The Department of Community Health Sciences offers a
concentration in social and behavioral sciences that focuses on identifying and
analyzing the social determinants and behavioral risk factors that are
associated with public health problems, and using this knowledge to understand
and promote healthy behavior within communities.
Contemporary public health issues addressed by the social
and behavioral sciences include the prevention and treatment of alcohol and
drug abuse, tobacco control, injury control, mental health, domestic violence,
prevention of sexually transmitted diseases and HIV, adolescent health,
communications, and grassroots political and community organizing.
Effective solutions to widespread public health problems
require the ability to plan, implement and administer programs that take into
account the actual factors that influence individual behaviors and exacerbate
existing disparities. Both quantitative and qualitative research is used to
inform program planning and evaluation.
What You'll Learn
You'll learn how to access and analyze archival and other
data to assess a public health problem for a specific place and population;
apply social and behavioral theories and quantitative and qualitative methods
to the development of innovative and effective public health intervention
programs; develop rigorous evaluation trials to assess the efficacy of public
health interventions; communicate findings to the public and to policy makers;
and advocate for the institutionalization of evidence-based public health
programs.
Students may focus their studies on the following areas:
Health communications
Health disparities
Intervention planning
Career Pathways:
Career possibilities span a variety of settings, from public
agencies to private organizations and academic institutions. Graduates are
health educators for hospitals and nonprofit agencies, wellness-promotion
specialists for managed care organizations and health insurance companies,
program directors for departments of public health, evaluation specialist,
associates in health communications firms, directors of college wellness centers,
and intervention researchers. They may specialize in areas such as AIDS,
substance abuse, violence and injury prevention, tobacco cessation and
behaviors that prevent chronic disease.
Boston University School of Public Health 
