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Digital Technologies for Public Health and Climate Communication

The aim of this e-course is to equip learners with the capability to use innovative and efficient digital technologies and mobile solutions to communicate ongoing public health challenges and to gain basic knowledge of mobile app development. The practical component of the e-course is designed to build skills around delivering key climate and health messaging, as well as communicating and engaging with public health stakeholders using mobile applications. Mobile applications are powerful tools for engaging the public and collaborating with organizations and companies that prioritize public health.


Why take this course?

In today's world, it is crucial for public health and climate change workforce to be proficient in using digital technologies and mobile solutions to promote and protect the health and well-being of people of all ages, genders, ethnicities, and religions facing the reality of climate change. 

After completing the course, learners will be able to: 

  • Identify novel and efficient digital technologies and mobile solutions to communicate the best available scientific information on public health issues.
  • Analyze the benefits and challenges, as well as critical considerations to design accessible, informative, and actionable content to enable effective public health and climate communication.
  • Identify emerging low-cost mobile technologies for measuring environmental exposures and utilize them to establish a connection between these exposures and their impact on health outcomes. 
  • Design a mobile application prototype for communication on the health effects of climate change.
  • Identify and use effective social media platforms for public health and climate communication.
  • Describe trends and opportunities for the use of mobile apps within public health to address climate change. 

The course at a glance

The e-course is divided into seven modules. Each module takes approximately three hours to complete and features lessons and practical exercises that give you an overview of a different aspect of how to use mobile app-based programs to communicate the most prioritized public health challenges. A short quiz and practical assignments at the end of each module allow to verify if learning objectives were achieved. 

  1.  An Introduction to Digital Public Health Communication. Module 1 provides learners with concise and up-to-date information on the key concepts in digital public health solutions. This module showcases novel mobile applications, the functions they can perform, and the ways they can be used for digital health-related communication.
  2. Using Mobile Apps for Public Health Data Collection and Management. Module 2 provides an overview of emerging low-cost mobile technologies for measuring environmental exposures. It also discusses how researchers, citizen scientists, and policymakers are applying these technologies to link environmental exposures to health outcomes.
  3. Basics of Mobile Health Applications Design and Development. Module 3 explores the topic of mobile health (mHealth), and the various tools utilized in the development of mHealth applications.
  4. Creating a Mobile App Prototype for Communication on the Health Effects of Climate Change. Module 4 focuses on the basics and practical aspects of creating a mobile application for informing people about the health effects of climate change.
  5. Digital Public Health Interventions. Module 5 provides the foundational knowledge needed to design and implement successful digital interventions in public health settings.
  6. Social Media Apps for Public Health Communication. Module 6 focuses on the design of accessible, informative, and actionable public health and climate content for social media.
  7. Trends and Opportunities in Mobile Apps for Public Health Communication. Module 7 explores trends and opportunities for the use of mobile applications within public health to address climate change and looks at the areas of potential growth for applications to address climate change. 

Get your Certificate

After completing the course, you will get a certificate of completion. Once you complete all videos, lessons, and activities in each module, you will need to complete the final quiz at the end of each module before the certificate becomes automatically available for download.

Course Instructors and Contributors

Paulina Marie Colombo Doctoral Student, Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, The University of Arizona

Danielle Embry, MEd, Senior Coordinator, Academic Affairs, Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, The University of Arizona

Erich Healy, BA, Online Designer, Western Region Public Health Training Center, Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, The University of Arizona

Sriram Iyengar, PhD, Associate Professor, College of Medicine-Phoenix, The University of Arizona

Chris Chaeha Lim, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Community, Environment & Policy, Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, The University of Arizona

Allison Root, DrPH, MS, RD, Instructional Specialist, Western Region Public Health Training Center, Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, The University of Arizona

Ilyssa Stein, BA, Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, The University of Arizona

Yevheniia Varyvoda, PhD, Research Professional, Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, The University of Arizona

 

This course is developed and provided by Mel & Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, Western Region Public Health Training Center, The University of Arizona under the support of Dean’s Strategic Initiatives & Innovation Fund. 

