Society, Human Development, and Health
The mission of the Department of Society, Human Development, and Health (SHDH) is to improvehealth throughout the lifespan, including a special emphasis on children and adolescents.
This mission is achieved throughresearch to identify the social and behavioraldeterminants of health, developmentand evaluation of interventions and policiesleading to the improvement of populationhealth, and the preparation of professionalsand researchers who will fill leadership positionsin advocacy and public service.
The department’s educational mission is totrain both scholars and practitioners: scholarswhose research will illuminate basicsocial determinants of health and who willidentify and test innovative social policy andservice interventions; practitioners who areskilled in designing, implementing, andevaluating health-enhancing interventions inaction settings.
The department highlights three areas ofinterest:
Human development The department’semphasis on human development acrossthe life course results from faculty researchand interest in three domains: the physical,mental, and behavioral health and wellbeingof children and adolescents; basicdevelopmental processes (including physicalgrowth, nutrition, and psychologicaldevelopment); and growing attention to theimpact of early-life conditions on long-termhealth and functioning. Course work in thisarea of interest includes study of physicalgrowth and development, principles of psychologicaland social development, and longitudinalresearch methods. Research conductedby faculty members involves longitudinalstudies of both at-risk and communitysamples, emphasizing cumulative risk and protective influences across the lifespanand implications for prevention, early intervention,and treatment strategies.
Planned social change This area of interestfocuses on the application of theory inthe design of intervention programs, as wellas on research and evaluation methodology.The area includes work on interventionsusing randomized clinical trial designs andquasi-experimental approaches. Attention isgiven to the following design steps: problemdiagnosis, assessment, formativeresearch, program design, and evaluation.The social settings for interventions may becommunities, workplaces, schools and colleges,and health care facilities. Populationsof interest include those who are underserved,marginalized, and in special need.Intervention strategies include educationalinterventions, community organizing anddevelopment, social marketing, communication,adult-learning approaches, andadvocacy.
Social determinants of health This areaof interest emphasizes the analysis of themajor social conditions that affect thehealth of populations. Research stressessocioeconomic position, social and economicinequal ity, discrimination, social networksand support, social capital, work conditions,and psychological states. Seminars,tutorials, and courses enable students toexplore a range of the health consequencesof various social factors by studying variedsubgroups, at different times and placesand under diverse and changing conditions.Students examine mechanisms and pro -cesses through which social factors exerttheir impact, and also investigate mechanismsthat mediate or moderate relationshipsbetween social factors and health outcomes.
Degree Programs in Society, Human Development, and Health
As described below, thedepartment offers both 80-credit and 42.5-credit masterof science (SM) programs, adual-degree master’s programfor nurses and socialworkers, and a doctoral programleading to the doctorof science (SD) or doctor ofpublic health (DPH) degree.Students in all degree programsmay follow theSHDH concentration inmaternal and child health(MCH) and/or an interdisciplinaryconcentration inwomen, gender, and health.Within the doctoral and 80-credit master’s programsonly, students may follow aconcentration in healthcommunication. For information aboutschool wide requirements for doctoraldegrees, see degree programs and requirements.
Master of Science in Society,Human Development, and Health (80-credit and 42.5-credit programs)
The 80-credit, professional SM programprepares students for a variety of positionsin community, public, and private settings.These roles include the design, management,and evaluation of programs, particularlyhealth promotion and disease preventionprograms, health communication programs,and those providing services towomen, youth, and children. Other rolesinclude work in research, public policy, andadvocacy. Students in the MCH concentrationare prepared for careers in maternaland child health practice, research, planning,policy development, and advocacy.The health communication concentrationis especially intended for those who seekpositions as independent researchers andscholars; public health communicators inthe private sector, state and federal agencies,international agencies, and nonprofitorganizations; and public health leaderswho require communication skills.
Recent graduates have taken such positionsas the evaluator on a violence preventionprogram for adolescents, associate directorof public health and research at Georgetown University, assistant medical directorof the Rhode Island Health Department, and intern in the Presidential ManagementProgram, Office of the Budget for Healthand Human Services; others have gone onto earn doctoral degrees.
Applications are encouraged from studentswho have a strong social sciences and/ornatural sciences background, public healthexperience, and defined public health goals.Solid mathematics and writing skills andsuccessful experience with course workrequiring critical reading and writing, drawingof inferences, and rigorous analysis arecrucial. Previous graduate work is notrequired.
Students must earn at least 20 credits indepartmental courses. They are not requiredto declare an area of interest within thedepartment but are encouraged to takecourse work in all four. In addition to fulfillingHSPH, SHDH, and practice corerequirements, students are expected todelineate professional goals and to developan area of expertise. They often focus on asubject area (such as AIDS; addiction; cardiovascularor cancer risk reduction; thehealth of children, adolescents, or women;and mental health) and/or a skill area (suchas program design and evaluation, communication,policy analysis, or marketing). Students must complete a practicum, whichconsists of skill development in a practicesetting, two seminars, and a final paper.
