Fall Institute Courses

300.851.98 Workshop: Innovative Experiences and Lessons Learned in the Epidemiological Surveillance of the Covid 19 Pandemic 
October 25, 2022
9:00 am -6:30 pm 
Workshop Leaders: Alexia Reyes Segura and Marc Olivella
Registration Fee: 140 Euros

The COVID-19 pandemic caused most public administrations across the globe to allocate more resources to epidemiological surveillance systems and found themselves under-financed or under-structured for responding effectively to the challenge. There has become a clear need to strengthen public health structures to face new infections or pandemics that may emerge in the future. The conditions under which the COVID-19 pandemic was managed have provided the opportunity to implement new intersectoral and interdepartmental methods of urban health coordination;  as the crisis generated by COVID-19 gives way to standard management, the epidemiological surveillance systems developed throughout the pandemic must be consolidated and analyzed.

The workshop will analyze innovative experiences developed in the city of Barcelona and other territories in the epidemiological surveillance of the COVID-19 pandemic.  Participants will discuss these experiences with the agents involved, in order to increase the transfer of learning to other areas of surveillance in Public Health.

This workshop will include interventions by experts in the epidemiological surveillance of COVID-19 from different regions of the world: Glòria Pérez (Barcelona Public Health Agency); Joshua Sharfstein (Johns Hopkins University, USA); Mario Martin (University of Hong Kong); and Lucy Ninmongo John (head of Public Health of Papua New Guinea)

Note, most of this workshop will be held in Spanish; no English translation will be available.  

300.852.98 Workshop: Environmental Epidemiology
October 26 -28, 2022
8:30 am – 6:00 pm each day
Workshop Leaders: Genee Smith, Laia Font and Patricia Gonzalez Marin
Registration Fee: 420 Euros

This 3-day intensive workshop will introduce the key health effects of environmental exposures and the epidemiologic methods used to identify and estimate those effects.  The interplay of methodological issues, including the assessment of environmental exposures and the understanding of specific disease processes in identifying the health impact of environmental exposures in the population, will be emphasized.  Additional topics for discussion include environmental exposures (including water and air pollution, food contamination, ionizing radiation, persistent environmental pollutants and emergent environmental exposures) and key methodological issues relevant for these exposures in population studies.

300.844.98 Public Health Policy in the Misinformation Age (2 credits)
October 27-28, 2022
8:30 am - 6:00 pm each day
Instructor(s): Joshua Sharfstein, Joanne Kenen, Maribel Pasarin and Elisenda Realp
Registration Fee: 280 Euros
JHU Academic Credit Tuition: $2520

This course will review the basic skills of public health policy and politics, including understanding key definitions and principles, assessing policymakers, formulating and analyzing policy questions, and advocating for change. We will also discuss the challenges of policy discussions amid a sea of misinformation and disinformation and the decline in traditional news media, as well as new opportunities for working with nontraditional media to advance consideration of major public health policy issues.

All participants enrolled in this course are expected to complete required readings prior to the start of the course. Participants enrolled in this course will be evaluated for receipt of the certificate of participation based class participation and paper outline.  Participants taking this course for Johns Hopkins or UPF academic credit will be further evaluated by a final paper due no later than December 23, 2022.

308.701.98 Media Interviews and Applied Public Health Communications (3 credits)
November 2 -4, 2022
8:30 am – 6:00 pm each day
Instructor: Meghan McGinty
Registration Fee: 420 Euros
JHU Academic Credit Tuition: $3810

Public health professionals are often tasked with communicating with the news media and giving presentations to a wide variety of stakeholders. This may be during an emergency situation, or to explain research and advocate for policies. Whether you are giving a presentation to a small group of colleagues or appearing on CNN, skills for effectively presenting information will inevitably come in handy during your career. This course offers practical exercises to help you be more confident, poised and prepared for public speaking. In this course, you will learn from real-life examples—both good and bad—and develop your own presentation skills during exercises.

This course will enhance skills to construct and deliver oral presentations with clarity and impact. It will provide techniques and guidelines to increase your effectiveness in translating public health information to various audiences, as well as communicating through the news media during both crisis and non-crisis situations. Topics to be addressed include: basics of effective presentations, non-verbal communications, case studies, giving an interview, preparing talking points, advocacy and the news media, and communicating in a public health emergency. Participants review videotapes of news coverage and participate as spokespersons in on-camera simulation exercises.

All participants enrolled in this course are expected to complete required readings prior to the start of the course. Participants enrolled in this course will be evaluated for receipt of the certificate of participation based on the pre-course assignment, class participation and in-course exercises.  Participants taking this course for Johns Hopkins or UPF academic credit will be further evaluated by a case study analysis due no later than December 23, 2022.

300.853.98 Workshop: Review of Interventions Aimed at Pediatric Teams to Address Vaccine Hesitancy
November 8, 2022
9:00 am -6:00 pm
Workshop Leaders: Sara Valmayor, Elisabet-Mae Henderson, Ellia Diez and Rupali Limaye
Registration Fee: 140 Euros

This workshop seeks to improve the knowledge, attitudes, and community and emotional skills of the nursing and pediatric staff of Centre d’Atenció Primària (CAP) in Catalunya.  The workshop will specifically focus on the vaccine hesitancy of families. The workshop will employ an expert review of the design of an intervention aimed at the pediatric teams, with the objective of optimizing the design of this kind of intervention.

