Degree Type: 

Bachelor of Arts

Department: 

Department of Population and Health

Modes of Study: 

Regular

About Programme: 

This programme was started in the 2007/2008 academic year. It is a successor to the former Population and Family Life Education programme of the Department of Geography and Tourism,  started in 1996 with the support of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Ghana Education Service (GES). It goal then and now is to train personnel in issues of population and development. A review of the programme (Population and Family Life Education) in 2006, as part of the restructuring of the Faculty of Social Sciences led to the emergence of a new academic programme, Population and Health deveoted to the study of population science and the social dimensions of health in the Faculty of Social Sciences. 

Objectives 

The specific objectives of the programme are to: Introduce students to issues which will enable them acquire both personal and professional skills in population and health issues; Promote an understanding of issues on population and health among students which will enable them contribute to national programmes on them; and assist to empower students to become agents of change on issues in population and health. 

Entry Requirements: 

  • Senior High School students

Candidates to this programme should have passes in Core English, Core Mathematics, Integrated Science or Social Studies. In addition, candidates must have passes in any three of the following subjects: Geography, Economics, Elective Mathematics, History/Government and Introduction to Business Management.

  • Mature Candidates

Qualified mature students will be admitted as per the conditions set out by the University.

Career Opportunities: 

The goal of the programme is to train graduates who will be able to understand and appreciate population and health issues as well as participate in policy formulation and implementation of programmes in population and social dimensions of health-related issues. 

Programme Structure

Level 100

First Semester

CMS 107: Communicative Skills I
3 Credit(s)

Engaging in academic work at the university is challenging. This course is aimed at equipping fresh students to make the transition from pre-university level to the university level. It assists them in engaging and succeeding in complex academic tasks in speaking, listening, reading and writing. It also provides an introduction to university studies by equipping students with skills that will help them to engage in academic discourse with confidence and fluency.

CSC 101: INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTING
3 Credit(s)

Not yet ready

GEO 103: THEMATIC GEOGRAPHY OF GHANA
3 Credit(s)

This course covers aspects of the physical, socio-political and economic conditions that have shaped the physical and cultural landscape of Ghana.  Issues include evolution of landscapes, geographical regions, population distribution and migration, settlement patterns and health systems.  Other topics include key economic activities in Ghana and effects of globalization on the economy of Ghana

Objective: It is expected that at the end of the course, students would be able to describe some physical features/characteristics and their implications on the socio-economic and political development of Ghana.

Mode of Delivery: The content will be delivered through lectures, individual and group presentations and fieldwork.

ILT 101: INFORMATION LITERACY
1 Credit(s)

Yet to populated

POH 101: INTRODUCTION TO POPULATION AND HEALTH
3 Credit(s)

The objective of this course is to develop students’ capacity to understand and appreciate issues in population and health.

The course introduces students to the background, rationale and basic issues in population and health. The issues include social dimensions of health, the interactions within and between populations which have implications for health and ill-health, issues of healthy living and the aspects of spread of diseases. It also covers definitions and concepts associated with population and social dimensions of health (e.g. the definition of health and the health continuum).

Mode of Delivery: The content will be delivered through lectures, guest lectures, individual and group presentations.

POH 102: INDIVIDUAL, FAMILY, COMMUNITY AND SOCIETY
3 Credit(s)

This course deals with basic concepts about the individual as an entity, a member of a family, a community and society. The concepts discussed are the family, the community and

society; individual’s responsibility to the family, community and society. These basic concepts are related to perception of population numbers, size, growth and quality;

changing attitudes towards population issues and the range of responses from individuals, households, communities and society and their implications for health and healthy living.

Objective: The objective of the course is to build the capacity of students to analyze issues in population and health relating to the individual, family, community and society

Mode of Delivery: The content will be delivered by means of didactic lectures, individual and or group presentations and guest lectures. 

POH 103: INTRODUCTION TO REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH
3 Credit(s)

The course focuses on the concepts of reproductive health and examines the evolution from family planning to reproductive health. It includes the definition and components of sexual and reproductive health, societal responses to issues in reproductive health, and specific aspects such as adolescent and adults (male and female) reproductive health.

Objective: By the end of this course, the student should be able to explain basic concepts in reproductive health.

Mode of Delivery: The content will be delivered through lectures, individual and group presentations. Beyond epidemiology. Oxford. UK: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Second Semester

CMS 108: Communicative Skills II
3 Credit(s)

This is a follow-up course on the first semester one. It takes students through writing correct sentences, devoid of ambiguity, through the paragraph and its appropriate development to the fully-developed essay. The course also emphasizes the importance and the processes of editing written work.

