Health Education

College of Health and Human Services
Dean: Donald P. Zingale

Department of Health Education
HSS 326
415-338-1413
Fax: 415-338-0570
Chair: Mary Beth Love

M.P.H. Graduate Coordinator: Love
Single Subject Program Coordinator: Tapper

Holistic Health Program
HSS 326
415-338-1210
Fax: 415-338-0570
Director: Erik Peper

Certificate Program Coordinator: Peper

Faculty

Professors—Love, Ovrebo, Peper, Tapper

Associate Professor—Clayson

Assistant Professors—Burke, Castelblanch, Chavez, Elia, Moore, Morello-Frosch, Van Olphen

Lecturers—Bunting, Burrows, Guy

Programs

B.S. in Health Education
Minor in Health Education
Minor in Holistic Health
Certificate in Holistic Health
Master of Public Health

Program Scope

The Department of Health Education has two major functions. First, the department provides professional preparation in community health education. As a result of the curriculum, majors are able to: assess a community's strengths and needs; analyze the personal and social determinants of health; design and implement an educational intervention; and evaluate to determine if the work has had an impact on individuals and/or the community. Second, the department offers a variety of health content courses in areas such as multicultural health promotion, women's health, social inequities and public health, drugs, human sexuality, environmental health, homelessness, community organizing, and AIDS. For health education, the concern is preventing health problems rather than curing people once they become ill. To succeed in prevention, it is important to encourage people's interest in maintaining a healthy lifestyle and also to create a just society where all people have the resources they need to live a healthy life. A combination of education and non-violent social action is the best way to accomplish this goal. The department works to help people understand themselves, their motivations, values, and attitudes because, according to health education philosophy, those changes which occur internally—within the individual—are most likely to last. A health educator also works as a catalyst for community action and social policy change in order to create a social structure and a political environment where healthy communities and lifestyles are available for all people.

Bachelor of Science. The community health education program is designed to facilitate voluntary changes in individual health behaviors as well as to advocate for social and economic policies which lead to health promotion and disease prevention for all. This program prepares individuals to plan, implement, and evaluate programs for health and human services such as public health departments, voluntary health agencies, community-based organizations, community clinics, and hospitals.

The course work and field experience in health education have three primary objectives: (1) to provide a theoretical and philosophical foundation in principles of community health education; (2) to facilitate the development of professional skills in program planning, implementation, and evaluation; and (3) to offer broad course work in personal, community, and school health. Students are also expected to complete course work in biological, social, and behavioral sciences.

The B.S. degree has 36 core units and fifteen electives to be chosen in one of the three areas described below.

Community-based Public Health is an approach that unites the community by organizing, empowering, and participating in shared-leadership partnerships for health. This emphasis gives students freedom to choose electives from their particular health-related area of interest. Students design programs rooted in the values, experiences, knowledge, and interests of the community itself.

Holistic Health is concerned with the health and well-being of the whole person--mind, body, spirit, and environment in dynamic balance and interdependence. It emphasizes and seeks to enhance the inherent healing ability of each individual and empowers people through teaching principles and skills that enable them to take greater responsibility for their personal development, healing, and health maintenance.

School Health fills the need of recent increases in demand for credentialed teachers in public schools. The emphasis provides essential course work that satisfies the newly developed California State Standards in Health Science. Upon graduation, students will be ready to enter the teaching credential program with virtually all course work in the single subject program completed.

Minor in Health Education. The Department of Health Education offers a 21-unit minor program. The minor complements many major programs provided by other university departments and has been designed for maximum flexibility. Individuals must work with a health education adviser to select appropriate courses.

Supplemental Credential. Individuals who already possess a single subject credential in another area may add health sciences to their existing teaching credential by completing a specified number of semester hours in health sciences. Individuals seeking a supplemental credential should seek the assistance of an adviser in the Department of Health Education.

Advising. Each student is encouraged to select a faculty adviser upon admission and to work closely with the adviser in order to assure proper articulation of courses. Prior to meeting with the faculty, the students are required to meet first with a peer mentor adviser (PMA) who is typically an upper division student in the major. The role of a peer mentor adviser is to advise students about the requirements for the health education major. PMA interns' hours and locations are posted on the department web site. Students seeking an adviser should consult the department secretary for assistance.

