Behavior, Health, and Disease

Catalog description

This course is designed for non-BB H majors who want a fundamental understanding of disease processes, disease states, and principles of disease prevention and health promotion. This course should help students in the biological and behavioral sciences better understand practical applications of theoretical approaches to health issues.The course will provide a broad understanding of the major human diseases underlying morbidity and mortality in America. The course will cover most major diseases using a variety of organizational schema including: (1) diseases according to organ systems, (2) diseases according to developmental and age-related processes, and (3) diseases according to causal factors including behavioral (lifestyle), environmental, and genetic factors. The course content is organized to encourage promotion of a healthy lifestyle, prevention of disease and understanding the causes and management of acute and chronic illness. The course includes information and assignments to allow the student to appropriately assess one's own health, estimate health trajectories, access and use the health care systems on campus and in their home communities, and develop a long-term health promotion plan. The student will also learn specific skills to find and evaluate traditional and non-traditional treatment processes when they or family members become sick with an acute illness or chronic disease, and to better engage with health care professionals and the health care system for management of illnesses that they or their family may have or develop. Students will also learn practical skills in being able to access a variety of sources to update knowledge about disease causality and treatment and to critically appraise these sources.