Department of Health Policy and Management
Eight of the 10 leading causes of death are behaviorally based or exacerbated. In addition, urban communities with high concentrations of people of color, disadvantaged, and low-income families and individuals are disproportionately exposed to a variety of environmental burdens and hazards in their neighborhoods, households, and at their workplaces.
Health policies and programs shape behavior by defining the environment in which individuals make decisions about how to act. Health policies and programs also largely determine the quality of and access to health services. Public policies are the lynchpin to health, and to reducing the huge and unacceptable disparities in health across our nation.
The Department of Health Policy and Management (DHP&M) includes two concentrations; it will grant MPH and DrPH degrees in Health Policy and Management, and MPH degrees in Environmental and Occupational Health. Like the School of Public Health & Policy in general, DHP&M is dedicated to training public health practitioners who will not only "know" policy, but who will lead the effort for policy reform. They will also be excellent researchers, because, like all wise policies, health policies must be based on sound empirical data.
Our graduates will be prepared to assume leadership roles in designing and implementing effective, evidence-based health policies and programs to resolve the complex problems of health disparities, including the documentation and alleviation of environmental and occupational factors that impact our communities socially, politically, and individually. Perhaps more than any other department, DHP&M involves the synthesis and application of all crucial elements in public health.