Students in the MCH concentration completespecific MCH course requirements aswell as the basic master’s degree curriculum.In addition, MCH concentrators in the80-credit SM program undertake a practicum with an MCH focus. In the healthcommunication concentration, studentsmust take a core course on theories ofhealth communication, two courses inhealth communication in applied settings,and one on advanced topics. All studentsshould consult the department’s Curriculum and Advising Guide for a listing ofrequired courses.
The 42.5-credit SM program is intended toprepare students for research careers inpublic and private agencies. Applicants eligiblefor the 42.5-credit program are establishedpractitioners or investigators holdingprior master’s or doctoral degrees in thesocial/behavioral sciences, health care, or apublic health field. Students in this program must fulfill the schoolwide requirementsand earn 15 credits in departmental courses.They should work closely with their advisersto develop a study plan to meet their particularacademic and career goals.
Master of Science in Society, HumanDevelopment, and Health (HSPH 42.5-credit program) and Master of Sciencein Parent-Child Nursing or Women’sHealth, or Master of Social Work(Simmons College)
These professional, dual-degree programs,which require that 42.5 credits be earned atHSPH, are designed to prepare nurse practitionersand social workers for leadershiproles in public and private institutions servingchildren and their families. Recent graduateshave taken such positions as directorof clinical services for the Family PlanningAssociation of Maine and staff director forthe World Health Organization MaternalHealth and Safe Motherhood Program.
Applicants should have a relevant bachelor’sdegree and the equivalent of at leastthree years of relevant experience. International applicants with equivalent degreesand experience are eligible to apply. International nurses must have equivalent licensure.Applicants must also meet the gen eraladmission requirements of both HSPH andSimmons College.
Students enroll in half-time study at bothSimmons College and HSPH for two academicyears, in addition to studying atSimmons for one summer session. See thedepartment’s Curriculum and AdvisingGuide for degree requirements. Continued matriculation is dependent on maintainingsatisfactory academic progress in both programs.
Doctor of Science in Society, Human Development, and Health/Doctor of Public Health
The doctoral program provides a commoncore education addressing issues of society,human development, and health at thesame time as developing expertise in oneof the four previously described areas(health and social policy, human development,planned social change, and the socialdeterminants of health). Students mustselect an academic focus in one of the fourareas of interest. Students in the MCH concentrationcomplete the normal requirementsfor the doctoral program. Theychoose one of the four areas of interest asa focus and must complete either a major(preferred) or a minor in MCH. All studentsshould consult the department’s Curriculum and Advising Guide for a listing ofrequired courses.
Current and recent doctoral students in thedepartment have undertaken dissertationresearch projects on the following topics:socioeconomic position, allergic disease,and cancer risk; cross-national comparisonsof perinatal care technologies on neonatalsurvival; poverty, policy, neighborhoods, andhealth; effectiveness of public policies forchildren with disabilities; social influenceson health behaviors of college students withsame-sex experience; depressive symptomsin postpartum women; gender inequalityand health; measurement and social andphysical contexts of physical activity; andcost-effectiveness of lead-poisoning preventionprograms.
Recent graduates have taken such positionsas Epidemic Intelligence Service officer atthe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, postdoctoral fellow atthe National Development and ResearchInstitute in New York, re search scientist atHarvard University, project officers in philanthropicfoundations, and assistant professors at schools of public health and medicalschools. Graduates are pursuingcareers in academia, government, and nonprofitorganizations as leading researchers,teachers, policymakers, and program developers,such as chair of a department ofobstetrics in Taiwan and chief of the lead-poisoningbranch at the CDC.
Most students enter the doctoral programwith a strong foundation in the social,behavioral, clinical, public health, or naturalsciences and with an earned master’s degree in a social science (such as sociology,psychology, economics, political science,public policy, and anthropology); clinicalhealth (such as nursing and social work);public health (such as epidemiology andhealth education); or natural sciences (suchas biology, physiology, and neurosciences).
For the SD the department may accept asmall number of students without a master’sdegree directly into the program. Candidates for the DPH degree must have orbe in progress toward an MPH degree andmust also hold an advanced degree in abasic public health discipline.
Limited funding is awarded on a competitivebasis to qualified applicants in bothmaster’s and doctoral programs. Two traininggrants from the Maternal and ChildHealth Bureau support some students inthe MCH concentration. A fellowship fordoctoral students is available in the area ofcancer prevention, and some doctoral fellowshipsmay also be available for underrepresentedminorities. A limited numberof universitywide presidential fellowshipsare awarded on a competitive basis tounderrepresented minorities and to studentsfrom developing countries who areplanning on public service or academiccareers. Students receive funding in otherareas through research assistantships andtheir own grant applications.
Related offerings
- Interdisciplinary concentration in women, gender, and health
- MPH concentration in family and community health
Contact information
For more information about research andtraining in Society, Human Development,and Health, please contact:
Elizabeth Solomon
Assistant Director for Academic Affairs and Fellowship Programs
Department of Society, Human Development, and Health
677 Huntington Avenue
Boston, MA 02115
Phone: 617-432-3761
Fax: 617-432-3755
Email: esolomon@hsph.harvard.edu
Web: http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/shdh