EVT 134: NUTRITION AND HEALTH
3 Credit(s)

The course emphasizes the concepts of balanced diet, the six food nutrients and their sources. It also explores what constitutes healthy eating and diets of various groups of people in different health states and across the life cycle. It also deals with health implications of dietary practices. 

Objective:The objective of the course is to equip students with basic knowledge in nutrition for health. 

Mode of Delivery: Apart from lectures, individual or group presentations will be part of the mode of delivery. 

ILT 101B: INFORMATION LITERACY
1 Credit(s)

Yet to populate

POH 104: INTRODUCTION TO DYNAMICS OF POPULATION CHANGE
3 Credit(s)

The course introduces students to basic concepts in population change: issues in fertility, mortality and migration as components of population change. Aspects will include trends and patterns of fertility and mortality in Ghana and Africa, patterns of historical as well as current movements in Ghana and Africa (e.g. slave trade and refugeeism) and identify factors which have contributed to the change in human population size and characteristics in time and space and how population has in turn generated changes such as rapid urbanization due to migration.

Objective: By the end of the course, the student will be able to explain basic concepts in dynamics of population change.

Mode of Delivery: The content will be delivered through lectures, individual and group presentations.

POH 106: BASIC ECONOMICS FOR POPULATION AND HEALTH
3 Credit(s)

The course deals with basic elements of economics as they relate to population and health. Among the basic concepts are individual demand and supply, market demand and supply, supply of labour, vertical and horizontal mobility of labour, labour and economic production, different economic systems and the significance for human capital development especially in developing countries, pricing of factors, including labour, and reasons for differences in wages.

Objective: The objective of the course is to equip students with skills to apply basic concepts in economics to human population and health issues.       

Mode of Delivery: The mode of delivery is the lecture method. In addition, students will be made to do independent research and report on their findings through presentations.

Level 200

First Semester

POH 201: INDIVIDUAL GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT
3 Credit(s)

The objective of this course is to equip students with knowledge on human growth and development issues.  Theories, concepts and other social issues in individual growth and development constitute the core aspects of the course. It is expected that after going through the course, students will have the capacity to explain issues regarding human development, understand and cope with individual differences, adapt to societal changes as well as develop basic skills to manage and address personal, interpersonal and group conflicts.

Objective:By the end of the course students should be able to explain basic concepts, theoretical and conceptual issues and the social processes involved in human growth and development.

Mode of Delivery: The content will be delivered by means of didactic lecturers, group presentations and experience sharing.

POH 203: POPULATION, ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT
3 Credit(s)

This course deals with concepts and perspectives in population, development and the environment; population growth, size and quality; concept of sustainable development and environment and their complications for health; environmental perception and development; socio-economic implications of a rapid population growth in Ghana; population, development and the environment with reference to land, water, forests, mining, wildlife and pollution;  managing the environment; attaining sustainable development in Ghana.

Objective:The objective underpinning this course is to help students understand the theoretical and empirical issues in population, environment and development, drawing examples from global and local contexts.

Mode of Delivery: Lecture, seminar and brainstorming techniques will be used to deliver the course content to students.

POH 205: GENDER, HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT
3 Credit(s)

The course deals with a proper definition of gender, and examines gender as a tool for discrimination. It further deals with the link between gender and how they affect the health males and females differently. It further examines socio-cultural practices such as division of labour and violence and how they affect males and females. It again examines strategies such as legislation, education, abolition, empowerment inclusion in decision making that aim at bridging the gender gap. Finally, gender mainstreaming is dealt with.

Objectives:The course is to equip students with the skills to be able to synthesize the social, cultural, economic, political and religious conditions that work together to influence issues of gender.

Mode of Delivery: Lecture method is the main mode of delivery. However, students will be assigned to do private research on specific topics and make presentations in class.

POH 207: ETHICS OF POPULATION AND HEALTH
3 Credit(s)

The course introduces students to the basic issues in ethics and their applications to various dimensions of population and health. It involves aspects such as the meaning of life; perceptions and rationale for population issues such as numbers, marriage, childbearing, family formation, socialization; the practices and the relevance of Christianity, Islam and traditional African religion for family living, population and the environment as well as issues of ethics in population and health including the debate on in-vitro fertilization, cloning, euthanasia and abortion. The course will also deal with ethical issues in population and health research.

