COURSE SYLLABUS FOR PM 562 INTERVENTION APPROACHES FOR HEALTH
PROMOTION AND DISEASE PREVENTION
SPRING 2015
PLEASE NOTE: this syllabus is tentative and subject to change
Instructor
Carol Koprowski, PhD, RDN
Phone: (323) 442-8248
Email: koprowsk@usc.edu1
Office: SSB 312G
Office hours: by appointment
Teaching Assistant
Jeffrey Williams
Email: jeffreyw@usc.edu
Course description
This course reviews various approaches to health promotion and disease prevention intervention
strategies with a focus on intervention design. The course is intended to be practical in nature, focusing
on the logistics of intervention development and delivery and how these might vary across settings,
behaviors, strategies/theories, and populations.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
Following participation in PM 562, students will be able to:
1) Describe the opportunities, advantages, and disadvantages for intervention in different settings
and using different strategies.
2) Identify and review existing effective health promotion interventions.
3) Identify the resources required to create and deliver an effective health promotion intervention.
4) Design and deliver interventions using different strategies (e.g., electronic media).
5) Recognize the challenges associated with behavior change.
6) Identify the factors that will facilitate long-term adoption, dissemination, and maintenance of a
health promotion intervention.
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Please note: I do limited email checking on Saturday and do not read or check emails on Sunday.
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Course requirements and evaluation:
1. Research Article Leadership (20 points): Each week 2-4 students will present an
assigned research article concerning a health behavior intervention. The instructor will write
the discussion questions and post them on Blackboard. The presenting student will facilitate
the class for 20 minutes. The facilitator should create a PowerPoint presentation with one
question per slide (i.e. not all questions on one slide. Because everyone will have the
discussion questions, the class discussion should be lively and engaging (i.e. you should
know the article).
Research Article Facilitation
Criteria
Logistics
 Discussion lasted 20-25 minutes
 One discussion question per slide
 Sufficient contrast between font and background (e.g., black text on a white background)
Demonstrate a good understanding of the intervention
 Stayed on task, yet used other relevant concepts when needed
 Covered key points, well-organized, clear, interesting
Make good effort to involve students in discussion
 Creative ways to gain the group’s attention and involvement
 Motivates classmates to participate (remember, everyone had the discussion questions
and should be prepared to participate).
Implications
 Links article with the “big picture”
 Help students translate key concepts/results into real world practice.
 Relate personal experiences and/or case examples back to the intervention.
TOTAL SCORE (20 pts possible)
Score
To improve:
What worked well:
Scores should range from 1 to 5 where 1 = does met the criteria, many aspects missing; 2 = partially met
the criteria, but overall performance not satisfactory; 3 = meets most/much of the criteria, satisfactory
performance with definite room for improvement; 4 = meets almost all the criteria, good performance; 5 =
meets all criteria, excellent performance, hard to know where to suggest improvements
2. Research article presentation responses (10 points): You will complete a brief response/critique
of each research article presentation (outlined above). Response Forms will be provided in class and
must be submitted at the end of each class to receive credit.
3.
Group presentation of a health behavior intervention/program (40 points): The group project
consists of two parts—the presentation and in-class demonstration of an activity.
a. Students will work in groups of three (3) to four (4) students. Each group will create a
presentation about its intervention. The presentation should last between 20 and 25
minutes. Each group will record its presentation and upload it to Vimeo. You will convert
your Vimeo presentation to a Zaption presentation that includes question(s) other
students will use to evaluate your presentation. Zaption Pro is available for a free twomonth trial. All Zaption presentations will be viewed outside of class (i.e. no in-class
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presentation). Your presentation should include the following information (i.e. use the
scoring rubric as a guide):
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Goal of the program
Target audience
Description of your intervention
What makes your intervention important
Details of you intervention
Theoretical foundation (i.e. use of constructs and rationale for using them)
b. Each group will carry out one of its sample activities using your fellow students as
participants. The target audience may be different than the class in terms of age, gender,
etc. Your group will conduct an activity involving participation of the class lasting 30 to 40
minutes. Your activity should involve all group members and you should have all the
needed supplies to carry out the activity. Use the scoring rubric as a guide .
Group Project Scoring Rubric
Criteria
Logistics Process/Approach
 Presentation was 20 to 25 minutes
 All group members participated in the presentation
 Creativity
 Slides supported the presentation content
 Title section of slide contained the key point of the slide
 Images used were appropriate for the message
 Text in slide kept to a minimum and used to support key
message in the slide title
 Sufficient contrast between font and background (i.e. was
readable against the background)
Your intervention
Background information
 What is the goal of your intervention?
 What is the targeted health behavior?
 Why is changing this behavior important?
 Who is the targeted audience?
 What is the setting?
Details of your program
 How many sessions?
 What kinds of activities will be included? Remember you need to
have an activity that can be done with the class.
