DECHS Community Centered Research Design and Education

Catalog description

The DECHS Community Centered Research Design and Education course is a comprehensive 4-month program designed to provide Master's students with an in-depth understanding of health equity, research methodologies, community engagement, and educational practices. This course prepares students to become leaders in health research and advocates for equitable health practices within their communities. MBS students will work directly with teams of high school students weekly for 1.5 hours on Fridays and every other Wednesday (via Zoom) for additional instruction. Meetings will incorporate didactic learning of concepts presented below as well as time spent incorporating these concepts in a cascade mentoring model for the DECHS STEMWell research club, leading teams of students in community-informed research projects. Projects will be co-designed by high school and MBS students along with community advisors to assess key social drivers of health that are important to the students and members of their communities. MBS Students will lead their DECHS project team in conduct of a community-advised research project, focusing on evaluation and assessment of impact factors, and will work with their teams offline in-between sessions to ensure the project is moving forward. Completion of the designed project by the end of the course is not required as new directions may be determined through the community engagement process. Students will have reading and essay assignments, facilitated discussions, weekly journal entries, and a final presentation of the research project they led with their DECHS student team. Students will also join classmates from the Community Health Engagement Practicum for site visits with community collaborators. Course Director: Dr. Stephanie Freel. Max. 10. Min. 3. Credit 4. (Selective) (Pass/Fail)