The University of Witwatersrand School of Public Health, in partnership with the Soul City Institute for Health and Development Communication, is launching a new concentration in social and behaviour change communication in the Masters in Public Health (MPH) programme starting in 2010. A limited number of fellowships will be available for students in 2010, and priority will be given to students from the Southern African (SADC) region in awarding fellowships.

This Masters concentration in social and behaviour change communication is designed for people working in organisations or government, who have an interest in, or are currently involved in, programmes implementing social and behaviour change communication or doing research in this area. The courses offered under this new area of specialisation will provide students with skills they need to design, implement, and monitor and evaluate programmes and interventions to address determinants of health and illness at multiple levels.

The course work component of the degree is offered over two years part-time or one year full-time. A research report is required to be awarded the MPH degree.

Courses offered as part of MPH in Social and Behaviour Change Communication include:

• Health and Society
• Approaches to Population Health
• Health Measurement I
• Designing Effective Public Health Programmes
• Health Measurement II
• Introduction to Health Promotion
• Management in Health and Health Services
• Research Methods
• Applying Development, Social & Behavioural Theory to Practice
• Social and Behaviour Change Communication Approaches
• Communication, Media, and Society
• Implementing Social and Behaviour Change Communication Programmes
• Research, Monitoring, and Evaluation

Click here [1] for more information on this Masters Course.

Students who wish to be considered for a fellowship must meet the admission requirements for the MPH programme. They will be considered based on their written motivation for applying for an MPH in the field of social and behaviour change communication and their letters of recommendation by their referees.

The fellowship will cover tuition, the cost of travel to Johannesburg for courses (if part-time), and student accommodation while in Johannesburg. A small stipend will be provided while in Johannesburg. The deadline for applications is: September 30 2009.

Email from Soul City Institute for Health and Development Communication to Soul Beat Africa; and the School of Public Health website [1] on August 17 2009.