This module was developed at the School of Public Health, University for the Western Cape for the Postgraduate Certificate in Public Health which was offered as a distance learning module between 2001 and 2008. Health Systems Research is an integral part of the vision for a quality, comprehensive, community-based, participatory and equitable system. This module aims to provide an introduction to the kinds of research conducted within a health system, the research designs and methods used, and how to develop a research protocol.

Data set and map pertaining to health expenditure per capita for all countries . The World Bank specifies health expenditure as a World Development Indicator (WDI) -- the statistical benchmark that helps measure the progress of development.

This is a module framework. It can be viewed online or downloaded as a zip file.

As taught in Autumn Semester 2009

The 'Health Promotion' module is one of the core modules taught on the Masters in Public Health which is offered by the Division of Epidemiology and Public Health at The University of Nottingham.

Suitable for study at: Masters level

Dr Puja R Myles, School of Community Health Sciences - Epidemiology and Public Health

Dr. Puja Myles is an Associate Professor of Health Protection and Epidemiology at the University of Nottingham. She trained as a dentist at Panjab University, India and worked as a dentist in India before completing her specialist training in Public Health in the East Midlands. She completed a doctorate in Epidemiology at the University of Nottingham. She is currently part of the Health Protection Research Group at Nottingham and her research is primarily in respiratory disease epidemiology. She is also interested in evaluation methods and is currently involved in some public health service evaluations.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Within its first several months, the COVID-19 pandemic had already affected more than 33 million people and claimed more than 1 million lives. While vaccines are helping slow the spread of the disease. transmission rates in some areas remain high. And the rise of new viral mutations means continued vigilance is required. Unfortunately, current genome sequencing methods are lacking, with none managing to combine high precision, a simple workflow, and low cost in one tool. The recently developed Coronavirus Genomic Surveillance (CorvGenSurv) platform is designed to close that gap. CorvGenSurv amplifies viral RNA samples and sequences them in three segments via long-read, high-throughput sequencing. This design reduces sequencing data waste, thus preventing dropouts in genome coverage, and the long-read approach makes the sequencing workflow simpler than short-read sequencing..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Understanding the mechanisms that underpin differences in disease resistance is important for both livestock and human health. The host immune system plays a key role in disease resistance, and that immune system is directly impacted by the gut microbiota. But the exact mechanisms linking the microbiota to disease resistance remain unclear. To close this gap, researchers applied a multiomics approach to an acute colitis model in Min and Yorkshire pigs. Potentially harmful microbial groups were more abundant in the microbiotas of diseased pigs from both breeds. But the Min pigs were markedly resistant to colitis compared to Yorkshire pigs, and potentially beneficial microbes were abundant in the the microbiotas of diseased Min pigs. Associated with these microbial shifts, the pigs had differences in the abundance of microbial metabolites related to gut barrier functioning. The two breeds also had divergent immune responses to colitis..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"The next time you swat away that fly buzzing around your head, consider this: an international team of researchers has shown that common houseflies and blowflies are more than just annoying insects. Covered with hundreds of different bacterial species, they’re also a type of airborne delivery service, transporting pathogens from organic decaying matter right to your countertops, food…and body. Although flies have been long known to spread disease, the researchers show that we’ve previously underestimated both the number and diversity of microbes that each insect can transmit. The team devised a new optimized way to collect flies without cross-contaminating them with other microorganisms and used the method to amass 116 flies from urban, rural, and natural sites on three continents..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

SYNOPSIS: In this lesson, students discuss what they know about air quality, play a game to facilitate understanding of air quality, and create an action plan to inspire solutions in their community.

SCIENTIST NOTES: In this lesson, students will learn about air quality and air pollution and its impacts on the human body. They will also discuss some of the causes of air pollution and think about ways they can make changes in their life to reduce the air pollution footprint. The resources on air quality all cite where they are getting their data from. Videos and links have been reviewed for accuracy. This resource is recommended for teaching.

POSITIVES:
-This lesson utilizes student choice, active listening, and active participation.
-The How’s Your Atmosphere game is engaging, and the Game Cards give specific examples of everyday actions that can have a positive or negative impact on air quality.

ADDITIONAL PREREQUISITES:
-Teachers should know how to use the resources Padlet or Jamboard.
-Teachers should know how to facilitate a Socratic seminar style discussion.

DIFFERENTIATION:
-Movement is encouraged but not required for this game.
-Students in class who need support can be paired or grouped with others who can assist and give guidance.

Map of Africa coded by the number of underweight children per square kilometer. It is thus a measure of the absolute density of hungry individuals, a combination of hunger and population density.

This video discusses impacts that the Eastern US is experiencing due to climate change. It describes the seasonal shifts that may affect tourism in New England, extreme heat in the Southeast, how rising sea level affects coastal areas, changes in hurricane intensity, the spread of invasive species and disease, as well as other topics.

This video features Katharine Hayhoe presenting a lively discussion of impacts that the Midwestern US is experiencing due to climate change. It steps through evidence for how climate change is affecting agriculture, tourism, drought and flood, water cycles and freshwater availability, the spread of invasive species and disease, as well as other topics.

