Health Behavior Change

Catalog description

This course provides students with a broad theoretical base for the analysis of health behaviors. Major health behavior models and theories and their applications are presented. Theory is integrated into analysis of specific behaviors, which impact health. Sociological, cultural, economic, and environmental factors that influence health are emphasized. Students will be challenged to think critically about societal and structural forces such as income, geography, race/ethnicity, gender, and age as sources of inequality as well as interpersonal processes reflected in norms, networks, and social capital. The focus of the course is on behavior, communication, decision-making, and health outcomes at the individual, family and community level.