Designing Innovative Behavioral Interventions for Public Health Impact

(3 Credits)

This doctoral-level course provides students with a set of conceptual, theoretical, and methodological frameworks (e.g., intervention optimization) to be applied in the design and implementation of multicomponent interventions. Students apply these frameworks in the development of a hypothetical intervention designed to improve a health disparity in their area of interest. Through the lens of principles of behavior change, students will examine methods of intervention development; contrast methods to define/develop intervention components; and consider how to balance effectiveness against implementation constraints. Students will develop (1) a detailed, theoretically- and evidence-informed approach for an intervention in their area of interest and (2) a research protocol that would be submitted for ethical review.