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Phone: (815) 753-1384
Fax: (815) 753-5406
phhe@niu.edu
Public Health (M.P.H.) Program Specializations
Health Promotion
Specialists in health promotion design, conduct, and evaluate programs to help people choose healthier lifestyles, to make more efficient use of health services, to adopt self-care practices, and to participate actively in the design and implementation of programs that affect health. There has been growing recognition that health promotion plays a critical role in public health academics and in practice. Health promotion is a multi-faceted field, drawing from the social and behavioral sciences such as anthropology, psychology, education, and sociology, and is a nationally recognized subspecialty in public health educational, research, practice, and training programs.
Health promotion activities can take place in a variety of settings: schools, communities, health care facilities, businesses, and colleges. Health promotion specialists are employed under a range of job titles such as patient educators, health educators, trainers, community organizers, and health program managers. The National Commission for Health Education Credentialing, Inc. oversees the Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES) credentialing process through a national exam of health education standards. The CHES credential is widely recognized as a strong indicator of professional competency in health education and health promotion.
Health Services Management
Health services management is a multidisciplinary field of inquiry, both basic and applied, that examines the use, costs, quality, accessibility, delivery, organization, financing, and outcomes of health care services. The goal of the discipline of health services management is to increase knowledge and understanding of the structure, processes, and effects of health services in order to train individuals to organize and deliver programs that improve people's health status.
As health care delivery continues to evolve, professionals trained in health services management are in high demand. Today's managed care environment requires professionals to focus on the study of health care systems, health care reform, health law, financial management, clinical management, and policy analysis. In addition, health administrators play an important role in the organization and financing of medical care, analysis of utilization patterns, patient and provider relations, developing health information systems, monitoring changes in health service demand, and delivery.
Health services managers work in a variety of settings, including but not limited to hospitals, clinics, public health departments, mental health facilities, long-term care facilities, and health insurance companies, such as managed care organizations.