Program Overview

The Graduate Certificate in Aging, Policy and Public Health is designed to provide students with the knowledge and skills to become leaders in the fields of Aging, Policy, and Public Health. The Certificate is open to all graduate students currently admitted to the MPH/PHD Public Health Programs in the School, including on-line and in-person students. The program is also open to non-matriculated working professionals in the fields of Public Health, Health Care, Allied Health Sciences, Gerontology, and Education. As well as, researchers and policymakers in aging, who have an interest in improving skills in the field of aging and in potentially pursuing a future Master in Public Health degree.

Applications are considered on a rolling basis and can be submitted to:

phonlin@schoolph.umass.edu

Successful candidates in the certificate will gain the following skills:

Articulate the historical and potential future financial impacts of aging policy choices.
Compare the aging-related policy differences among the states based on variations in states characteristics, such as demographics, urban-vs-rural settings, political leanings, or geographic regions
Synthesize the various components of long-term care policy
Understand federal, state and local government structures and processes as they relate to aging policy
Review and describe the different functions of end-of-life decision-making tools and processes and understand the legal implications for each tool.
Identify, analyze, and interpret risk factors influencing individual and community health status through a strong foundation in epidemiology, social, and behavioral theory.
Identify sources of health-related data in order to describe the distribution of disease in populations. Generate hypotheses from descriptive data on disease frequency in relation to person, place and time. Interpret health status indices based on these data, such as mortality and morbidity rates.
Apply ecological theory, or “systems thinking”, for discussing and resolving prevalent chronic disease issues and planning and implementing health promotion interventions.
Apply evidence-based approaches in the development and evaluation of social and behavioral chronic disease and health promotion interventions.

The program requires the successful completion of 5 3-credit courses.

HPP 690AA Introduction to Aging and Public Health - The demographic shift that doubled average life expectancy in the United States during the previous century has affected every aspect of public health, including delivery and cost of health care, types of diseases that predominate as causes of mortality, morbidity and disability, and quality of life in old age. This class explores in depth the causes and effects of these changes, and provides students with the opportunity both for working in teams and for as conducting independent research, with individualized faculty guidance, in an area of interest pertaining to population aging and public health.
HPP 627 Long Term Care Policy and Politics - This course provides an overview of the history, varieties, oversight, administration, and ethics of long-term care. Emphasis has been placed on long-term care services, ethics, cost, and quality. Students in this course review the varieties of long-term care and evaluate their role in the American healthcare system. Future long-term care issues and policies including systemic changes and improvements are explored through a final written assignment.
HPP 690B Aging, Policy, Politics, and Law - This course will use a structure-process-outcomes (impact) framework to review how the federal and state (and sometimes local) governmental structures and processes influence aging-related health policy. We will first review the fundamentals of civics and explore how each branch of government operates and intersects with aging health and wellbeing. We will explore how the executive, legislative, and legal branches of government interact with each other and how government processes impact aging-related organizations as well as individual lives. We will use examples of specific federal and state laws, regulations, and judicial opinions to illustrate structures, processes, and impact. We will review current and expected outcomes, debate their benefits, burdens, complexities, and unintended consequences. We will do a deeper dive into a recent federal regulatory enactment& in order to see the on-the-ground implementation and impact of regulations. We will also review how states and private businesses are impacted by policy change. We will map the landscape of aging health policy stakeholders and the various ways they participate in or influence processes and outcomes. Finally, we will review aging-related legal issues, primarily focusing on the complexities of end-of-life health planning and decision-making surrounding guardianship, powers of attorney, advance directives, and POLST (Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment).
HPP 690R Health Promotion & Chronic Disease Prevention in an Aging Population - Human populations are aging at a rapid rate and living longer lives than previous decades. The purpose of this course is to advance medical and public health professionals in the field of aging, specifically in the area of health promotion and chronic disease prevention. Course participants will learn about the heterogeneity of epidemiological research in the context of age-related disease and disability using federal public health data sets. This interdisciplinary course will examine the processes of human aging as well as the major chronic diseases and comorbidities that affect older adults. The definitions and measurements of chronic disease and health promotion will be emphasized. A public health perspective within an ecologic framework is emphasized to discuss disease prevention that aims to maximize function and increase independence among older adults. Nuanced approaches to chronic disease management will be discussed, including how to apply disease trajectory empirical data to end-of-life policy and procedure.
HPP 690E Aging in the US: Public Health Care Programs - This 3-credit course provides an introductory overview of the various public programs available and utilized by seniors. Throughout the course, students will be introduced to a wide variety of public services available to elders in the U.S., will be expected to discuss program impact with their peers, and will be assigned fictional scenarios that ask them to provide guidance to other professionals. Coursework is separated into three Sections: Part I examines “Insurance and Income” including Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security; Part II examines “Organizations and Outreach” including housing, transportation, and outreach organizations such as AARP and Ombudsman Programs; and, Part III, which studies “Safety and Protection” including abuse, neglect, the role of adult protective agencies and law enforcement. Students will have weekly readings, lectures, and discussion forums.