Master of Health and Human Services

Program Director

Dr. Daniel J. Van Dussen

330-941-1683

djvandussen@ysu.edu

Program Description

The Master of Health and Human Services program prepares students from health and human services backgrounds with the skills and abilities for supervisory/managerial or health promotion positions in the community. The program is structured as a completely online program. After completion of an academic core of coursework, students may concentrate in health promotion, health care administration or health informatics for health and human service professions.

Admission Requirements

In addition to the minimum College of Graduate Studies admission require­ments, applicants must complete the following undergraduate courses or their equivalent:

COURSE TITLE S.H.
Research Methodology OR Statistics

Students should complete any undergraduate deficiency coursework before completion of the third semester of graduate work and must complete it prior to enrolling in related graduate-level courses.  Also, applicants must submit names and contact information for two references.

Regular admission requires a cumulative undergraduate grade point average of at least 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale). Students with a 2.7-2.99 can be considered for provisional admission.

Graduate Faculty

John M. Hazy, Ph.D., Professor, Chair
Community/behavioral health (drugs and crime); methodology and assessment; life course and cultural issues; teaching effectiveness

Nicolette Powe, Dr.P.H., Associate Professor
Health equality; chronic diseases; cancer prevention; healthy lifestyles

Daniel J. Van Dussen, Ph.D., Professor
Social and psychological determinants of health among older adults; the family; social support; statistics and methods

There are two areas of coursework in the MHHS: an academic core and a specialty track. A thesis or non-thesis option is available with each track.

The academic core consists of 18 semester hours distributed among the following course areas:

  • Research and Statistics (3 semester hours),
  • Health service and health performance courses (15 semester hours)

A total of 12-18 semester hours of coursework is devoted to a specialty track in health promotion, administration for health and human service professions,long term care administration or health informatics. Each track offers a thesis or non-thesis option. The non-thesis option in the health promotion, administration for health and human service professions, and health informatics track requires the student to complete an internship.  The thesis must be submitted according to the general requirements established by the College of Graduate Studies. The student is required to defend the thesis in an oral presentation before a committee of graduate faculty from a minimum of two academic disciplines.

COURSE TITLE S.H.
Academic Core
HHS 6962Health Care Reform3
HHS 6922Planning and Fiscal Management3
HHS 6960Health Education and Promotion3
HHS 6930Health Informatics3
HHS 6989Health Research Methods3
HHS 6958Health Services Issues3
Total Semester Hours18

Select one of the following tracks

COURSE TITLE S.H.
Health Promotion Track
HHS 6949Community Health Practice3
HHS 6918Program Planning and Evaluation3
HHS 6953Health Behavior3
HHS 6990Internship (or)2-3
or HHS 6999 Thesis
COURSE TITLE S.H.
Health Care Administration Track
HHS 6918Program Planning and Evaluation3
HHS 6932Health Care Administration3
HHS 6971Human Resorce Management for Healthcare Administration3
HHS 7002Long term Care3
HHS 6990Internship2-3
or HHS 6999 Thesis
COURSE TITLE S.H.
Health Informatics Track
HHS 6935Clinical Informatics3
HHS 6945Health Care System Analysis3
HHS 6955Health Care Quality in the Electronic Health Record3
HHS 6990Internship2-3
or HHS 6999 Thesis

Learning Outcomes

  1. Students will demonstrate a global understanding of healthcare in the areas of management, promotion and infomatics.

2 Students will be able to understand the line of healthcare services and supports across the lifecourse.

3. Students will be able to analyze and synthesize information from the research to respond to questions related to healthcare challenges.

4. Students will demonstrate skills to  lead, plan and evaluate programming in healthcare.

Graduate Courses

HHS 6900    Special Topics    1-3 s.h.

Topics may vary from semester to semester and will be announced along with prerequisites and hours. May be repeated once for a total of six hours.

HHS 6918    Program Planning and Evaluation    3 s.h.

Principles of planning, developing, implementing, and evaluating programs for nonprofits to improve outcomes.
Prereq.: College of Health and Human Services student or permission of instructor.

HHS 6922    Planning and Fiscal Management    3 s.h.

Principles and skills to conduct strategic plans, analyze and administer programs, develop budgets, and familiarize students with fiscal matters related to funding sources. Three hour lecture.

HHS 6930    Health Informatics    3 s.h.

This course presents a detailed review of the structure of provider, payer, and other health care organizations along with the workflow in these types of organizations and their information system needs; how informatics assists these organizations; how information is used in business and clinical operations; and how information technologies interact with business and clinical stakeholders.
Prereq.: MHHS student or permission of instructor.

HHS 6932    Health Care Administration    3 s.h.

This course focuses on the fundamental philosophy and techniques common to healthcare Administration. Students will develop skills related to the following broad healthcare management competencies: (1) communication and relationship management, (2) professionalism, (3) leadership, (4) knowledge of the healthcare system, and (5) business skills and knowledge. A key feature of this course is the use of a well-known simulation model call FlexSim. Students utilize a copy of the simulation model and detailed case studies of the simulation from major hospital systems across the US.
Prereq.: acceptance to the MHHS Program.

HHS 6935    Clinical Informatics    3 s.h.

This course will provide Health and Human Services student with a comprehensive framework of Clinical informatics knowledge. It addresses how clinical informatics assists health care organizations, how information is used in clinical operations, and how information technologists interact with clinical stakeholders in provider, payer, and other healthcare organizations. Health care delivery applications include electronic health records, clinical information systems, Tele-health, patient safety, patient and community education, and care management. Students will analyze the informatics function and organizational relationships in their organizations.
Prereq.: Current enrollment in the MHHS or MSN program, or with permission of the instructor; Senior nursing students may take with permission from the Nursing department and the Graduate College.

