Applied Health Promotion and Prevention, 10 credits

A Bachelor's degree or a professional degree equivalent to a Swedish Bachelor's degree of at least 180 credits in public health science, healthcare or other relevant social sciences subject area. And proficiency in English equivalent to English B/English 6.

That the student has completed courses with approved results equivalent of 45 credits at the Master's Programme in Public Health Sciences, specialisation Health Promotion and Prevention.

After completion of the course, students should be able to identify and propose suitable interventions, reflect on an existing intervention project, identify strengths and limitations, and to propose improvements:

• Choose a public health problem, identify an existing public health intervention that matches the problem, and analyse the intervention in terms of its strengths and limitations
• Assess the theory of change or conceptual model of the chosen public health intervention and identify gaps in relation to the proposed outcomes, and propose improvements
• Analyse the chosen public health intervention in terms of its overall study design (including qualitative, quantitative or trial components) and its ability to achieve the proposed outcomes
• Reflect on potential ethical considerations relevant for the chosen public health intervention
• Identify potential risks in the implementation of the identified public health intervention and outline risk mitigation strategies
• Evaluate the communication plan of the identified public health intervention and propose alternate dissemination strategies
• Assess the identified public health intervention in terms of its scale-up potential and propose improvements where necessary

The course takes a holistic approach to intervention development and implementation focusing on health promotion and prevention. As this course aims to provide master students the knowledge and skills to integrate and apply what they have learned in the preceding courses, the content focuses on evaluating an existing public health intervention:

• Problem identification
• Formative research
• Use of theory in design and evaluation of interventions
• Study designs
• Intervention and tools development
• Introduction to implementation and scale-up science
• Research ethics
• Communicating research findings 

The course involves students' turnover of acquired knowledge in the context of an individual work and the development of their capacity for constructive peer feedback. The students will  analyze an   intervention study and support their peers through the process. The teaching methods are customised to facilitate a step-wise progression towards the course objectives. Examples will be drawn from ongoing research at the department and from up-to-date scientific literature. The course consists of a series of lectures, seminars or group work around specific areas of proposal development. Teaching is interactive and students are encouraged to participate and reflect by sharing their own experiences.

The examination will include a written individual course assignment, an oral presentation and two mandatory peer-to-peer support sessions. The individual course assignment will be in the form of a written report that details the evaluation of specific aspects of an existing public health intervention identified by individual students. The students will work on the written individual assignment throughout the course. Two mandatory peer-to-peer support sessions will be scheduled to allow discussions and peer-to-peer learning focusing on the course assignment.
 
The written individual assignment will be graded as Pass, Pass with distinction or Fail, while the peer-to-peer support sessions and the oral presentation will be graded as Pass or Fail. To obtain the grade Pass on the course the student must be awarded Pass on the written individual assignment, the peer-to-peer support sessions and the oral presentation. To obtain the grade Pass with distinction the student must be awarded Pass with distinction on the written individual assignment and Pass on the peer-to-peer support sessions and the oral presentation.
 
Compulsory participation
The peer-to-peer support sessions are mandatory. Other lectures, seminars or group work that are mandatory will be indicated on the course schedule. The examiner assesses if and, in that case, how an absence from compulsory parts can be compensated. Before the student has participated in compulsory parts or compensated absence in accordance with the course examiner's instructions, the student's results for the course/respective part will not be registered. Absence from a compulsory part may result in the student having to wait to compensate until the next time the course is given.
 
Limitation of number of occasions to write the exam:
Students who have not passed the regular examination are entitled to participate in five more examinations. If the student has not passed the exam after four attempts, he/she is encouraged to visit the study advisor. If the student has failed six examinations/tests, no additional examination or new admission is provided.

The number of times that the student has participated in one and the same examination is regarded as an examination attempt. Submission of a blank examination is also regarded as an attempt. An examination for which the student registered but did not participate in will not be counted as an attempt.

If there are special grounds, or a need for adaptation for a student with a disability, the examiner may decide to deviate from the syllabus's regulations on the examination form, the number of examination opportunities, the possibility of supplementation or exemptions from the compulsory section/s of the course etc. Content and learning outcomes as well as the level of expected skills, knowledge and abilities may not be changed, removed or reduced.

Examination can take place according to an earlier literature list during a time of one year after the date when a major renewal of the literature list has been made.

Course evaluation will be carried out in accordance with the guidelines established by the Committee for Higher Education.
The course language is English.