Episode 24: Digital Equity

Internet for All, signed into law on Nov. 15, 2021, provided federal funding for high speed internet infrastructure and access. In addition to internet access, digital equity includes opportunities to develop digital skills. Listen in as we discuss initiatives and research towards achieving digital equity. Guests:  Jody Early, PhD, MS, MCHES, CHC, University of Washington Bothell; Colin Rhinesmith, PhD, Digital Equity Research Center.

Learning Objectives

  • Define digital equity
  • Explain the link between digital equity and health.
  • Explain broadband internet access as a social determinant of health.
  • Discuss efforts to promote digital inclusion.
  • Identify ways to advocate for digital equity.
  • Summarize terminology related to digital equity.
  • Identify resources available to programs or coalitions working to advance digital equity.

Target Audience: Public Health Professionals, Community Service Providers

Duration:  ~40 minutes

Continuing Education Information: 0.5 Category 1 Credits for CHES (no continuing competency credits)

CHES Provider number:  99036

Format:  Podcast, Self-Study

Recorded:  3/2023

Hosted by:  Allison Root, DrPH, MS, RDN, MCHES®

Guest Bios:

Dr. Jody Early is a professor in the School of Nursing and Health Studies at the University of Washington Bothell. As a social scientist and health education specialist, her teaching, scholarship, and praxis largely examine the bio-psycho-social, cultural, and systemic factors that influence the health and well-being of individuals and communities. Her work in higher education and public health spans over 25 years and involves the application of critical, participatory, and digital pedagogies to address barriers to health equity and health education. She works in partnership with communities to co-design, implement and evaluate tailored programs, resources, and technologies that are culturally rooted and community-driven. Jody’s research also examines the link between digital equity and health and the effectiveness of tailored digital technologies and pedagogy in higher education, public health, medicine, and healthcare.

Colin Rhinesmith (he/him) is the Founder and Director of the Digital Equity Research Center at the Metropolitan New York Library Council, a Research Fellow with the Quello Center for Media and Information Policy at Michigan State University, and a Co-Editor-In-Chief of The Journal of Community Informatics. Rhinesmith’s research examines the role of community informatics projects in creating and sustaining healthy digital equity ecosystems. Previously, Dr. Rhinesmith was an Associate Professor and Director of the Community Informatics Lab in the School of Library and Information Science at Simmons University. He has been a Google Policy Fellow and an Adjunct Research Fellow with New America’s Open Technology Institute, a Senior Fellow with the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, and a Faculty Associate with the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University.

Disclosures:  The planners, reviewers, and authors have no declared conflicts of interest.

Episode 23: One Health Initiatives

Opportunities for collaborative efforts among animal welfare and human service providers are discussed including for healthcare and veterinary care, intersecting risks to people and animals in situations of intimate partner violence, and opportunities for housing initiatives. Guests: Steve Farley, Humane Society of Southern Arizona; Crystal Giesbrecht, Provincial Association of Transition Houses and Services of Saskatchewan (PATHS)

Learning Objectives

  • Define OneHealth.
  • Describe opportunities for collaboration among animal welfare and human service providers.
  • Explain opportunities to improve services for people experiencing intimate partner violence through animal welfare/animal safekeeping support.

Target Audience: Public Health Professionals, Human and Animal Service Providers

Duration:  35 minutes

Continuing Education Information: 0.5 Category 1 Credits for CHES (no continuing competency credits)

CHES Provider number:  99036
 

Format:  Podcast, Self-Study

Recorded: 2/17/2023

Hosted by:  Allison Root, DrPH, MS, RDN, MCHES®

Guest Bios:

Steve Farley is a proven leader who served Tucson for twelve years at the Arizona State Legislator and as the longtime owner of Stephen Farley Design.  During his time at the Capital, Steve was named Humane Legislator of the Year several times, including for his successful effort to ban the cruelty of greyhound racing in Arizona.  Steve also spent three years as a volunteer animal behaviorist at the San Francisco SPCA where he worked gentling hard-case shelter dogs to make them more adoptable and worked their national behavior hotline to help foster parents solve their animals’ behavior problems.

