Data and Health Indicators in Public Health Practice

Data and Health Indicators in Public Health Practice

This course is part of Epidemiology in Public Health Practice Specialization

Instructor: Keri Althoff, PhD, MPH

Access provided by Echo Refugee Library

37,724 already enrolled

4 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

1,230 reviews

Beginner level

No prior experience required

Flexible schedule

6 hours to complete

Learn at your own pace

97%

Most learners liked this course

4 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

1,230 reviews

Beginner level

No prior experience required

Flexible schedule

6 hours to complete

Learn at your own pace

97%

Most learners liked this course

Skills you'll gain

Details to know

Shareable certificate

Add to your LinkedIn profile

Assessments

4 assignments

Taught in English

See how employees at top companies are mastering in-demand skills

Learn more about Coursera for Business

logos of Petrobras, TATA, Danone, Capgemini, P&G and L'Oreal

Build your subject-matter expertise

This course is part of the Epidemiology in Public Health Practice Specialization

When you enroll in this course, you'll also be enrolled in this Specialization.

Learn new concepts from industry experts
Gain a foundational understanding of a subject or tool
Develop job-relevant skills with hands-on projects
Earn a shareable career certificate

There are 4 modules in this course

Epidemiology is often described as the cornerstone science in public health. Epidemiology in public health practice uses study design and analyses to identify causes in an outbreak situation, guides interventions to improve population health, and evaluates programs and policies.

In this course, we'll define the role of the professional epidemiologist as it relates to public health services, functions, and competencies. With that foundation in mind, we'll introduce you to the problem solving methodology and demonstrate how it can be used in a wide variety of settings to identify problems, propose solutions, and evaluate interventions. This methodology depends on the use of reliable data, so we'll take a deep dive into the routine and public health data systems that lie at the heart of epidemiology and then conclude with how you can use that data to calculate measures of disease burden in populations.

In this module, we will introduce the problem solving methodology. This methodology is a powerful tool that can useful when identifying a public health problem, building the case that there truly is a problem, suggesting interventions, and suggestions ways to evaluate the interventions and disseminate the findings of the evaluation.

What's included

11 videos1 reading1 assignment1 discussion prompt

11 videos Total 57 minutes

Welcome to Epidemiology Methods in Public Health Practice 1 minute
Welcome to Problem-Solving Methodology 1 minute
Introduction to Methodology 5 minutes
Problem Definition Part 1 12 minutes
Problem Definition Part 2 4 minutes
Magnitude of the Problem 4 minutes
Conceptual Framework 10 minutes
Action Plan 9 minutes
Actions and Evaluations 6 minutes
Communication 3 minutes
Summary 2 minutes

1 reading Total 10 minutes

Course Projects 10 minutes

1 assignment Total 30 minutes

Methodology 30 minutes

1 discussion prompt Total 10 minutes

Application of Problem Solving Methodology 10 minutes

In this module, we dive deeper into what lies at the heart of epidemiology: data! More specifically, we will look at routine and public health data systems.

What's included

9 videos1 assignment1 discussion prompt

9 videos Total 55 minutes

Welcome to Data Sources in Public Health 1 minute
Data For Public Health Practice 12 minutes
Medical Record Systems 4 minutes
Administrative Record Systems 4 minutes
Assessing the Quality of Mortality Statistics in the Americas 12 minutes
Public Health information Systems: Population-based Surveys 12 minutes
Public Health Information Systems: Registries 3 minutes
Public Health Information Systems: Surveillance Systems 2 minutes
Common Problems of Routine and Public Health Information Systems 5 minutes

1 assignment Total 30 minutes

Routine and Public Health Information Systems 30 minutes

1 discussion prompt Total 10 minutes

Using Publicly Available Data 10 minutes

In this module we will use data from routine and public health information systems to measure the burden of disease in the population. We will calculate crude mortality rates, and then apply direct and indirect age standardization methods.

What's included

8 videos1 reading1 assignment1 discussion prompt

8 videos Total 50 minutes

Welcome to Measures of Disease Burden 1 minute
Measures of Disease Burden 5 minutes
Direct Age Adjustment 14 minutes
Indirect Age Adjustment 9 minutes
Years of Potential Life Lost 6 minutes
Life Expectancy 5 minutes
Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALY) 5 minutes
Quality-Adjusted Life Years (QALY) 5 minutes

1 reading Total 10 minutes

Direct Age Adjustment Exercise Resources 10 minutes

1 assignment Total 30 minutes

Measures of Disease Burden 30 minutes

1 discussion prompt Total 10 minutes

Most Important Health Indicator? 10 minutes

In this module, we'll discuss health indicators, which are important measurements of the health of a population. There are numerous health indicators that help us paint the picture of a populations health. We'll talk about characteristics of good health indicators to provide a little guidance on how to choose health indicators for the public health problem of interest. Then, we'll use the example of the health indicator of liver cancer incidence to explore descriptive epidemiology. We will stratify liver cancer incidence by person, place, and time, to build our skills in descriptive epidemiology.

What's included

9 videos1 assignment

9 videos Total 39 minutes

Welcome to Health Indicators 1 minute
Health Indicators 12 minutes
Selecting Health Indicators 5 minutes
Descriptive Epidemiology: Person, Place, and Time Trends 2 minutes
Descriptive Epidemiology: Time 6 minutes
Descriptive Epidemiology: Person 5 minutes
Descriptive Epidemiology: Place 5 minutes
Summary 2 minutes
Concluding Thoughts 0 minutes

1 assignment Total 30 minutes

Health Indicators 30 minutes

Earn a career certificate

Add this credential to your LinkedIn profile, resume, or CV. Share it on social media and in your performance review.

Instructor

Instructor ratings

(212 ratings)

Keri Althoff, PhD, MPH

Johns Hopkins University

1 Course 37,724 learners

Offered by

Johns Hopkins University

Why people choose Coursera for their career

Felipe M.

Learner since 2018

"To be able to take courses at my own pace and rhythm has been an amazing experience. I can learn whenever it fits my schedule and mood."

Jennifer J.

Learner since 2020

"I directly applied the concepts and skills I learned from my courses to an exciting new project at work."

Larry W.

Learner since 2021

"When I need courses on topics that my university doesn't offer, Coursera is one of the best places to go."

Chaitanya A.

"Learning isn't just about being better at your job: it's so much more than that. Coursera allows me to learn without limits."

Learner reviews

5 stars
76.82%
4 stars
18.04%
3 stars
3.49%
2 stars
1.13%
1 star
0.48%

Showing 3 of 1230

Reviewed on Dec 12, 2019

Good foundational Epidemiology course. Videos were well laid out, quizzes did a good job of covering the information provided in the lessons.

Reviewed on Feb 9, 2020

The material was good. The statistical info coupled with the lecture and learning to measure certain data was a little challenging at times.

Reviewed on Feb 26, 2019

Me encantó, es un buen curso introductorio a la salud pública. Te permite comprender los conceptos básicos con excelentes ejemplos. Es muy rápido pero te brinda material por si quieres profundizar.

View more reviews