5.1: Learning Outcomes

By the end of this module, students should be able to

1. Describe the four steps of the "public health approach," and the role of epidemiology in the first two steps (in particular).
2. Explain the differences between communicable (infectious) and noncommunicable (noninfectious) diseases, and between acute and chronic diseases, and provide examples of each.
3. Explain the communicable disease model (also called the epidemiological triangle or the epidemiological triad), including the following terms: host, agent, environment, vector.
4. Compare the multicausal model (figure 4.5) and the ecological model (or social-ecological model), and discuss how they both help explainthe development of noncommunicable diseases that have multiple causes or contributing factors.
5. Explain the "chain of infection" model and use it to discuss how a specific communicable disease is transmitted.
6. Explain the "levels of prevention," primary, secondary and tertiary prevention of disease, and provide examples of each. Discuss how the "levels of prevention" model relates to the "upstream" focus of public health.
7. List and discuss at least three criteria that communities might use to prioritize their health problems when it comes to allocating prevention and control resources.
8. Identify the leading causes of death.
9. Discuss measures for preventing and controlling the spread of communicable (infectious) diseases in a community.
10. Discuss measures for preventing and controlling the spread of noncommunicable (noninfectious) diseases in a community.
11. Define health screenings (a common secondary prevention measure) and discuss their importance.
12. Outline a chronic, noncommunicable disease control program that includes primary, secondary and tertiary disease prevention components.
13. Discuss a current outbreak of communicable disease and the public health responses to it.

The following Table shows how I would group these learning outcomes or goals for this Module -- I find them easier to remember this way:

Clustering of learning outcomes for this Module

Fundamentals	Communicable Disease	Noncommunicable Disease	Prevention & Control Measures
Public health approach	Epidemiological triangle	Multicausal model	Prioritization
Definitions	Chain of infection	Ecological model	Levels of prevention (primary, secondary, tertiary)
Leading causes of death			Examples: --communicable disease prevention & control --noncommunicable disease prevention & control

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