Objective: The main objective of the course is to introduce students to theoretical and practical aspects of ethics with special emphasis on ethical issues in population and health.

Mode of Delivery:The lecture method will be the main mode of delivery. There will also be student led review and presentation of relevant texts from the reading materials.

SOC 214: SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
3 Credit(s)

This course examines the nature and methods of Social Psychology as a discipline.  Specific topics of Social Psychological concerns to be discussed include: The self and Self Perception, Attribution and Social Perception.  Attitudes: Persuasion and Attitude Change, Social Influence, Social Psychology and Health, Aggression versus Prosocial Behaviour, Group and Behaviour, Group and Behaviour, and Leadership.

Objective:The course will expose students to concepts, nature and methods, theories and dynamics involved in social psychology.

Mode of Delivery: Lectures and individual or group presentations will constitute the main mode of delivery. 

SSR 201: BASIC STATISTIC
3 Credit(s)

This is an introductory course that focuses on data and statistical reasoning. The course basically introduces students to the linkage between statistics and research methods,

and further enables them to apply appropriate procedures in analysing data and further producing research reports.

Object: By the end of the course students should be able to differentiate among the various parametric and non-parametric statistical techniques, state hypotheses and select appropriate

testing procedures and make appropriate statistical decisions and draw relevant conclusions

Mode of Delivery: The content will be delivered by means of lectures, group discussions and exercises in class.

Second Semester

POH 202: DISEASE PATTERNS IN GHANA AND AFRICA
3 Credit(s)

Basic concepts relevant to the discussion of diseases such as sickness, illness, disease incidence and prevalence are discussed. Classification of diseases based on the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) is dealt with. Issues such as victims and effects of diseases and health care systems that are bused to mitigate the effects of such diseases are dealt with.

Objective: The objective of the course is to equip students with basic knowledge and skills to analyze common diseases that afflict Ghana and the rest of the developing world and their effects on the victims.

 

Modes of Delivery:Modes of delivery will be the lecture method while students are assigned topics to research into and group presentations made

 

POH 204: Epidemiology
3 Credit(s)

This course involves concepts, principles and basic tools in epidemiology such as transmission of communicable diseases, concept of causality and estimation of health risk, measurement of population health status, measures of effect, and internal and external validity, all within the context of population/public health. It focuses on the practical application of the principles and methods of epidemiology to public health problems, planning, implementation and evaluation of intervention strategies. 

Objective: The main aim of this course is to introduce student to the concepts, principles and methods of epidemiology.

Mode of Delivery: The course is delivered through lectures, seminars, tutorial and presentation of epidemiological research by students

POH 206 : BASIC INDICES IN POPULATION AND HEALTH
3 Credit(s)

The course deals with basic indices in population and health among these are measures of fertility (crude birth rates, age specific birth rates, total fertility rates, etc), morbidity (incidence and prevalence rates, burden of diseases, etc) mortality (crude death rates, age specific death rates, expectation of life at birth etc) and migration (in and out migration rates, cross and net migration rates, etc). It also covers population growth rates as well as the interpretation of these measurements

Objective: The main objective of the course is to introduce students to some basic measurements in population and health.

Mode of Delivery: The lecture method will be the main mode of delivery but students will also be expected to do individual or group presentations in class

SOC 204: SOCIAL STRUCTURE OF GHANA
3 Credit(s)

The course is designed to enable students examine the impacts of social change on traditional Ghanaian social institutions, particularly, the transition from colonialism to a modern nation state.  Emphasis is on the gradual transformation of the traditional political, religious, economic, family and marriage, education and health institutions.  Trends in industrialization and urbanization and their consequences, factors of social change and their ramifications, contemporary social problems such as ethnicity, misuse of technology, population trends, health and the effects of rural –urban migration are also discussed.

Objective: This course attempts to assist students to appreciate how issues on social change could transform various institutions and actors and the implications of such changes to society.

Mode of Delivery: Lectures and individual or group presentations will be the mode of delivery. 

SSR 202 : RESEARCH METHODS
3 Credit(s)

 This course provides opportunity for students to advance their understanding of research through critical exploration of research language, ethics, and approaches. The course introduces the language of research, ethical principles and challenges, and the elements of the research process within quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods approaches. Students will use these theoretical underpinnings to begin to critically review literature relevant to their field or interests and determine how research findings are useful in forming their understanding of their environment.                          

