Open University: Foundations of Public Health, Autumn 2025

Public health is an art and science in promoting peoples’ health through organized social efforts. Population health has always been under constant threat in the history of humanity and throughout all cultures. Only the scope of problems has changed, as well as the means that communities and societies are using to tackle these problems.

This 5 ECTS basic-level graduate course aims to give students a foundational understanding of the meaning and mission of public health, and of it’s significance in human and environmental development in the past, in our days, and in the future to come.

The course starts with discussions of basic ideas and definitions regarding the concept of public health itself, then takes a glance at some of the historical accomplishments public health throughout millenia, examines major current public and planetary health challenges in global, European and Finnish perspectives, and introduces a selection of common-use public health applications in today’s world.

Teachers
Jussi Kauhanen, MD, PhD, MPH, Professor of Public Health;
Annika Männikkö, Coordinator

Study Methods

Based primarily on contact learning on campus (Kuopio). Online participation is possible. Threshold for passing the course: For completion of the course, participation is required for 75 % of the sessions (lectures), due completion of given assignments, participation in the group work and presentation in the final seminar.

Evaluation

Evaluation is based on participation and activity in classroom sessions and possible small online assignments (30 %), activity in discussions groups and on the chat forum (20 %), the group work and final seminar presentation (50 %).
Grading: 0=Fail; 1=Sufficient; 2=Satisfactory; 3=Good; 4=Very good; 5=Excellent