Community Health Studies

Program | Faculty | Master's | Doctoral | Courses

Programs in Health Policy and Management and Community Health Education

Website: www.umass.edu/sphhs/chs/

The Community Health Studies concentration is organized into two distinct specialty areas: Community Health Education and Health Policy and Management. These two areas are related both academically and professionally. Both are applied professional areas dedicated to the improvement of the health status of the public. They share essential perspectives of individual, organizational, community and public policy theory, and professional skills. Each field also has its own unique foundations and emphases: Community Health Education in community organizing, education methods, and inter- and intrapersonal theory; Health Policy and Management in administration, economics, finance, policy, and law. The concentration offers M.P.H., M.S., and Ph.D., degree programs to qualified students.

Community Health Education

The mission of the CommunityHealth Education (CHE) area is to enable people to gain control over the social, political, and personal conditions that affect their health. Coursework prepares public health professionals to design and implement programs to assist all people to participate in their life situations to the fullest extent of their capabilities.

Health Policy and Mangement

The Health Policy and Management (HPM) area prepares public health professionals for managerial and administrative positions in health organizations and institutions, both voluntary and private, and in planning and regulatory bodies of federal, state, and local health agencies. The HPM area develops and uses theories and models based in the social and behavioral sciences, such as organizational theory, economic theory, decision theory, and motivation theory to understand the health care system; identify and analyze its strengths and weaknesses; and design, implement, evaluate, and improve programs.