Objective:The course aims at introducing students to basic concepts used in research and to scientific social research methods and their approaches. It includes discussions on literature review, ethic issues, sampling techniques, research designs, data collection and techniques of analysis.

Mode of Delivery: Lectures, group discussions and exercises in class will constitute the mode of delivery.

Level 300

First Semester

POH 301 : PROJECT DEVELOPMENT AND MANAGEMENT IN POPULATION AND HEALTH
3 Credit(s)

The course deals with key concepts and perspectives in project identification, design, development and management. It covers community participation in project development, management, monitoring and evaluation. It uses existing programmes/projects documents on population and health as case studies. Students are also expose to basic steps involved in proposal writing and project design and implementation.

Objective:The main focus of the course is to expose students to project development and management in population and health.

Mode of Delivery: The main mode of delivery is lectures but students will also be expected to do individual and group presentations in class

POH 301: : PROJECT DEVELOPMENT AND MANAGEMENT IN POPULATION AND HEALTH
3 Credit(s)

The course deals with key concepts and perspectives in project identification, design, development and management. It covers community participation in project development, management, monitoring and evaluation. It uses existing programmes/projects documents on population and health as case studies. Students are also expose to basic steps involved in proposal writing and project design and implementation.

Objective:The main focus of the course is to expose students to project development and management in population and health.

Mode of Delivery: The main mode of delivery is lectures but students will also be expected to do individual and group presentations in class

POH 302: BEHAVIOURAL CHANGE COMMUNICATION IN POPULATION AND HEALTH
3 Credit(s)

The course is designed to expose students to basic concepts in behavioural change communication (BCC) within the context of population. Students will be exposed to some basic concepts in behavioural change communication. Also, students will acquire knowledge on theoretical and conceptual models on behaviour change communication in population and health. Further to this, they will go through planning, developing, managing and monitoring and evaluation of behavioural change communication programmes in population and health.

Objectives: By the end of the course the students will understand basic concepts and acquire practical skills relevant for the design and implementation of behavioural change communication in population and health.

Mode of Delivery: The content will be delivered by means of didactic lecturers, group presentations and experience sharing.

POH 303: HEALTH POLICY AND PLANNING
3 Credit(s)

This course will cover policy analysis by examining issues in the health sector, focusing on the policymaking process and the basic tools used in policy design, implementation and evaluation. It will deal with policy issues associated with health needs of the country and other developing countries within the context of evolving economic, cultural, technological, political, ideological, and globalization factors and forces. Specific policy topics and applications (e.g. Health Insurance, Regenerative Health etc.) will be discussed to illustrate issues in the policy analysis process.

Objective: By the end of the course the student should be able to understand health planning and policy processes.

Mode of Delivery:The content will be delivered through lectures, guest lectures, individual and group presentations.

 

POH 304: ESTIMATING DEMOGRAPHIC INDICES AND EVALUATION OF DATA QUALITY IN POPULATION AND HEALTH
3 Credit(s)

The course involves methods of population estimation and projections. It includes assumptions underlying projections and estimations of fertility, mortality, and migration as inputs into population projections; direct and indirect estimates of population indices; estimating components of total fertility; and the aggregation and DIS-aggregation of data by age for projections. The course also exposes students to techniques and methods for assessing quality of demographic and health datasets such as the use of progression ratios, average parities among others.

Objective :This course aims at exposing students to major tools available for estimations, projections and assessing data quality for demographic and health analyses.

Mode of Delivery :This course will be delivered mainly with the lecture method and study assignments to enhance participation of students.

POH 311: HEALTH EDUCATION
3 Credit(s)

This course involves strategies for providing information on issues such as the concept of health and healthy living; physical fitness; individual responsibilities in attaining good health; health delivery systems; communicating health information to people; strategies for dealing with outbreak of diseases such as HIV, caring for the sick, aged and handicapped; drug use and abuse.            

Objectives: On completion of the course students will be equipped with concepts in basic health and wellness and the relevant skills to design, implement and evaluate health education programmes/activities for solving public health problems in different socio-economic contexts at both local and national levels.

 

Mode of Delivery: The content will be delivered through lectures, individual and or group presentations. In order to ensure that students benefit from different perspectives on some of the topics included, colleagues and visiting lecturers/practicing professionals may be invited to provide specialist contribution when necessary.

