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POPULATION, ENVIRONMENT AND HEALTH

The course deals with the dynamics between population and environment; accompanying trade-offs between land use and health in Africa. Themes discussed include urbanisation; sustainable development; agricultural and industrial practices; pollution; deforestation and afforestation; distribution and competition for resources; health of migrants; emerging and re-emerging human diseases and community involvement in health service delivery.

Objectives: By the end of the course the student will be able to:

  • Demonstrate an overall understanding of the population-environment-health nexus; and
  • Apply knowledge gained to "real world" situations

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

Course Code: 
POH 803S
No. of Credits: 
3
Level: 
Level 800
Course Semester: 
First Semester
Select Programme(s): 
Population and Health

TECHNIQUES AND INDICES IN POPULATION AND HEALTH

The course involves interpretation of population and health data.  It covers the assessment of the quality and quantity of data using indices (e.g. Myers and Whipple’s) and aggregation and dis-aggregation of data; smoothening of age and sex data; calculation of basic indices such as rates and ratios of socio-demographic variables (e.g. age, sex, marital status, education); direct and indirect measures of fertility and mortality; Brass techniques and Bongaarts’ method; use of Lexis diagram; population estimation and projections, adjustment of data, construction of life tables, construction of indices such as human development index, gender empowerment index, and disability adjusted life years.

Objectives: The objectives of the course are to:

1. Build the analytical and computational skills of students; and

2. Develop the capacity of students in techniques of data analysis and interpretation.

Mode of Delivery: Lectures, group and individual assignments and presentations in class; practical work involving calculations of indices

Course Code: 
POH 802S
No. of Credits: 
3
Level: 
Level 800
Course Semester: 
First Semester
Select Programme(s): 
Population and Health

PERSPECTIVES ON POPULATION AND HEALTH

The course focuses on the interface between population, health and development; history and development of population science as a discipline and the perspectives on population and development and thoughts which have shaped population science; Developments in social-political dimensions of health, including the influences of perspectives on aspects of health and human welfare. Other issues which will be addressed are discourse on the interface of population, health and development; role of international bodies in shaping the directions of health (e.g. role of World Health Organization, the Almaty Declaration of 1978, and the health targets in the Sustainable Development Goals); the environment-health-development debates, the epidemiological transition, concept of quality of life, and the implication of climate change for health.

Objectives: By the end of the course, the student will be able to:

 

  • Demonstrate understanding of some the theoretical issues under-pinning the study of population and health;
  • Develop analytical skills  and
  • Apply knowledge gained in the analysis of concepts and issues

 

Mode of Delivery:The course will be delivered through lectures, individual and group assignments, assigned readings and field trips

Course Code: 
POH 801S
No. of Credits: 
3
Level: 
Level 800
Course Semester: 
First Semester
Select Programme(s): 
Population and Health

PROJECT WORK

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.

Course Code: 
POH 499
No. of Credits: 
3
Level: 
Level 400
Course Semester: 
Second Semester
Select Programme(s): 
Population and Health

HEALTH SYSTEMS RESEARCH

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.

Course Code: 
POH 428
No. of Credits: 
3
Level: 
Level 400
Course Semester: 
Second Semester
Select Programme(s): 
Population and Health

TECHNIQUES OF ANALYSIS IN POPULATION AND HEALTH

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.

Course Code: 
POH 426
No. of Credits: 
4
Level: 
Level 400
Course Semester: 
First Semester
Select Programme(s): 
Population and Health

REFUGEE STUDIES

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.

 

Course Code: 
POH 425
No. of Credits: 
3
Level: 
Level 400
Course Semester: 
Second Semester
Select Programme(s): 
Population and Health

MIGRATION, HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT

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.

Course Code: 
POH 424
No. of Credits: 
4
Level: 
Level 400
Course Semester: 
First Semester
Select Programme(s): 
Population and Health

Population and Health Policies of Ghana

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.

 

Course Code: 
POH 423
No. of Credits: 
3
Level: 
Level 400
Course Semester: 
Second Semester
Select Programme(s): 
Population and Health

POPULATION, POVERTY AND HEALTH

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   
Course Code: 
POH 422
No. of Credits: 
3
Level: 
Level 400
Course Semester: 
First Semester
Select Programme(s): 
Population and Health

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