2008-2009 Catalog - Virginia Wesleyan College

HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES105343 Public Administration (3) (S)Identical to POLS 343.401 Direct Service Interventions (3) WOverview of the direct methods used in health andhuman services: case work and group work. Introduction tothe theory and practice of such methods as essential to thehelping professions. There is a required experientiallearning component. Students work in a direct serviceagency as a service provider for a minimum of 3 hours perweek for the semester. Offered each fall.472 Health & Human Services Internship (12)Serves as the capstone experience for the academicpreparation. Students are placed in an agency, organization,company, or legislative setting which affords anopportunity for them to assume a preprofessional rolewhere they can build skills and expand their expertise. Forpsychology majors, students must complete the core andthe major requirements for the specific major. Prerequisites:HHS 201, 302, 338, and 401; PSY 337; POL 343; 21semester hours of upper-level courses to support theemphasis with a minimum of 2.00 in each course;minimum grade point average 2.5; minimum of 45-60semester hours of 300- and 400-level courses and approvalof the internship committee. Corequisite: HHS 475.Offered each spring.475 Health & Human Services Seminar (3) (I)Offered concurrently with the internship. Assistsstudents in relating theory and values to experience and inoffering support, interpretation, evaluation, and guidance.Also, students are evaluated on their performance ofwork assignments, use of supervision and course work.Prerequisites: same as HHS 472. Corequisite: HHS 472.Offered each spring.ELECTIVES210/310 Public Health (3)Offers the student an overview of the history andcurrent practice of public health in the U.S. and abroad andsurveys the core components of public health. Offered eachfall or on demand.261/361 Human Sexuality (3) (V)*An exploration of the diverse and often divisive issuessurrounding human sexuality. Historical perspectives fromWestern cultures provide a basis for understanding theconstruction of gender in modern society. A review of othercultures punctuates diverse approaches to gender and sexualissues worldwide. The legal, moral and ethical issues relatedto sexual behavior and gender are studied along with thephysical aspects of human sexuality and procreation. Thedisciplines of history, anthropology, sociology, psychology,health education, medicine, religious studies, women’sstudies and law inform the exploration. Multipleapproaches to controversial issues are explored and debated,as well as myths and facts. Students are challenged toexplore their own values, their genesis and the functionthose values serve in their lives. Offered fall of evennumberedyears.*HHS 361 only307 Death, Dying, Loss, & Grief (3) (V) WFocuses on contemporary and historical societalinfluences, cultural practices and spiritual beliefs inconceptualizing the experience of death. Students examinereligious rituals related to the preparation of the body, theburial and the mourning process and examine the ethicssurrounding end-of-life decisions and how death isdetermined from a medical and legal perspective. Currentlegal issues and instruments such as advance directives, willsand powers of attorney are discussed. Also addressed arecurrent ethical controversies around life sustainingmeasures, physical assisted death and organ transplantation.The impact of loss throughout the life cycle is addressed, asa result of normal developmental transitions. Those lossesare contrasted with loss as a result of suicide, violence anddisaster. In addition we explore the needs of those identifiedas disenfranchised grievers such as partners of AIDSpatients, families of suicide victims, women who havemiscarried and young widows/widowers. Offered fall ofodd-numbered years.308 Gerontological Services (3)(Winter Session)Offers the student an overview of the history andcurrent practice of gerontological services in the UnitedStates. During the 20th century, life expectancy increasedalmost 30 years in this country. An entire field of responsehas been created to help the elderly population with theirneeds and concerns. This course is a survey of the corecomponents of gerontological services—financial, social,in-home, institutional and medical. Service delivery gapsand trends for the future will also be explored. Prerequisite:junior status. Offered in selected Winter Sessions.309 Grief—Childhood & Adolescence (3)Designed to teach students the theories which explainthe different ways children react to loss and grief. Thematerials studied give the students a knowledge base uponwhich to build appropriate intervention skills to assistchildren living with loss and grief. Special attention is givento age, cultural, racial, religious and gender differences. Thefocus is on children experiencing the loss of a significantperson in their lives. Some emphasis is on children sufferingfrom life-threatening illness and their own potential death.Prerequisite: junior/senior status or consent. Three semesterhours of psychology, sociology, or health and humanservices. Offered fall of even-numbered years.312 Chronic Diseases (3)An in-depth review of current health concerns andchronic diseases. The course surveys specific conditions,policy related to these conditions, and preventiontechniques. Public health prevention as well as the medicalcommunity’s curative response are also examined. Thepublic health model is promoted throughout the course.