 

POH 314 : OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY
3 Credit(s)

The course focuses on core concepts of occupational health and safety. Workrelated health disorders and diseases due to the interaction of employees and employers with their working environment health and wellbeing of the workforce, including hygiene practices at workplaces will be at the core of this course. Theories of occupational health and safety will be examined. Students will be introduced to major occupational health related diseases including those of the musculoskeletal system, the lungs, and the skin, as well as accidents; legal and policy frameworks within which occupation health operates in Ghana.  Objective:The objective of this course is to equip students to understand the fundamental issues relating occupational health and safety.

Mode of Delivery:The content will be delivered through lectures, guest lectures, individual and group presentations.

POH 317: INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE IN POPULATION AND HEALTH
3 Credit(s)

This course deals with the perspectives of indigenous knowledge in population and health. The course describes the cosmovision that underpins these perspectives and discusses the thematic issues in contemporary global and local contexts. The focus of the course centres on indigenous knowledge within the contexts of beliefs, perceptions, experiences, practices and life transitions in population and health. It also relates to the construction of illness and health, and the role of traditional medicine in health care delivery. Theoretical models including the cosmovision constellation related knowledge model, indigenous human life-cycle and the bio-psychosocial-S will be used to guide the discussion.

Objective: The main objective of the course is to discuss the perspectives of indigenous knowledge in population and indigenous/traditional construction of illness and health. 

Mode of Delivery

Mode of delivery will be in three forms:

  • Discussion (main delivery)
  • Lecture method
  • Individual research and presentation

POH 326: EPIDEMIOLOGY OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES
3 Credit(s)

The course will deal with infectious diseases of public health importance in Ghana and sub-Saharan Africa. It will situate issues associated with infectious diseases within the wider socioeconomic and political contexts of the infectious diseases that will be considered. Approaches will include definitions and taxonomy, outbreak investigations, disease surveillance (passive and active), case-control studies, cohort studies, and dynamics of transmission. Case studies will be selected from respiratory infections, diarrheal diseases, tuberculosis, sexually transmitted diseases, malaria, and meningitis, other vector-borne diseases. Students will also be introduced to techniques for mathematical modelling of infectious diseases.

Objective: By the end of the course the student should be able to explain the dynamics of the epidemiology of infectious

Mode of Delivery: The content will be delivered through lectures, guest lectures, individual and group presentations.

Second Semester

POH 306: DEMOGRAPHIC INDICES AND DATA QUALITY
3 Credit(s)

The course involves analysis and description of demographic indices on fertility, mortality and migration. The course also exposes students to techniques and methods for assessing quality of demographic and health datasets such as the use of progression ratios, average parities among others.

Objective :The main objective of this course is to equip students with the knowledge and skills to analyze demographic indices and assess data quality for demographic and health issues.

 

 

Mode of Delivery :Lectures, group presentations and exercises in class constitute the mode of delivery.

POH 307: SOCIAL BEHAVIOURAL CHANGE COMMUNICATION IN POPULATION AND HEALTH
3 Credit(s)

The course covers some basic concepts in social behavioural change communication. Also, students will acquire knowledge on theoretical and conceptual models on social behaviour change communication in population and health. Further to this, they will go through planning, developing, managing and monitoring and evaluation of social behavioural change communication programmes in population and health.

Objectives: By the end of the course in social behavioural change communication in population and health, the student be equipped with the basic concepts in social behavioural change communication in population and health and skills relevant for the design and implementation of social behavioural change communication of population and health

Mode of Delivery: The content will be delivered by lecturers and group presentations.

POH 312: INDIVIDUAL AND FAMILY RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
3 Credit(s)

The course employs concepts and theoretical approaches of an ecosystem to describe the characteristics and interactive nature of a family. It covers issues such as  selective perceptions, decision making and human actions as they influence adaptation and the selection and use of resources as a means towards attainment of life goals, satisfaction of needs and quality of the environment. Others include types of resources, availability and variations in different family system, factors influencing family resource allocation, uses and conservation.

Objectives: By the end of the course students will be able to describe the characteristics of the family as a system and how resources are allocated and conserved.

Mode of Delivery: The content will be delivered through lectures, individual and or group presentations.

POH 313: ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION
3 Credit(s)

The course focuses on concepts and issues of the environment and how these can be communicated to individuals, groups and communities. It deals with issues of natural and human-made ecosystems; environmental perception and behaviour; indigenous knowledge, culture and the environment; influence of people on the environment; individual and group interest and the environment; environment and health; implications of environmental degradation (e.g. pollution; bush burning; deforestation) for socio-economic development; conservation (e.g. afforestation); Ghana’s environmental policy; sustainable environment for development; strategies for educating communities to appreciate issues  needed for groups to achieve sustainable environmental practices.

