Overview

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Treatment of current issues in mental health and addictions from a population and public health perspective. Students will examine several topics from theoretical, methodological and policy perspectives.

COURSE DETAILS:

This seminar examines mental illness, substance use, homelessness, and crime, and the implications of the co-occurrence of these phenomena for public health and public safety. We will study the causal pathways between health, housing, and public order. And we will examine solutions that hold the greatest promise for improving health and social outcomes.

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

Following completion of this seminar, students will be able to: Summarize and explain the longitudinal relationship between mental health, addiction, and homelessness. 
 Critically examine the role of policies and services (e.g., geographic, cultural, historical) related to the interface between housing and health. 
 Derive public health approaches that are consistent with parameters including ethics, economics, and evidence of effectiveness. 
 Articulate and defend public health responses to mental illness and addiction in a defined context, including the roles of research and advocacy. 
 Describe the role of theory and scientific method in relation to public health activities within the area of homelessness and health.

Grading

Materials

MATERIALS + SUPPLIES:

Readings will be available to students via Canvas. Articles for weeks 1-6 will provide the intellectual and empirical background for the course. Readings in these weeks will address: homelessness and health in Canada; relationships between homelessness, health, and the justice system; the role of theory in the practice of public health (including research); internally motivated (Housing First) and externally motivated (Problem-solving Courts) responses to homelessness and illness; current public health challenges including opioid overdose deaths and children in care.  Readings for subsequent weeks will be proposed by presenting students (one article per student, and up to four articles per class), and must be posted to Canvas two weeks prior to the assigned class time. A bibliography must accompany each student’s presentation, and is due on the day of the class in printed form for each member of the class.