:
•It puts more ideas on the table
•It includes varied perspectives
•It gains buy-in and support
•It is fair to everyone
•It saves you from being blindsided
•It strengthens your position
•It creates bridging social capital
•It increases credibility
•It increases success
Who are Potential Stakeholders?
Health Initiatives, Strategies & Action Plans
National public health initiatives, strategies, and action plans are categorized by health topics. These documents are crafted by expert groups and stakeholders, setting strategic priorities to tackle the most significant health challenges faced by the nation.
•Are categorized by health topic
•Created by experts and stakeholders
•Tackle the most significant health challenges
•Valuable to prioritize activities, guide funding, and generate materials
For more information on the concepts from today's workshop, check out these other links:
- Chapter 7., Section 8. Identifying and Analyzing Stakeholders and Their Interests - Main Section | (Definition(s) of stakeholders, the distinct types, and recruitment strategies)
- National Health Initiatives, Strategies & Action Plans | Public Health Gateway | CDC (A collection of national public health initiatives, strategies, and action plans to utilize as reference to create your own)
Module Six will emphasize being able to differentiate public health frameworks from medical frameworks to adequately address your selected public health topic issue, as well as your ability to argue and support a particular course of action by an organization based on considerations of its original mission and new realities, analyze two published public health interventions and discuss how they helped improve conditions for people within their communities, and evaluating the effectiveness of public health interventions based on any identified gaps between intervention goals and the state of the selected topic/issue post-intervention.
Public Health Ethics
- Public health ethics involves a systematic process to clarify, prioritize and justify possible courses of public health action based on ethical principles, values and beliefs of stakeholders, and scientific and other information. Public health ethics brings considerations, such as principles and values, to discussions of public health policies and actions.
Public Health Code of Ethics Components:
Breaking the Chain of Infection:
Environmental Health Disparities
- Exposure of communities to multiple environmental stressors over time increases the risks for environmental health disparities.
Environmental Health Disparity Contributing Factors:
Environmental Health Disparity Examples:
- Flint Water Crisis
- Navajo Nation Incident
For more information on the concepts from today's workshop, check out these other links:
- CDC - About CDC's Public Health Ethics Activities - OSI - OS (Definition(s) and guidelines for ethical Public Health practices)
- Ethics codes and reflective practice in public health. - EBSCO (Public Health ethics, objectives, regulations, and best practices)
- Break the Chain of Infection - (Definition(s) of the Six Links of infections and the modes of illness/disease transmission)
- EPA Research: Understanding and Mitigating Environmental Health Disparities and Risks | US EPA (Questions to aid in better addressing and developing effective mitigation strategies for environmental disparities)
- Area 5: Environmental Health Disparities | National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (Causes, mitigation strategies, and associated risk for environmental disparities)
- Environmental Health Disparities Explained (Definition(s) of environmental-associated health disparities)
Module Seven will emphasize assessing the efficacy of public health interventions and responses to a particular public health issue, evaluating the ethical considerations of the public health response to a particular public health issue, analyzing the epidemiological patterns of a particular public health issue, as well as analyzing gaps in existing solutions for public health issues.
Zoonotic Diseases
- Zoonotic Disease(s) are harmful germs that can spread from animals to people and cause illness(es).
Public Health Implementation Gaps:
- The disconnect between policy intentions and actual outcomes, often resulting in ineffective health interventions and programs.
Common Public Health Implementation Gaps include:
Public Health Implementation Effectiveness:
Six Keys for Effective Public Health Implementations-
- Innovation: Develop the evidence base for action
- Technical Package: Limited number of high-priority, evidence-based interventions that together will have a major impact
- Management: Real-time monitoring, evaluation, and program improvement
- Partnerships and Coalitions: Public and private-sector organizations
- Communication: Accurate and timely information to the health care community, decision makers, and the public to effect behavior change and engage civil society
- Political Commitment: Obtainment of resources and support for effective action
For more information on the concepts from today's workshop, check out these other links:
- About Zoonotic Diseases | One Health | CDC (Definition(s) of Zoonotic disease and examples)
- Sustainability of public health interventions: where are the gaps? | Health Research Policy and Sys… (The importance of recognizing and addressing any gaps that may exist and could impact an implementation's sustainability)
- Six Components Necessary for Effective Public Health Program Implementation - PMC (The six key components for developing an effective Public Health implementation)
Module Eight will emphasize exploring the various careers and Public Health roles you must choose from, determining which career within Public Health is a good fit based on your interest, and the various careers that align with a degree in Public Health.