Minor in Holistic Health. The Institute for Holistic Healing Studies, under the Department of Health Education, offers a Holistic Health Minor and a Holistic Health Certificate program. The only difference between the two is that the minor is co-terminus with a bachelor's degree, while the certificate is available to anyone admitted through Extended Learning/Open University. The curriculum for the certificate includes an additional eight units beyond the minor. The certificate is also available to minors upon completion of the requirements.

General Information. The holistic health approach is interdisciplinary. It assumes a systems perspective in which mind-body-consciousness interacts with the physical, biological, and psychosocial environments. Holistic health complements and extends beyond our current medicine, an approach that engenders the rebalancing of the individual. There are many specific applications and forms of holistic health, some derived from ancient healing traditions and others from modern technology. These areas include: stress management, behavioral medicine, applied psychophysiology, biofeedback, autogenic training, Chinese medicine (including acupuncture, acupressure, herbology, nutrition, qigong), somatic therapies (such as: Feldenkrais, bioenergetics, Alexander), therapeutic touch and subtle energy therapies, meditation, yoga, guided imagery, psychoneuroimmunology, and others.

The Holistic Health Minor/Certificate is designed to provide a background in western physiological perspectives; a survey of holistic health theories and practices as developed in the East and West; a metaphoric view of health, disease, and healing; specific practices in-depth; some theory and background in related areas as well as learning specific self-healing practices. It also can provide the foundation for further study in areas such as Chinese medicine, somatic therapy, and biofeedback. The minor serves as an interdisciplinary liberal arts program that complements or supplements a student's major field of study, especially in health-related areas. The Holistic Health Certificate is for those who already have an academic degree and/or are already in health professions. In addition, since holistic health emphasizes self-care and self-regulation, the minor and certificate program can be taken for personal stress reduction, growth, healing, and health maintenance.

Master of Public Health in Community Health Education. The mission of the MPH in Community Health Education at San Francisco State University is to promote health and social justice in urban communities. Central to this vision is an emphasis on a community-based approach that builds diverse, collaborative leadership and recognizes the importance of understanding the multiple determinants of health to design effective, comprehensive solutions. To fulfill this mission, students are engaged through contextual and participatory teaching approaches integrating theory and practice, with an emphasis on developing team, leadership, and communication skills in graduates of the program. The ultimate aim is to develop culturally and professionally competent leaders in public health able to work with communities to apply systems theory to prevent disease and promote the health of the public.

To further this mission, the goals of the MPH include:

1. Providing professional preparation in the core competencies, functions, and responsibilities for community health educators.
2. Embracing an ecological approach, emphasizing the importance of addressing determinants of health at the individual, interpersonal, organizational, community, and policy level in the curriculum.
3. Building student skills and competencies needed to promote health and prevent disease among culturally diverse urban populations.
4. Emphasizing principles of adult learning in the application of skills and knowledge to specific problems.
5. Emphasizing the integration of theory in practice in a community-based public health framework.
6. Emphasizing collaborative leadership and team building through a cohort approach.
7. Conducting applied public health research that addresses the social determinants of health, reduces social inequialities in health, and contributes to building healthy communities.
8. Serving the campus community and the communities of the Bay Area through developing mutually beneficial partnerships with communities, health care departments, community-based organizations, governments, and other public and private institutions.

Career Outlook

A variety of career opportunities are open to individuals graduating from the health education program. Results from a recent survey of program graduates indicate that in addition to positions specifically titled health educator, many also hold positions as program planners, assistant administrators, assistant personnel directors, in-service education coordinators, community outreach workers, health counselors, health writers, environmental workers, and pharmaceutical-medical detail persons. Employers include hospitals, government and voluntary agencies, school districts, private industries, and some individuals are self-employed.

Health education graduates also select careers outside the health care field. The professional skills developed in the degree programs have numerous applications in non-health employment settings. Additionally, some health education graduates continue graduate studies in public health, administration, social services, dentistry, medicine, and law.

Although careers in holistic health per se are still being developed, holistic health is a rapidly expanding field. There is a growing demand for training in this area among health care practitioners, such as nurses, physicians, paramedics, health educators, physical therapists, occupational therapists, nutritionists, counselors, psychotherapists, health researchers, health consultants, and others. A Minor or Certificate in Holistic Health provides an overview of holistic health practices instrumental to many health and social service professionals.

Graduates of the Master of Public Health in Community Health Education program are prepared for advanced level professional positions in public health departments and private and public health care settings and a variety of community-based organizations. Nationally, the emphasis is on primary and secondary prevention and population-based management of health making the skills and competencies of community health educators a market demand.