 What format (i.e. online, mobile app, workshop, etc.)?
 How long does it take to complete your program?
 How will staff and others be trained?
Theory and outcomes
 What theory or theories are used in your program? Identify the
specific constructs you used and how they were operationalized.
You do not need to use all constructs from the theory or theories.
Note: two to four constructs are sufficient.
 What outcomes will you use?
 How will they be measured?
Classroom activity (20 minutes)
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Points possible
Points
5
5
5
5
3
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Description of activity
Why is this activity included in your intervention? What is the
purpose?
 Did you have all the necessary supplies?
 Did all group members participate?
 Did you engage the class?
Submit a copy of your completed logic model or curriculum plan
Total Points
15
5
40
4. Group presentation responses (10 points): Each student will submit a brief response/critique for
each group presentation. These will be completed as part of the Zaption presentation.
5. Personal project (20 points): You will select a health-related behavior you would like to change
using an existing program that is available online or via mobile device. Students will monitor and
share their progress towards their goal each week by submitting a brief entry via Blackboard. (We will
also talk about your personal project in class.) At the end of the semester, students will submit a
summary report on their success/failure, experienced barriers/facilitators to change, linkages with
course content, and suggestions for program improvement. Credit will be awarded for writing an entry
each week and a score will be given for a final report on your experience. You will not be graded on
your success on reaching your goal.
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Choose your goal
o Be very specific and focus on behavior. Weight loss is not a behavior, but making specific
changes to your diet is a behavior (e.g., eat at least three servings of fruits per day four
days a week). If you want to be a faster runner, then what kind of improvement are you
looking for? If you want to eat healthier what does that mean to you?
Find and use an app or web-based program that can help you accomplish your goal.
Bi-Weekly Updates
o 100 word count max (less is OK)
o Should be reflective
Due every other Tuesday by 5pm and submitted via Blackboard
Do not submit word/.pdf documents for these updates. Use “copy & paste” to fill in the text box
on the Blackboard assignment page.
Final Report
o 3-4 page report on your overall experience. Your report should submitted via Blackboard
at the end of the semester
o Describe your goal in depth and your original plan of action
o Explain your motivation for change
o Describe whether, and if so how, the program/app was supportive of you as you
attempted this behavior change
o What suggestions or changes can be made to improve the program/app?
o What barriers to change did you experience and how did you overcome them
o How did your experience overlap with material learned in the course?
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Personal Project Scoring Rubric
Criteria
Bi-Weekly
Journal
(assignments)
Report
Points
possible
10
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Reflective
One or two paragraphs
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Report length was three to five pages (no cover page needed)
Describe your goal in depth and your original plan of action
Explain your motivation for change
Describe whether, and if so how, the program/app was supportive
of you as you attempted this behavior change
What suggestions or changes can be made to improve the
program/app?
What barriers to change did you experience and how did you
overcome them?
How did your experience overlap with material learned in the
course?
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6. Class participation (10 points): Active class participation, which includes sharing your perspective
on the topics and assigned materials with classmates, is essential—participate in discussions, show
up to class.
Course evaluation
Article discussion facilitation
Article presentation responses
Group Presentation
Personal Project
Class participation
Total
Points
20
10
40
20
10
100
Required course readings will be posted on the course Blackboard. Final course topics/readings are
pending guest lecture schedules, and include: diet, physical activity, HIV prevention, cancer survivorship,
cultural targeting, and positive psychology.
Course Policies
Due dates – Assignments are due on the day and time announced.
Attendance – Attendance is very important (i.e. you cannot in discussion if you are not in class). Please
notify the instructor and your team members ahead of time if you cannot attend class. Also, make an
effort to show up on time to minimize course disruption.
Cell Phones – As a courtesy to other students, please turn off your cell phone during class. If you need to
have your cell phone on, please set your cell phone to silent mode and sit near an exit so you can leave
the room to take your call.
Extra Credit – Extra credit assignments are not available for this class.
Academic dishonesty – Academic dishonesty on exams, quizzes and assignments is grounds for failure
in the course (see USC catalog).
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Grading Issues – Grades for assignments and exams will be posted on Blackboard as soon as possible
(which may not always be as quickly as you would like). You have three (3) days to respond to any
assignment or exam after the scored is posted. After three (3) days, you may not discuss your
assignment or exam (i.e. how it was graded). You are responsible for making sure that all your work has
been received and graded.
Students with Disabilities – Any student requesting academic accommodations based on a disability is
required to register with Disability Services and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of verification
for approved accommodations can be obtained from DSP. Please be sure the letter is delivered to me (or
the TA) as early in the semester as possible. DSP is located in STU 301 and is open 8:30 a.m.—5:00
p.m., Monday through Friday. Please see the following web site for information for students with
disabilities: http://www.usc.edu/student-affairs/asn/DSP/ldpack.htm
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