HHS 6945    Health Care System Analysis    3 s.h.

This course presents a practical approach to introduce students to information technology and systems development. The course emphasizes the importance of system analysis and design in health care/business and clinical environments. The focus is on producing an add application that is integrated with your vendor applications.
Prereq.: Current enrollment in the MHHS or MSN program and successful completion of HHS 6930.

HHS 6949    Community Health Practice    3 s.h.

An examination of various physiological, psychological, and sociological factors which influence the health and provision of healthcare in a community.
Prereq.: AHLT 4810 and PHLT 3791 or equivalent or permission of instructor.

HHS 6953    Health Behavior    3 s.h.

A review of research studies, theories, and models which identify elements that influence behavior and determine factors which deter positive behaviors.
Prereq.: HHS 6949 or permission of instructor.

HHS 6955    Health Care Quality in the Electronic Health Record    3 s.h.

This course presents a review of the Electronic Health Record and the US National Health Information Network. Structure of provider, payer, and other health care organizations along with the work flow in these types of organizations and their information system's needs. It addresses how informatics assists these organizations, how information is used in business and clinical operations, and how information technologists interact with business and clinical stakeholders in provider, payer, and other healthcare organizations. Students will analyze the informatics function and organizational relationships in their organizations.

HHS 6958    Health Services Issues    3 s.h.

An examination of current philosophical, legal, and ethical issues in healthcare with the inclusion of the role of health professionals in national health policy, and healthcare reform.
Prereq.: HHS 6949 or permission of instructor.

HHS 6960    Health Education and Promotion    3 s.h.

Developing effective health promotion programs through a study of the history, philosophy, ethics, and values of health promotion.
Prereq.: Admission to the MHHS program or permission of the instructor.

HHS 6962    Health Care Reform    3 s.h.

The purpose of the course is to give students the skills necessary to understand all aspects of health and health care especially those related to Health Care Reform and recent and previous legislation. It will examine the supply of and demand for health services, and the analysis of health care systems and current, previous and potential future legislation relevant to health care reforms.
Prereq.: MHHS or OMBA major.

HHS 6971    Human Resorce Management for Healthcare Administration    3 s.h.

An examination of the motivational culture and performance in health and human services organizations. Includes the impact of resource management, personnel selection, recruitment, retention, and the motivational system in relation to employee performance and commitment. Three hour lecture.

HHS 6980    Applied Research in Health and Human Services    3 s.h.

Develop skills needed to formulate and answer questions related to the health care/human service setting. Students will identify a problem, issue or concern in a work/health setting, use technology to obtain information through literature searches, and apply current literature to the problem. They will learn to analyze/critique the literature, and understand the components and process of a research project. They will write a research report with emphasis on the problem, results of interventions and offering a potential solution to address the problem. Three hour lecture.

HHS 6989    Health Research Methods    3 s.h.

This course serves as an introduction to major methodological issues and basic statistics in the social scientific study of health and healthcare. Major topics include: developmental perspective and conceptualization of change, basic developmental research design, conceptualization of research problems, research design, measurement, and data analysis. This course should enable students to formulate research questions, design studies, and determine measurement devices and methods of analysis from a developmental perspective.

HHS 6990    Internship    1-6 s.h.

Supervised internship in selected health and human services facilities offering health and human services administration experience. 120 to 1000 hours per semester.
Prereq.: Approval of advisor.

HHS 6999    Thesis    1-4 s.h.

.

HHS 7001    Long-Term Care    3 s.h.

This course will introduce students to the following topics: who needs long term care; population distribution of long-term care and its current trends; long-term care industry; human medicine and long-term care; social structures and social inequalities in long-term care; culture components of long-term care; family care and social care; government, laws, and social policies of long-term care; and long-term care in a global perspective.

HHS 7002    Long term Care    3 s.h.

This course will introduce students to the following topics: h.

Health Informatics Certificate

Program Director

Dr. Ron Chordas (Interim)
(330) 941-3113
rkchordas@ysu.edu

The Health Informatics was designed  for students in the Computer Science Information Systems (CSIS) interested in  working in Health Care to earn a certificate which will help them gain employment in the Health Care field which has undergone a significant advancement in recent years in the area of Health Information Systems. MHHS students will also have an opportunity to receive additional training in Computer Science Information Systems leading to a Health Informatics Certificate in addition to their MHHS Degree.

Admission Requirements

Admission to the HHS or CSIS program.

Certificate Requirements

COURSE TITLE S.H.
Complete 3 semester hours of the following:
Community Health Practice
Health Behavior
Health Services Issues
Health Care Reform
Complete 9 semester hours of the following
Health Informatics
or
Theory and Practice of Information Systems
Clinical Informatics
HHS 6945Health Care System Analysis3
or
Data Science and Machine Learning
HHS 6955Health Care Quality in the Electronic Health Record3
Complete 6 semester hours of the following:
Special Topics
Planning and Fiscal Management
Program Planning and Evaluation
CSCI 6901Principles of Computer Programming3
or
Cloud Computing and Big Data

Learning Outcomes

  1. To prepare future health informatics leaders who understand the complex interplay among the health informatics stakeholder communities,
  2. To enhance the ability to use the inter-relationships among health information technology, the healthcare delivery and regulatory processes, and information management,\
  3. To grow a set of leadership behaviors that emphasizes professional competence, moral and ethical performance,
  4. To demonstrate professional and technical competence in health informatics,
  5. To instill a dedication to the use of technology for the benefit of humanity,
  6. To create a sensitivity to the impact that the use of technology has on the person, and
  7. To build a desire for life-long professional learning and development in health informatics.