Maternal and Child Health, MPH
The Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Program provides public health education in:
- The biologic, sociocultural, behavioral, and policy issues that impact the health of the MCH population.
- A well-grounded historical context for and current federal, state and local governmental policies and services in the MCH arena.
- Underlying causes of major health problems and disparities facing the MCH population.
- Approaches to properly address these problems and the professional skills required for an MCH career whether nationally or internationally.
Students will gain the skills needed to develop, implement, and evaluate interventions with a special emphasis on women, children, and families over the lifespan. The MCH concentration is conceptualized with sensitivity to cultural diversity within a global context.
Program Competencies
Students who graduate from this degree program can expect to develop the following competencies as they successfully meet and complete the program degree requirements.
- Describe the historical development, scientific basis, financing and structural organization of MCH public policies and practices in the United States for federal, state, and local agencies and programs serving MCH populations.
- Determine how different strengths, needs, values and practices of diverse cultural, racial, ethnic and socioeconomic groups affect health status, health behaviors and program design.
- Evaluate theories and principles of individual and family growth and development from an intergenerational and lifespan perspective.
- Apply appropriate research methods to the evaluation of MCH program and practices.
- Evaluate evidence-based methods that contribute to the translation of research into programming and practice.
- Recognize principles of ethical conduct in program management, research and data collection and storage.
- Identify, assess and prioritize health problems at the level of the community
- Develop a plan to monitor and evaluate a public health intervention or program, based on a theory of change.