550.608.98 Problem Solving in Public Health (4 credits)
November 8-11, 2022
8:30 am -6:00 pm each day
Instructors: Cyrus Engineer and Brian Wahl
Registration Fee: 560 Euros
JHU Academic Credit Tuition: $5080
Enrollment Maximum: 45

This course serves as an integrated introduction to the field of public health, offering definitions of health and public health, a comparison of the fields of public health and medicine, and an introduction to a broad array of current public health issues. The main focus of the course is to help students develop an effective, coherent approach to solving public health problems. Public health work is rarely conducted in isolation: Students will work in teams to develop their skills in the use of a public health framework for addressing public health challenges—and opportunities.

The Problem Solving framework used in the course contains a series of sequential steps: defining the problem; measuring its magnitude; understanding the key determinants; identifying and developing intervention and prevention strategies; setting priorities and recommending policies; implementing intervention strategies; and evaluating the interventions. Effective communication strategies are critical at all stages of the Problem-Solving framework, and the human rights impact of each step is actively considered.

All participants enrolled in this course are expected to complete required readings prior to the start of the course. Participants will be evaluated for receipt of the certificate of participation based on class participation, small group work and group presentation.  Participants taking this course for Johns Hopkins or UPF academic credit will be further evaluated based on a final paper due no later than December 23, 2022.

330.609.98 Climate Change and Mental Health (3 credits)
November 14 -16, 2022
8:30 am -6:00 pm each day
Instructor(s): Jura Augustinavicius and Jordi Alonso
Registration fee: 420 Euros
JHU Academic Credit Tuition: $3810

This course will examine mental health concepts of disorder, distress, well-being, and resilience in the context of climate change. We will focus on research, policy, and practice perspectives on 1) climate change exposures and their impacts on mental health and well-being, 2) social and environmental justice in climate change and mental health, 3) resilience, psychosocial adaptation, and action. Data will be presented on direct and indirect mental health and psychosocial impacts of chronic and acute climate change exposures. We will discuss inequalities in climate change impacts on mental health with examples from across local and global contexts and explore individual and community-level resilience, psychosocial adaptation, and areas of priority action.

All participants enrolled in this course are expected to complete required readings and the assignment prior to the start of the course. Participants enrolled in this course will be evaluated for receipt of the certificate of participation based on the pre-course assignment and class participation. Participants taking this course for Johns Hopkins or UPF academic credit will be further evaluated by a final proposal which may be a VoiceThread/PowerPoint presentation or a final paper due no later than December 23, 2022.

317.864.98 Advanced Topics in Climate Change Policy (2 credits)
November 17-18, 2022
8:30 am -6:00 pm each day
Instructor(s): Mary Sheehan, Ana Gomez and Laura Oliveras
Registration Fee: 280 Euros
JHU Academic Credit Tuition: $2540

This course focuses on advanced issues at the forefront of climate change and public health policy and practice and takes a complex system view that traverses the boundaries between sectors, spans government levels, and integrates perspectives across public and private actors.

This year’s topics include heat-health plans, compound extreme weather impacts and migration, the challenges of climate change on mental health, and the role of cities in climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies.  

All participants enrolled in this course are expected to complete required readings prior to the start of the course. Participants enrolled in this course will be evaluated for receipt of the certificate of participation based on class participation and a paper outline. Participants taking this course for Johns Hopkins or UPF academic credit will be further evaluated by a final paper due no later than December 23, 2022.

300.854.98 Workshop: How Research on Food Safety Control May Contribute to Better Implementation and Enforcement by Authorities
November 21, 2022
9:00 am -6:00 pm
Workshop Leaders: Eduard Grau and Janne Lunden
Registration Fee: 140 Euros

This workshop will explore different research lines that can be conducted in official food safety control to support and contribute to control authorities’ performance. Focus will be on the consistency and effectiveness of food control as well as their impact on public health.

300.855.98 Workshop: Cooperative Housing and Health; The Experiences of Uruguay and Barcelona
November 24, 2022
9:00 am -6:00 pm
Workshop Leaders: Catherine Perez and Gustavo Machado
Registration Fee: 140 Euros

This workshop will explore cooperative housing options and their impacts on health.  An expert from Uruguay will discuss the country’s developments in cooperative housing over the last 50 years, and these experiences will be used to reflect on the implementation of cooperative housing in Barcelona.

Note: this workshop will be held in Spanish; no English translation will be available.

300.856.98 Workshop: Art and Public Health
To Be Announced by March 2023
Workshop Leaders: Rosa Puigpinos and Susan Magsamen
Registration Fee: 140 Euros

The Barcelona Public Health Agency (ASPB) is launching a project focused on art in public health, ArtGran, in collaboration with different museums in the city. The project is aimed at reducing unwanted loneliness in the elderly. This workshop will analyze the results of the project as a way of furthering knowledge of how art can be used to improve health. It will focus on matters such as: conceptual framework in Arts in Health; methods for measuring how artistic activity regulates emotions; assessing museums as centers of emotional well-being; and scientific evidence of interventions or actions taken in museums focused on the elderly (and other vulnerable population groups), isolation and loneliness.