Crystal Giesbrecht is the Director of Research and Communications at the Provincial Association of Transition Houses and Services of Saskatchewan (PATHS), the member association for domestic violence shelters and counselling centres. She is a Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Justice Studies at the University of Regina and a member of the Canadian Femicide Observatory for Justice and Accountability’s (CFOJA) Expert Advisory Panel. Crystal’s work at PATHS includes educating professionals and the public on best practices for supporting survivors of intimate partner violence and conducting research relating to intimate partner violence. She has conducted research in Saskatchewan on the connection between intimate partner violence, animal maltreatment, and barriers to safety for survivors who care for animals.

Disclosures:  The planners, reviewers, and authors have no declared conflicts of interest.

Episode 22: Art and Public Health

The arts have long been used to communicate messages, raise awareness, and bring about change. Hear more about collaborative projects connecting art to health, resiliency, and advocacy. Guests: Adriane AckermanPima County Health Department; Anne Bluethenthal, Founder, Lead Artist, ABD/Skywatchers; Rabbi Nancy Epstein, MPH, MAHL, Drexel University; Sadie Shaw, The Arts Foundation for Tucson and Southern Arizona.

Learning Objectives:

  • Discuss ways that art may be incorporated into health promotion, advocacy, and social justice.
  • Examine ways professional artists, health professionals, and the community may collaborate for improving population health and health equity.
  • Describe evaluation frameworks for art-based initiatives.

Target Audience: Public Health Professionals, Community Services Providers

Duration:  40 minutes

Continuing Education Information: 0.75 Category 1 Credits for CHES (no continuing competency credits)

CHES Provider number:  99036

Format:  Podcast, Self-Study

Recorded: 1/2023

Guests:

  • Sadie Shaw. The Arts Foundation for Tucson and Southern Arizona. https://artsfoundtucson.org/programs/saludarte/
  • Rabbi Nancy Epstein, MPH, MAHL. Clinical Professor in Community Health and Prevention, Dornsife School of Public Health at Drexel University.  Director of the school's Arts in Public Health program.
  • Anne Bluethenthal. Founder, Lead Artist, ABD /Skywatchers. https://www.abdproductions.org/
  • Adriane Ackerman. Program Director for Advancing Health Literacy, Pima County Health Department.

Hosted by:  Allison Root, DrPH, MS, RDN, MCHES®

Guest Bios:

Adriane Ackerman (she/her/ella) is the Program Director for the Pima County Health Department’s Advancing Health Literacy to Enhance Equitable Community Response to COVID-19 program. She also leads the Cultural Health/SaludArte initiative and the emerging Pima County Network for Equity and Resilience (PCNER), both of which aim to increase health literacy and equity through innovative models, by elevating and centering the leadership of historically excluded communities. Adriane has over 20 years of experience managing, administrating, facilitating and convening partnerships within the public sector at the local, regional and national scale. Her proudest moments have come from her decades’ of work as a grassroots community organizer, building sustainable and disruptive coalitions across ideologies, platforms and issues. Adriane holds dual Bachelor’s degrees in Political Science and Urban & Public Affairs and seeks to bring the depth of her lived experience to her work in Pima County.

Anne Bluethenthal is the Founder/Artistic Director of ABD Productions, a performing arts company committed to inspiring social change through the arts. Her choreographic language troubles the paradigm of western dance in service of choreographies that face difficult issues of the day with eloquence and passion. Her work grows from the belief that relationship is the first site of social change. After building a repertoire of original works over 3 decades, Bluethenthal initiated the Skywatchers program, rooted in SF’s Tenderloin District. A multi-ethnic mixed-ability, community-based performing arts ensemble of Bay Area artists and Tenderloin neighbors committed to leveraging arts for justice and equity, Skywatchers’ work emerges from the talents, wisdom, stories, and urgent concerns that animate ensemble members’ lives. Bluethenthal’s community engaged practice also produced ANDARES, a durational collaboration with survivors of the Salvadoran civil war, contributing to the historical memory movement of that country. Among the honors Bluethenthal has received are the Guggenheim Fellowship, Artist Legacy Award from the SF Arts Commission, Award of Recognition from El Teatro Nacional de San Salvador, YBCA 100, SF Chronicle’s Best of 2001, SF Weekly’s Black Box, the SF Bay Guardian’s Goldie Award for Achievement in Dance, and the Rhinette Award for Choreography from Theatre Rhinoceros.