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN HEALTH EDUCATION

Undergraduate Advisers: Bunting, Castelblanch, Chavez, Clayson, Elia, Moore, Ovrebo, Tapper, Van Olphen

The Bachelor of Science is a 120-unit degree, with a 51-unit major.

The following foundation courses or their equivalents must be completed prior to graduation. While it is not mandatory to complete the foundation courses before taking the core courses, individuals are encouraged to work toward completion of foundation courses prior to the junior year. Students entering from the community college system, or other four-year universities, should have their transcripts evaluated by a department adviser in order to receive credit for equivalent courses taken elsewhere. To determine whether courses taken at another college or university may be accepted as foundation courses, individuals should seek the assistance of an adviser in the Department of Health Education. Some foundation courses may be counted for SFSU general education credit; a health education adviser will help determine this.

On-line course descriptions are available.

MINOR IN HEALTH SCIENCE

MINOR IN HOLISTIC HEALTH and CERTIFICATE IN HOLISTIC HEALTH

Holistic Health Advisers: Burke, Burrows, Peper

All courses offered in holistic health qualify for continuing education credits for nursing (provider number 00344).

Applications for this minor or certificate program and assignment of an adviser can be made through the Institute for Holistic Healing Studies Office, HSS 326; (415) 338-1210.

This program is open to matriculating students as well as non-degree students. A non-degree student must register through the Extended Learning program as an Open University student.

On-line course descriptions are available.

NOTE: Students fulfilling the Holistic Health Minor or Certificate Program are eligible to apply for a Certification in Stress Management Education given by the Biofeedback Certification Institute of America (BCIA). Also, students who take the biofeedback courses and fulfill some further requirements may be eligible to apply for Biofeedback Certification given by BCIA. See a Holistic Health adviser for details.

MASTER OF PUBLIC HEALTH

Graduate Advisers: Castelblanch, Chavez, Clayson, Elia, Guy, Love, Moore, Von Olphen

Admission Requirements

Beyond a completed MPH application form and transcripts of all previous college work listed on the application (including San Francisco State), admission to the program requires:

• Evidence of academic excellence, as reflected in an undergraduate grade point average of 3.0 or higher in the last 60 units of undergraduate course work;

• Undergraduate courses in social science as well as statistics and evidence of an undergraduate culturally, ethnically, and socially diverse (CESD) course or its equivalent;
• Two years of employment in public health related work;
• Statement of purpose;
• Three letters of reference;
• Applicants who demonstrate linguistic competence in English and a second language will be given preference;
• Prior to taking classes, all MPH students must successfully demonstrate their written English proficiency by passing the Graduate Essay Test (GET).

Application Period

Applicants are admitted to the MPH in the fall only.

Admission Procedures

Step 1. Pre-admissions. Group orientation sessions describe the program and the admission/selection procedures. Before applying to the program, applicants are strongly encouraged to attend an orientation session. Dates for the orientation sessions are posted on the department's web site.

Step 2. Submit an application for admission to the MPH program on or before the scheduled deadline. Deadlines are posted on the application packet as well as the department's web site.

Step 3. Applicants will be notified as to the department's recommendation to the Division of Graduate Studies of the university regarding their conditional acceptance or non-acceptance into the MPH program. Note: Conditional recommendation for acceptance at the department review level does not imply formal acceptance by the university into the MPH program.

Step 4. Once students are recommended by the department for conditional admission to the program, they must submit a formal application to the Division of Graduate Studies at SFSU. Only upon receipt of a formal admission letter from the university may a student enter conditional status and enroll in courses in the MPH program.

Step 5. After a semester of course work earning a 3.0 or better GPA, applicants are moved to classified graduate status within the MPH program.

Written English Proficiency Requirement

Level One: all students must successfully demonstrate their proficiency by passing the Graduate Essay Test (GET). This MUST be done prior to taking classes. Students who are accepted into the graduate program will be notified in writing as to the time and date of the examination; there is a fee. If the GET identifies writing deficiencies, remedial work will be required. Level Two: satisfied by demonstration of English competency on the final paper for H ED 892.

Curriculum

The curriculum for the MPH is designed as a three-year sequence where collaborative learning and problem solving are fostered. Students move through the curriculum as a learning cohort for the entire three years.