Objective: The main objective of the course is to equip students with the skills to educate individuals, groups and communities about environmental issues.

Mode of Delivery

  • The lecture method
  • Group presentation
  • Group mini-project work based on any environmental issue in and around the University community.

POH 315 : URBAN HEALTH
3 Credit(s)

 It deals with public health issues associated with rapid growth of urban population in developing countries urban poor as well as the emerging middle-class populations. Emphasises will be on urban health problems of developing countries; health of slum areas, affluent areas, migrants/refugees, children, aged, and populations at high risk (CSW, MSM, IDU etc.) will be given priority. Changes in urban physical and social environment and their consequences for health, nutrition, lifestyle risks such as commercial sex work, same-sex relationships, access to conventional health services, and the design and implementation of a coordinated and cost-effective health care system will be examined. It introduces these concepts and presents case studies for analysis.

Objective: The objective of this course is to build the capacity of students to understand the process of urbanization and the associated health implications.

Mode of Delivery: The content will be delivered through lectures, guest lectures, individual and group presentations.

POH 316: GLOBAL HEALTH
3 Credit(s)

This course provides an overview of global health issues. Topics to be discussed include: Global and regional burden of disease and risk factors; Global health policies, the impact of globalization on health, the impact of climate change on health, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and health and actors in global health politics.  

Objective:The objective of this course is to develop students’ understanding of global health.

Mode of Delivery: The content will be delivered through lectures, guest lectures, individual and group presentations

POH 321: SEX AND SEXUALITY
3 Credit(s)

The course deals with theoretical perspectives on sexuality such as evolutionary, psychological and sociological theories of sexuality. In addition, variations in sexual behaviour and laws that regulate sexual behaviour are examined. Further, sexual disorders, sexually transmitted infe3ctions and diseases as well as ethics and sex education are dealt with.

Objective: The course is to equip students to understand issues that affect sex and sexuality and apply the knowledge gained to deal with misconceptions associated with sexual behavior.

Modes of Delivery:The main mode of delivery in this course is the lecture method. In addition, group presentations will be done by students based on selected topics.     

POH 322: INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIAL DEVELOPMENT
3 Credit(s)

The course exposes students to the processes and strategies for the development of population and health education materials for education and behavior change communication. Students will be introduced to the processes involved in the planning and development of visual, audio and audio-visual materials. At the end of the course, students will develop instructional materials such as photos, newsletters, posters, flyers, songs, poems, riddles, plays, role plays and games that educate and contribute to behaviour change in population and health. 

Objective: The main objective of the course is to improve the basic skills of students to enable them develop instructional materials on education, communication and behaviour change communication in population and health.

Mode of delivery: Lectures, group presentations and discussion.

POH 325: BIOSTATISTICS
3 Credit(s)

The course deals with descriptive summary of epidemiologic data and basic principles that underlie health research designs and statistical inferences. It involves fundamental statistical procedures for research projects such as descriptive statistics, probability, distributions, hypothesis testing and estimation, comparisons of means and proportions, analysis of variance, measures of association, regression and correlation, two-way analysis of variance and covariance, multiple regression, analysis of categorical data, logistic regression, poisson regression and survival analysis in population and health.      

Objectives: By the end of the course the students should be able to understand basic principles underlying health research design and also perform and interpret various epidemiological and statistical data.

Mode of Delivery: The content will be delivered by means of didactic lecturers, group presentations and experience sharing.

POH 397: WRITING SKILLS AND SEMINARS
3 Credit(s)

The course involves review and summary of literature, analysis of data collected from the field and secondary data (e.g. Demographic and Health Survey data); presentation of materials in written form and in power point. Special emphasis will be placed on the collection and analysis of demographic and health data and presentations of topical issues in class.

Objective: The aim of the course is to provide students with practical skills in scientific writing.

Mode of Delivery: The course employs role-plays, discussion, seminars and lectures to guide students benefit from the course content.

POH 398: Practicum
3 Credit(s)

This involves staying in a community for 8 to 10 days during the end of level 300 or attachment during the long vacation at a population and/or health-related institution such as the Ghana AIDS Commission, Population Council, an NGO involved in population and/or health activities or an organized fieldwork by the Department.  Lecturers will be expected to supervise students in the field.