Rabbi Nancy E. Epstein, clinical professor in the Department of Community Health and Prevention, is an award-winning teacher and has served on the Drexel faculty since 2000. She received Drexel University’s Barbara G. Hornum Award for Teaching Excellence and Pedagogical Innovation in 2017 and is a four-time winner of the Dornsife School of Public Health’s Golden Apple Teaching Excellence Award. Professor Epstein’s current work is focused on arts and public health, and she led the initiative to create the Arts in Public Health minor at the Dornsife School of Public Health. She is a trained public policy mediator and studied systems-centered training (SCT) with Yvonne Agazarian. In 2006, Professor Epstein was ordained a rabbi by the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College.

Sadie Shaw was born and raised in Tucson, Arizona, and earned her BFA in Art & Visual Culture Education from the University of Arizona in 2019. Sadie is an artist, art educator, oral historian, community organizer and Governing Board Member of the Tucson Unified School District. Her studio practice, community advocacy and political activism have merged into a sociopolitical platform that challenges institutional racism, underlying cultural inequities and the systems and policies that perpetuate these conditions. Her art practice of digital, print and media-based installations echo her drive for justice, equity, diversity and inclusion. She applies this same energy while advocating for the arts, neighborhoods, and the people of Tucson.

Disclosures:  The planners, reviewers, and authors have no declared conflicts of interest.

Public Health Youth Champions

Welcome to the Public Health Youth Champions Training Course Site!

The Public Health Youth Champions is a program through the University of Arizona Center for Rural Health ADHS-CDC COVID-19 Initiative. The purpose of this program is to not only educate and expose our youth to the world of public health, but to also empower them to advocate for change. There is a generation of youth that has been disproportionately affected by adverse public health issues in the past decade. From climate change, to gun violence, to COVID-19, we need to prepare our next generation of public health professionals to spread awareness on these issues that they are facing on the frontline.

Professional Ethics, Personal Values, and Decision Making

This training was created for people working in any discipline wanting to learn more about ethics.  There is another version of this training designed for health professionals with public health examples and case-scenarios: Public Health Ethics.

Ethical dilemmas are persistent in all disciplines. Decision making processes can be very complex, often with conflicts and competing values and interests. In this training, examine ethics and ethical based approaches to decision making. Learn about using ethical frameworks to make decisions confidently and justify decisions with transparency. Explore ways to address ethical challenges respectfully in ways that build trust with all involved.

Learning Objectives:

  • Review foundations and theories of moral philosophy and applied ethics.
  • Define ethics.
  • Examine what is meant by professional ethics (and personal values).
  • Discuss guiding principles of ethical decision making.


Target Audience: Non-public health professionals

Duration:  ~60 minutes

Continuing Education Information: This course is not pre-approved for continuing education credits.  If interested in continuing education credits, please take the version of this training designed for health professionals.


Format:  Web-based Training, Self-Study

Created/Updated: 1/2023

Arranged by: Allison Root, DrPH, MCHES, RDN

Subject Matter Expert:  Linda Axtell-Thompson, DBE, MBA

Narration by: Allison Root, DrPH, MCHES, RDN

Disclosures:  The planners, reviewers, and authors have no declared conflicts of interest.

Community Connections: The Dangerous Combination of Menthol and Vaping

New research by a team of University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa experts shows that menthol in e-cigarettes can be harmful to respiratory health. The findings come as e-cigarette use is on the rise among Hawaiʻi’s youth, with about one third of all high schoolers being regular users. This session will explore the increasing research evidence, especially longterm toxicological data that emerged only in recent years, has suggested that e-cigarettes are an immediate threat to lung health.

Learning Objectives

  • Identify biological risks associated with e-cigarette use and menthol.
  • Define key data used to determine risk associated with e-cigarette use.
  • Identify key public health program and policy solutions to reduce e-cigarette usage.

Target Audience: Substance use counselors, social workers, health educators, registered dietitians and other health professionals.