This is a module framework. It can be viewed online or downloaded as a zip file.

As taught in Autumn Semester 2009

This module has two essential components: Evidence-Based Medicine and Public Health. Evidence-Based Medicine was introduced as a new discipline because traditionally the teaching of medicine was heavily reliant on an apprenticeship-type system with emphasis on learning from observing one’s teachers. One of the guiding principles in the NHS today is that all health care should be based on research evidence. One of the aims of this module is to cover core concepts in epidemiology and basic statistics so that you are able to understand the evidence presented in research papers and apply it to your clinical practice.

The Public Health component of this module will provide you with insight into the factors affecting the health at a population level and how these may be addressed. It also aims to show how these factors may be distributed and how this can contribute to inequalities in health between populations.

Suitable for study: Undergraduate level year 1

Dr Puja R Myles, School of Community Health Sciences - Epidemiology and Public Health

Dr Puja Myles is an Associate Professor of Health Protection and Epidemiology at the University of Nottingham. She trained as a dentist at Panjab University, India and worked as a dentist in India before completing her specialist training in Public Health in the East Midlands. She completed a doctorate in Epidemiology at the University of Nottingham. She is currently part of the Health Protection Research Group at Nottingham and her research is primarily in respiratory disease epidemiology. She is also interested in evaluation methods and is currently involved in some public health service evaluations.

Map of Asia color coded by infant mortality rate broken down by nation or subnational units (akin to US states or Canadian provinces). Shows the international differences, but also shows the (less substantial) differences within nations. The categories for the color coding have been changed slightly from the international standards to better fit the situation in Asia.

Map of Europe color coded by infant mortality rate broken down by nation or subnational units (akin to US states or Canadian provinces). Shows the international differences, but also shows the (less substantial) differences within nations. The categories for the color coding have been changed from the international standards to differentiate among the universally low infant mortality rates across Europe.

This interview provides an introduction to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) regarding the global control of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs). The FCTC treaty is a response to the worry of member states, that tobacco is not decreasing but rather growing. Furthermore it is discussed how we can make sure people don’t start smoking or quit as early as possible.
Participants: Programme manager Kristina Mauer-Stender.

This interview provides knowledge about which role WHO plays in the shaping of global health, and how WHO’s role relates to the roles of government, non-government and other actors. Furthermore we’ll explore what a “health in all policies” approach is and why it’s important in the combat of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs). Finally we’ll discuss the role of an integrated approach in relation to public health in general and the NCDs in particular.
Participants: Dr. Gauden Galea.

This lesson focuses on the impact of limited sanitation coverage and the experiences gained from past sanitation programs. Some of the challenges of expanded sanitation relate to barriers at the community level but equally important at the institutional and policy levels. The most basic problem is that there are limited funds available for investment in sanitation. It is argued that the most important priority will be to design and promote toilets that people can afford and in a design that they would use.
Participants: Professor Sandy Cairncros.

Pesticide self-poisoning is among the leading cause of suicide worldwide. This presentation provides us with an insight to the risk factors for pesticide self-poisoning, the global burden, prevention and treatment of self-harm with pesticides. The session use Sri Lanka as a case. The presentation is of relevance for researchers as well as for public health practitioners. It exemplifies how the different levels of intervention have to work very closely to make an impact.

This is an introduction to the fascinated multidisciplinary world of water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH). An area relevant due to the 1,5 million people annually dying of WASH-related disease, but also highly relevant during any emergency, whether it is a cholera outbreak in the slums of Dhaka Bangladesh, drought and water shortage in Kenya or hygiene-related virus outbreaks anywhere on the globe. The course ties theories of engineering, anthropology, public health, epidemiology, microbiology, disaster management, etc. with practical exercises to provide the student with the multifaceted background knowledge needed to be able to respond in an emergency actively. The course Water and sanitation in Emergencies started as a response to the Tsunami in 2004 and is now an independent elective course under the world-renowned Master of Disaster Management program, http://www.mdma.ku.dk, at University of Copenhagen. Read more and register for the course on https://globalhealth.ku.dk/studies/courses/water_supply_and_sanitation_in_emergencies.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"In the past 30 years, the number of children who are overweight or obese has increased by nearly 50 percent. Ads for sugary cereals, soda, and other junk foods are thought to contribute to this rise, but few studies have directly measured how much marketing children see in a typical day. Now, using wearable cameras, researchers in New Zealand have done just that, finding that marketing for unhealthy foods outnumbers that for healthy foods by more than 2 to 1. The scientists recruited children attending various schools in Wellington to wear a small camera, or Kids’Cam, that would take snapshots every 7 seconds to capture marketing exposures. The students were about 12 years old and came from different socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds. Recording lasted for four days, starting on a Thursday to cover both schooldays and weekends. The team reviewed all of the images from the 168 participants, coding each image for any food marketing..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This laboratory manual for a foundations course Public Health is unique in the sense that very rarely, a foundations course in the field has a lab component offered with the lecture. This lab manual provides basic laboratory exercises that could be useful to introduce undergraduate students to the basics of public health laboratory practices.