STUDY

It is essential that students gain a solid grounding in the basic fundamentals of public health and wellbeing and this module provides this. There are many pressing issues in public health and wellbeing from a UK perspective and this module will focus on this. This module focuses on the main domains, principles and concepts of public health as a discipline as well as defining and exploring wellbeing in the public health domain. Determinants of health and health inequalities also form an important part of this module. Health promotion is part of public health as a discipline and there is focus on this within the module. It is crucial that a population’s health needs are established in order to improve health and in this module there will be a strong focus on health needs assessment and the process involved in undertaking a health needs assessment. Exploration of interventions to tackle health issues will be focused on and there will also be an introduction to intervention planning in this module which will incorporate the importance of underpinning theories and models (e.g., related to behaviour change). The impact that policies of importance to public health and wellbeing have on the health and wellbeing of populations will also be explored.  

In the area of public health and wellbeing, it is crucial that students have an in-depth understanding of research methods and epidemiology and possess the skills to undertake research with competence and confidence. This module will focus on the research methods that apply to the public health and wellbeing arena and also will focus on the discipline of epidemiology in the public health and wellbeing arena. Primary research and secondary research will be focused on and there will be a detailed appraisal of quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods research. The process of searching for literature and process for undertaking a systematic literature review/systematic review is very important to understand and this will also be focused on in this module, as well as the importance of structure and content in a research proposal. There will be a focus on epidemiology in relation to principles, key measures, epidemiological study designs, interpretation of epidemiological evidence and application to practice in the public health and wellbeing arena. Critical appraisal of published literature will be focused on covering a range of study designs including epidemiological study designs. Statistical analysis will also be covered in this module.

Leadership in public health and wellbeing on a local, national and global scale is critical, particularly in the current climate with the significant public health and wellbeing issues/challenges facing countries. This module will focus on evidence-led leadership and best practice to enhance competencies, embrace values, and empower decisions to become public health leaders in low, middle, and high-income countries. Global issues in the public health and wellbeing arena are of upmost importance to tackle and an understanding of the drivers of these issues, effective and suitable interventions/policies, and the range of organisations involved is required in order to try and address these issues and contribute to improving public health and wellbeing. This module will also focus on this area. There will also be the opportunity to explore principles and aspects of health protection with a focus on the health protection response to public health events such as outbreaks with an emphasis on the leadership involved and reflection on the response. There will be some consideration of principles and aspects of health economics as well. A strong focus on the Sustainable Development Goals and other relevant policies in public health and wellbeing that have a global reach will underpin this module. 

Nutrition is one of the pillars for health and wellbeing and in practice, public health nutrition is inextricably linked to the improvement of health and prevention of disease. This module will address core contemporary issues in public health nutrition such as food inequality, obesity and chronic diseases, nutrition transitions, food sustainability, and nutrition marketing. This module will have a particular focus on the impact of public health interventions, programmes and services in relation to public health nutrition, on the health and wellbeing of populations. There will also be focus on putting together a public health nutrition intervention. 

Physical activity is a key health behaviour in relation to public health and wellbeing. The concerns surrounding some non-communicable diseases have highlighted the importance of physical activity in contributing to their reduction in populations. This module will focus on the health behaviour of physical activity and the importance of it within public health and wellbeing. There will be a particular focus on the relationship between physical activity and health status which also incorporates sedentary behaviour. Factors associated with physical activity in a variety of population groups will be examined. The area of interventions and policies in the physical activity and public health and wellbeing arena will be focused on in significant detail which will include how to devise an intervention and the aspects required when trying to seek funding for delivery. There will also be a particular focus on aspects such as active travel, the built and natural environment and infrastructure.

Maternal and infant health is a crucial area when focusing on the life course. This module will focus on the appraisal of healthcare and public health practice applied from conception until two years postpartum, focusing specifically on maternal and infant health including newborns. The link to health inequalities will be explored with the view to assess current public health and wellbeing policies, programmes, interventions and initiatives that are designed to support strong beginnings for parents and their infant. The life course approach to public health and wellbeing will be considered, with specific focus on how pregnancy and the postnatal period, is a key time to change health related behaviours which impact long-term health. The barriers to public health and wellbeing schemes and healthcare systems will be explored, and the impact that this has to equitable health considered.

This dissertation module is the culmination of the programme and allows students the opportunity to focus on a particular area of interest in the public health and wellbeing arena with the intention being that it was proposed in the research proposal assessment in the Research Methods and Epidemiology module, earlier in the programme (subject to approval and to the satisfaction of the student’s supervisor). This module provides students with the opportunity to undertake an independent research project in an area of interest where there is a need/rationale for research and of a student’s own design. Undertaking independent research is an important skill if working in public health and wellbeing as it adds to the evidence base and makes a contribution to knowledge. Supervision and some guided workshops will be provided. The dissertation could be primary research, secondary research or a systematic literature review/systematic review.