Duration:  ~2 hours

Continuing Education Information: 2.0 Category 1 Credits for CHES; 2.0 CPEUs for Registered Dietitians, 

CHES Provider number:  99036; CPEU Provider number: 21216
 

Format:  Recorded Webinar

Created/Updated:  Presented live 1/10/2023

Keynote Speaker:  Yi Zuo, PhD, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Adjunct Prof. of Pediatrics, JABSOM University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa

Panel Discussion:  Valerie Saiki, Kauaʻi CTFH Community Coordinator, Hawaiʻi Public Health Institute;Sun Choi, Health Promotions Manager at American Lung Association - Hawai'i Coalition for Tobacco Free-Hawaii Youth Council Member; Joshua Ching, Advocate Coalition for a Tobacco-Free Hawaii, Hawaii Public Health Institute

Disclosures:  The planners, reviewers, and authors have no declared conflicts of interest.

Episode 21: Active Transportation

Dr. Joey Iuliano from the University of Arizona and Jeffery Rosenhall from the California Department of Public Health discuss the built environment, bike sharing, and active transportation. 

Learning Objectives

  • Discuss factors that influence people’s choice for active transportation.
  • Explain roles health departments can take to support the success of bike-sharing systems and other active transportation initiatives.
  • Recognize opportunities to develop, support, or improve active transportation systems within your work.

Target Audience: Public health professionals

Duration:  33 minutes

Continuing Education Information: 0.5 Category 1 Credits for CHES (no continuing competency credits)

CHES Provider number:  99036
 

Format:  Podcast, Self-Study

Recorded: 12/2022

Guest Bios:

Joey Iuliano is a graduate of the University of Arizona College of Architecture, Planning, and Landscape Architecture’s master’s degree program and has Ph.D. in Geography from the University of Arizona. Before the University of Arizona, Joey attended Purdue University and received a master's in Health and Kinesiology and a bachelor's in Organizational Leadership and Supervision. Joey's research interests are how the built environment influences people's transportation choices, specifically when it comes to active transportation, and how this information can be used for better planning. In his spare time, Joey is a competitive cyclist and races across the Southwest for the UA Cycling Team.

Jeffery Rosenhall has been with the CA Department of Public Health since 2004, starting in the Injury and Violence Prevention Branch focusing on injury prevention, violence prevention, active transportation, and creating healthy built environments for all. Jeffery’s current role as a Section Chief includes supervising and leading staff from the healthy aging, vehicle occupant safety, active transportation, and school-health programs within injury prevention. Helping launch the CA State Employee BikeShare program has been one of the most rewarding efforts of his public health career thus far. Jeffery has a master’s degree in Psychology and has studied land use and environmental planning. He helped found the Sacramento Bicycle Kitchen, is a League Certified Instructor and has served on committees and boards in Sacramento’s bicycle advocacy and planning community.

Hosted by:  Allison Root, DrPH, MS, RDN, MCHES®

Disclosures:  The planners, reviewers, and authors have no declared conflicts of interest.

Palliative Care and Hospice: Supporting End of Life Care

What is Palliative Care? Palliative Care is specialized medical care that focuses on providing patients with relief from the symptoms and stress of a serious illness. The goal is to improve quality of life for both the patient and their loved ones. Palliative Care is appropriate at any age and at any stage in a serious illness, along with curative treatment. Learn more about how Palliative Care can support individuals with serious illness and where Palliative Care is available in Hawaii. Join Jeannette Koijane MPH and Executive Director of Kökua Mau and Hope Young, Advance Care Planning Coordinator of Kökua Mau as we explore the benefits of Palliative Care.

Learning Objectives

  • Participants will be able to define Palliative Care.
  • Participants will understand who may benefit from Palliative Care.
  • Participants will identify how to access Palliative Care and provide resources and materials to providers, patients, and loved ones.

Target Audience: social workers, health educators, dietitians, and other public health professionals

Duration:  90 minutes

Continuing Education Information: 1.5 Credits for CHES

CHES Provider number:  99036

Recorded Webinar: 11/4/2022

Disclosures:  The planners, reviewers, and authors have no declared conflicts of interest.

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