The Department of Health Behavior and Health Education seeks to promote health and prevent and manage disease within populations.

Our department is designed to focus on social and behavioral factors associated with health status and behavior; and to develop programs to promote health, prevent disease, and manage chronic illness. Our mission is to prepare students and conduct research to lead the nation and the world in understanding these issues and developing strategies to improve the public's health. Our multidisciplinary faculty provide students with a broad choice of courses, including those which emphasize individual, family, social network, community, and policy approaches to health behavior and health education. Our courses integrate theory, research, and practice through the use of case studies, small group discussions, community-based fieldwork, and computer technology.

Faculty are also involved in conducting research using multiple research designs and methods, for the diverse purposes of examining basic research questions, evaluating interventions, applying research findings to program development, and involving community.

Through participation in courses and research, HBHE students gain knowledge and skills working in multiple settings (e.g., communities, schools, hospitals), with multiple constituencies (e.g., adolescents, elderly, ethnic groups), across multiple levels of change (e.g., individual, community, policy).

Our Areas of Focus describe specific topics and courses of study that can help guide students with particular interests.