Public Health Issues and Approaches to Addictions.

Catalog description

11-week online course; 4 credits. Open only to students in the International Program in Addiction Studies (Master of Science in Addiction Studies), graduate certificate program in addiction studies or with permission of the IPAS program director. Provides an introduction to basic concepts and research methods in public health and epidemiology as they relate to the study of addictions, as well as an in-depth consideration of the personal, social, economic and cultural burdens/costs associated with drug and alcohol abuse and dependence. Individual and community-based risk and protective factors related to addictions, as well as primary and secondary prevention efforts aimed at reducing the addictions-related public health burden, also are a focus. An online lecture format featuring presentations by leading researchers and policy-makers in the field of addictions will be used, along with readings, online discussions and writing assignments, to (1) gain a greater understanding of the enormous costs of addictions at every level of society and (2) introduce students to some of the current thinking and programs related to the primary and secondary prevention of addictions.