Table Of ContentT E A C H I N G P U B L I C H E A LT H W R I T I N G
TEACHING PUBLIC HEALTH
Teaching Public Health offers instructors state- of- the- science tools and resources to support inte-
gration of new topics and pedagogical strategies that can promote active, engaged, and innovative
learning in academic public health.
Series Editors
LISA SULLIVAN, Boston University School of Public Health
SANDRO GALEA, Boston University School of Public Health
Teaching public health writing
Jennifer Beard
TEACHING PUBLIC
HEALTH WRITING
Jennifer Beard
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Beard, Jennifer, PhD, author.
Title: Teaching public health writing / Jennifer Beard.
Description: New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2022] |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2022014936 (print) | LCCN 2022014937 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780197576465 (paperback) | ISBN 9780197576489 (epub) |
ISBN 9780197576496
Subjects: MESH: Writing | Public Health—education | Students, Public Health
Classification: LCC R119 (print) | LCC R119 (ebook) | NLM WA 18 |
DDC 808.06/661—dc23/eng/20220412
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022014936
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022014937
DOI: 10.1093/ oso/9 780197576465.001.0001
This material is not intended to be, and should not be considered, a substitute for medical or other
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9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed by Marquis, Canada
Zoe Beard and Kristine Black, We’re Still Here
Irene Beard, Jack Beard, and John Beard, In Memory
CONTENTS
Series Foreword ix
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction xv
PART 1: THEORY AND PRACTICAL STRATEGIES
CHAPTER 1. Writing Across the Life Course 3
CHAPTER 2. When You Can’t Remove the Pump Handle,
Reduce Harm 22
CHAPTER 3. Designing Writing Assignments for Public Health
Classes 40
CHAPTER 4. Assessment Involves Much More Than Assigning a
Grade 69
PART 2: ANTHOLOGY OF WRITING ASSIGNMENTS
CHAPTER 5. Examples of Public Health Writing Assignments 93
Epilogue 139
Works Cited 141
vii
SERIES FOREW ORD
Academic public health has been growing substantially over the past
two decades. There are increasingly more accredited schools and pro-
grams of public health, and more standalone baccalaureate programs.
Teaching in academic public health similarly continues to grow at both
the undergraduate and graduate levels, with more faculty engaged in
public health education, research, and practice.
Coincident with this growth in interest in the field, established grad-
uate schools and programs of public health are redesigning curricula to
meet the changing needs of incoming students and to ensure that grad-
uates have the knowledge, skills, and attributes to meet the needs of a
changing workforce. A cornerstone of these revised curricula, in line
with evolving accreditation standards set by the Council on Education
for Public Health, is integrating knowledge across disciplines to teach
students that the foundations of public health do not exist in disciplin-
ary silos but rather need to be addressed at the interstices of disciplines.
However, teaching public health across disciplines can present chal-
lenges for instructors, many of whom are new and bring different areas
of expertise to public health. It often requires using different books with
insights from across disciplines and finding ways to integrate material
that is not being integrated in any one book. In addition, the material
across integrative areas of study evolves quickly, making it difficult, if
not impossible, for one definitive textbook to cover all that needs to be
covered across several integrative courses.
Recognizing both the potential in burgeoning public health train-
ing and the challenges and opportunities presented by more integra-
tive learning, we offer Teaching Public Health: An Integrated Approach, a
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