Public Health Career Path(s)
- The field of Public Health offers something for everyone, regardless of your area of interest.
Areas in which you can contribute to the mission of Public Health include, but are not limited to:
Utilizing Your Public Health Degree
- Just as in any other field, the level of degree obtained aligns you more closely with certain careers based on the skills and acquired knowledge via that degree course study. Professionals working in public health have a variety of options, depending on their education level. From working in small communities or towns to advancing global public health and wellness to teaching public health courses at a college, the opportunities are vast.
Public Health Career Options Based on Degree:
The Difference Between CHES and CPH:
The National Commission for Health Education Credentialing, Inc. (NCHEC) offers two certifications:
• Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES)
• Master Certified Health Education Specialist (MCHES)
The eight core Areas of Responsibility for a CHES are:
The National Board of Public Health Examiners (NBPHE) offers one certification:
•Certified in Public Health (CPH)
The 10 Domains of the CPH Exam are:
Factors to keep in mind when determining which type of certification to pursue include:
•Health Education versus Public Health- If an individual is specifically trained in health education and promotion, and wishes to highlight that expertise, the CHES or MCHES is a better fit.
•Recognition by Employers- With more than 29 years behind it, the CHES and MCHES certifications are recognized by thousands of employers across the country.
•Accreditation- CHES and MCHES accreditations are the ONLY nationally and internationally accredited certifications in the public/community health education arena.
For more information on the concepts from today's workshop, check out these other Academic Resource Center links:
All Areas of Study - Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH) (Detailed listing of Public Health sectors and career paths available to those who hold a Public Health degree)
- Public Health Jobs (A breakdown of possible Public Health Career options based on the level of degree you possess)
- The Differences Between CHES® and CPH | NCHEC (Information on Public Health certifications and testing requirements)
- Getting Started with Brightspace ePortfolio
- Adding Files to the ePortfolio Repository
Artiga, S., & Hinton, E. (2018, May 10). Beyond health care: The role of social determinants in promoting health and health equity. KFF.
https://www.kff.org/racial-equity-and-health-policy/beyond-health-care-the-role-of-social-determinants-in-promoting-health-and-health-equity/
ASPPH. (2026). All areas of study.
https://aspph.org/student-journey/all-areas-of-study/
Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. (2023, September 27). Break the chain of infection. Infection Prevention & You.
https://infectionpreventionandyou.org/protect-your-patients/break-the-chain-of-infection/
Brightspace. (2026, January 2). [Module Five introduction]. Department of Public Health, Southern New Hampshire University.
Brightspace. (2026, January 6). [Module 5-2 milestone four]. Department of Public Health, Southern New Hampshire University.
Brightspace. (2026, January 9). [Module 6-1 discussion]. Department of Public Health, Southern New Hampshire University.
Brightspace. (2026, January 9). [Module Six introduction]. Department of Public Health, Southern New Hampshire University.
Brightspace. (2026, January 22). [Module Seven introduction]. Department of Public Health, Southern New Hampshire University.
Brightspace. (2026, January 22). [Module Seven overview]. Department of Public Health, Southern New Hampshire University.
Brightspace. (2026, January 29). [ePortfolio dashboard]. Department of Public Health, Southern New Hampshire University.
Brightspace. (2026, January 29). [Module 8-1 journal]. Department of Public Health, Southern New Hampshire University.
Brightspace. (2026, January 29). [Module Eight introduction]. Department of Public Health, Southern New Hampshire University.