Level 400

First Semester

POH 401: Qualitative Research Methods
3 Credit(s)

This course introduces students to the range of qualitative techniques available and their uses in population and health-based research. It deals with the philosophy underlying qualitative data collection techniques, data management, as well as report preparation. Topics include the concept of qualitative research; sampling procedures and methods of data collection such as in-depth interview, focus group discussion, community fora, individual and group narration, social mapping, body mapping, participatory learning activities, key informants and observation. 

Objective:The main objective of the course is to introduce to students the science of qualitative research and develop their skills to conduct a qualitative study population and health.

 

Mode of Delivery: Mode of delivery will be lectures and individual presentations in class.

 

POH 403: Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health
3 Credit(s)

This adolescent reproductive health course is designed to equip the student with an understanding of the situation of Adolescents reproductive health in the world since the ICPD of 1994.

Objectives: This course is to equip students with basic concepts and analytical frameworks used in adolescent reproductive health.

Mode of Delivery: The content will be delivered by means of didactic lecturers, group presentations and experience sharing.

POH 405: PRINCIPLES OF GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING
3 Credit(s)

The course involves basic concepts and principles in guidance and counselling.  It introduces students to the services employed to operationalize guidance practices and family-related issues: dealing with families; counselling of adolescents; group processes intervention procedures; especially within the context of HIV and AIDS. 

Objectives: By the end of the course, it is expected that students will be able to understand some basic theories of counseling, the scope and nature of guidance and counseling and the role of functionaries in the guidance and counselling process.

Mode of delivery: The content will be delivered by means of didactic lectures, individual and or group presentations.

 

POH 413: Fertility Regulation
3 Credit(s)

The course discusses broad issues in fertility regulation. It involves issues such as the concept of fertility regulation; traditional and modern methods of fertility regulation; rationale for family planning; family planning programmes: static point services, community-based distribution (CBD), social marketing, post-partum programmes; family planning and health; family planning and maternal and child health and male involvement in family planning.

Objective: The course aims at providing students with knowledge on basic concepts and theories in fertility and their application to understanding population and health issues.

Mode of Delivery: This course is delivered through lectures, presentation of research articles, class exercises and group discussions

POH 422: POPULATION, POVERTY AND HEALTH
3 Credit(s)

The course deals with population, poverty and health over space and time. It focuses on the inter-linkages between population, poverty and health within varied contexts. The course discusses the theoretical perspectives, contemporary debates, dimensions, dynamics, indigenous knowledge and institutional responses in population, poverty and health. The course also relates the core themes (population, poverty and health) to the context of the environment (natural, social and built-up), and discusses the centrality of the environment to these themes.  

Objective:The main objective of the course is to broaden the scope of knowledge of students on the nexus between population, poverty and health.

Mode of Delivery

Mode of delivery will be in three forms:

  • Individual presentation (main delivery)
  • Lecture method
  • Preparation and presentation of term paper   

POH 424: MIGRATION, HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT
4 Credit(s)

The course deals with concepts, theories and patterns of migration in Ghana and the rest of the world. It covers contemporary issues on migration, health and development with particular reference to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It highlights policy frameworks and conventions on internal and international migration as well as their implications to both sending and receiving countries. Also, it examines the nexus between migration and agriculture, mining, gender, health, education, environment and development.

Objective:The main objective of this course is to expose students to the dynamics involved in migration, health and development.

Mode of Delivery: The main mode of delivery will be lectures but students will be expected to do individual or group presentations in class as part of their assessment.

POH 426: TECHNIQUES OF ANALYSIS IN POPULATION AND HEALTH
4 Credit(s)

The course involves techniques of measurements in population, health and development such as the physical quality of life index, human development index, gender-empowerment index, poverty index, disability-adjusted lost years, diseases burden, and measures malnutrition and gross years of school life at the global and national levels. 

Objective: The objective of the course is to expose students to some of the techniques used to derive some indicators of population health. Discussions will focus on the application of these concepts in international development discourses and their implications for designing and implementing local/country-level policies and planning. 

Mode of Delivery: The course will be delivered by lecturers, individual and group presentations.

Second Semester

POH 402: Dynamics of Natural Population Change
3 Credit(s)

The course deals with the basic concepts, theories and models of natural population change in Ghana, Africa and the rest of the world. Among the issues to be discussed are patterns of fertility and mortality, reasons accounting for the observed patterns and their implications for socio-economic development; issues of reproductive health associated with fertility; dynamics of fertility and mortality, and socio-economic development. 

Objectives:By the end of the course students should be able to explain various concepts, theories and perspectives in fertility and mortality.

Mode of Delivery:The content will be delivered through lectures, guest lectures, individual and group presentations and assigned readings.

POH 404: EMERGING DISEASES (WITH EMPHASIS ON HIV AND AIDS)
3 Credit(s)

The course deals with the history of diseases and the emergence of certain diseases at any point in time. The core issues to be deals with include the concept of epidemiological transition, health transition, HIV and AIDS, Emerging diseases (with emphasis on those found in Africa) and infectious disease control strategies. Specific populations’ susceptibility to emerging diseases as well as the sociocultural context of exposure to these risk factors will be discussed during the course. In addition, the national, regional and global economic and social impacts of emerging diseases will be covered.

Objective: The objective of the course is to introduce students to emerging disease with emphasis on HIV and AIDS from a socio-demographic context.

 

Mode of delivery: The modes of delivery are lecture and discussion.

 

POH 406: EMERGING AND RE-EMERGINGDISEASES
3 Credit(s)

This course deals with the history of diseases and the emergence of certain diseases at any point in time. Concepts such as the epidemiological transition and health transition will be employed. The current focus will be on HIV and AIDS as the emerging disease of the last century. Some of the emerging and reemerging diseases are Ebola, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Buruli Ulcer it emphasises the socio-cultural context in which these disease outbreaks occur, the vulnerability of certain populations to 'new' diseases and socio-political responses for outbreaks.  

 Objective: The aim of the course is to enable students to understand population and public health issues surrounding the emergence and reemergence of diseases.

 Mode of Delivery: This course is delivered through lectures, presentation of research articles, class exercises and group discussions.

POH 423: Population and Health Policies of Ghana
3 Credit(s)

Topics will include the concept of policy; objectives and types of policies; stages in the development of policies; scope and content of population and health policies. The course will also highlight on the multidisciplinary nature of public policy processes and contexts, by focusing on demography, public health, epidemiology, political science, public administration, sociology and political theory. The course focuses on specific examples of population and health policies of Ghana as well as from other developing and developed countries.

Objective:The course introduces students to issues involved in population and health policies formulation, implementation and evaluation within the context of national development.

Mode of Delivery: Lecture method will be the main model for delivery. It will be complemented with assignments on individual and group basis.

 

POH 425: REFUGEE STUDIES
3 Credit(s)

The course focuses on basic concepts and theories in refugeeism; historical and contemporary perspectives of refugee situation in and outside Africa; implications of refugee situation to the individual refuge, the host community/country and the country of origin. It also covers refugee-host relationships; health and livelihoods of refuges; refugee governance; the durable solutions to refugee problems and humanitarian support to refugees and the role of agencies in solving refugee crises.

Objective: The main objective of this course is to introduce students to basic concepts and perspectives in refugee studies

 

Mode of Delivery: The main mode of delivery will be lectures but students could be sent to the nearest refugee camp to interact/interview refugees and make group presentations in class.

 

POH 428: HEALTH SYSTEMS RESEARCH
3 Credit(s)

The course deals with issues in socio-cultural and economic dimensions of health system research. Among the issues to be covered are role of health systems research, health research for socio-economic development within the context of health as a social good; priority-setting methodologies; network analysis in health research.

Objectives:The objective of the course is to enable students to understand the concept of health as a social good, methodologies and techniques used in health systems research, management and importance of health systems research for national development.

Mode of Delivery: The content will be delivered by means of didactic lectures, individual and or group presentations.

POH 499: PROJECT WORK
3 Credit(s)

Students are expected to present an original essay of not more than 10,000 words on a topic related to population and health. Through this project the student should demonstrate ability to assemble,

analyse and interpret data in population and health. Emphasis will be on originality and presentation of information. Students’ project works are supervised by Lectures in the Department.

SOC 412: POPULATION, HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT
3 Credit(s)

This course deals with the assessment of health status of populations in clinical, epidemiological and sociological contexts.  It also examines interrelationships between health and population structure and dynamics, and the effects of population processes such as mortality, morbidity migration and fertility on population structure, health care delivery and socio-economic development strategies.

Objectives: The objective of the course is to expose students to assessment of the socio-cultural, clinical and epidemiological contexts of the health status of the population.

Mode of Delivery: The content will be delivered by means of lectures, individual and/or group presentations.