Brightspace. (2026, January 29). [Module Eight overview]. Department of Public Health, Southern New Hampshire University.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2024, April 24). About zoonotic diseases.
https://www.cdc.gov/one-health/about/about-zoonotic-diseases.html
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2024, May 14). National health initiatives, strategies & action plans.
https://www.cdc.gov/public-health-gateway/php/communications-resources/national-health-initiatives-strategies-action-plans.html
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2024, May 15). Social determinants of health.
https://www.cdc.gov/public-health-gateway/php/about/social-determinants-of-health.html
CDC Foundation. (2025). What is public health?
https://www.cdcfoundation.org/what-public-health
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022, August 5). Public health ethics.
https://web.archive.org/web/20240417161610/https://www.cdc.gov/os/integrity/phethics/index.htm
Coker University. (2025, October 7). Public health.
https://www.coker.edu/public-health/
Department of Education Open Textbook Pilot Project. (2024, March 9). 2.5: Levels of prevention. Medicine LibreTexts.
https://med.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Nursing/Population_Health_for_Nurses_(OpenStax)/02:_Foundations_of_Public_Community_Health/2.05:_Levels_of_Prevention
Fallatah, G., Alshammari, A., Hakami, I., Ahmed Albalawi, R., Alanazi, M., Alotaibi, F., & Alotaibi, S. (2023). The study of patterns, causes, and effects of health and disease conditions in populations.
https://www.ijirmps.org/papers/2023/1/230773.pdf
Frieden, T. R. (2014). Six components necessary for effective public health program implementation. American Journal of Public Health, 104(1), 17–22.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3910052/
Heath, T. (2021, June 17). How the social ecological model influences health outcomes. KARNA LLC.
https://karna.com/how-the-social-ecological-model-influences-health-outcomes/
Jennings, B. (2018, August 21). Ethics codes and reflective practice in public health.
https://research.ebsco.com/
Lee, S. (2025, May 2). Environmental health disparities explained. Number Analytics.
https://www.numberanalytics.com/blog/environmental-health-disparities-guide
Markle, W. H., Fisher, M. A., & A, R. (2014). Understanding global health. McGraw-Hill.
McLeod, S. (2025, May 16). Qualitative vs. quantitative research methods & data analysis. Simply Psychology.
https://www.simplypsychology.org/qualitative-quantitative.html
Minnesota Department of Health. (2019). Public health interventions (population-based).
https://www.health.state.mn.us/communities/practice/research/phncouncil/docs/PHInterventionsHandout.pdf
National Cancer Institute. (2020). Constructs and measures for health behavior.
https://cancercontrol.cancer.gov/brp/research/constructs
National Commission for Health Education Credentialing. (2026). The differences between CHES® and CPH.
https://web.archive.org/web/20230528052340/https://www.nchec.org/cph-and-ches
Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. (2020). Social determinants of health.
https://odphp.health.gov/healthypeople/priority-areas/social-determinants-health
Pérez-Stable, E. J., & Webb Hooper, M. (2023). The pillars of health disparities science—Race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. JAMA Health Forum, 4(12).
https://doi.org/10.1001/jamahealthforum.2023.4463
Public Health Degrees. (2026). What can you do with a public health degree?
https://www.publichealthdegrees.org/careers/what-can-you-do-with-public-health-degree/
Rabinowitz, P. (2025). Identifying and analyzing stakeholders and their interests. Community Tool Box.
https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/participation/encouraging-involvement/identify-stakeholders/main
Rural Health Information Hub. (2024, January 17). Health promotion and disease prevention theories and models: Rural toolkit.
https://www.ruralhealthinfo.org/toolkits/health-promotion/2/theories-and-models
T4Tutorials. (2020). Zoonotic diseases and public health MCQs.
https://t4tutorials.com/zoonotic-diseases-and-public-health-mcqs/
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2025, December 19). Environmental health disparities. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
https://www.niehs.nih.gov/about/strategicplan/research/health-disparities
United States Environmental Protection Agency. (2025, January 29). EPA research: Understanding and mitigating environmental health disparities and risks.
https://web.archive.org/web/20250210022005/https://www.epa.gov/ej-research/epa-research-understanding-and-mitigating-environmental-health-disparities-and-risks
Walugembe, D. R., Sibbald, S., Le Ber, M. J., & Kothari, A. (2019). Sustainability of public health interventions: Where are the gaps? Health Research Policy and Systems, 17(1).
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12961-018-0405-y
Additional Tips:
Additional Tips:
Check out our other Public Health group sessions, including Graduate Public Health Office Hours. Take a look at the full workshop schedule to see all our offerings.
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