2.X.2. PechaKucha: Resilience without Borders: Building Mental Well-being and Suicide Prevention in Public Health

Background Public health professionals and students face increasing mental health challenges. Sudarshan Kriya Yoga (SKY), known for its mental health benefits such as stress reduction and improved emotional regulation, offers a promising strategy for enhancing well-being in public health education. Objectives To evaluate the immediate effects of a three-day participatory SKY workshop on mental well-being of Master of Public Health students at University College Dublin, Ireland. Methods A non-randomized, controlled pilot study will involve MPH students at UCD. Participants, aged 18 and above, enrolled in the MPH programme, will provide informed consent to attend a three-day SKY workshop in September 2024. The workshop, delivered by certified trainers, includes three sessions of three hours each. Standardised and validated Patient-Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) such as the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) and WHO-Five Well-being Index (WHO-5) will be used to assess perceived stress and mental wellbeing at baseline and immediately after the workshop. Results Based on previous literature, it is hypothesized that participants will show a significant reduction in perceived stress and improvement in mental wellbeing scores. Data will be analysed using descriptive statistics and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests to evaluate changes in PROM scores. Conclusions This pilot study aims to provide preliminary evidence on the effectiveness of SKY in improving mental wellbeing among public health students. Successful outcomes could support integrating SKY into the public health curriculum, promoting its adoption across other institutions, and enhancing the professional skills development of future public health professionals. This component is proposed in the ASPHER core curriculum programme for public health as an important cross curricular subject area Key messages • Integrating SKY Campus workshops into public health education enhances interprofessional skills and mental well-being, offering a holistic approach to professional development in global health. • This study uses standard PROMs to assess the SKY workshop’s impact, aiming for significant improvements in stress and mental well-being to shape global public health curricula.

A Public Health, Whole-of-Government Approach to National Suicide Prevention Strategies

The COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 is a major global health challenge. At the time of writing, over 11.6 million people around the world had been registered as infected and 538,000 had died (Worldometers, 2020, accessed July 7, 2020). Public health responses to COVID-19 need to balance direct efforts to control the disease and its impact on health systems, infected people, and their families with the impacts from associated mitigating interventions. Such impacts include social isolation, school closure, health service disruption stemming from reconfiguring health systems, and diminished economic activity. The primary focus of both the United Nations (UN) and the World Health Organization (WHO) has been on addressing COVID-19 as a physical health crisis, but the need to strengthen mental health action, including suicide prevention, is increasingly recognized, as is the need for mental health research to be an integral part of the recovery plan (UN, 2020a). The impacts of the pandemic on physical and mental health will unfold differently over time and will vary depending on the duration and fluctuating intensity of the disease. Research is needed to help ensure that decision-making regarding all aspects of health, including mental health (Holmes et al., 2020), is informed by the best quality data at each stage of the pandemic. The pandemic poses a prolonged and unique challenge to public mental health, with major implications for suicide and suicide prevention (Gunnell et al., 2020; Reger, Stanley, & Joiner, 2020). A rise in suicide deaths in the wake of the pandemic is not inevitable. There is consensus, however, that the mitigation of risk will be contingent upon a proactive and effective response involving collaborative work between the state, NGOs, academia, and local governments and coordinated leadership across government ministries, including health, education, security, social services, welfare, and finance. Countries have responded in different ways to the pandemic, effectively creating a series of natural experiments. Thus, regions of the world affected later in the pandemic can draw on lessons from countries, such as China and Italy, affected in its early phase. Likewise, lessons learned early in the pandemic (e.g., on the impact of lockdown and physical distancing measures) can be used to inform responses to any future surges in the incidence of COVID-19. Although there are important parallels between countries in the course of the pandemic, some stressors, responses, and priorities are likely to differ between high- and low–middle-income countries and between cultures and regions. As COVID-19 appears to be disproportionately affecting Black, Asian, and minority ethnic communities, the response – and suicide prevention research carried out to inform the response – needs to be sufficiently granular and account for the complexity of risks in these groups (O'Connor et al., 2020). Throughout this editorial, when we refer to suicide and suicidal behavior, we mean to include both fatal and nonfatal suicidal behaviors and self-harm.

Suicide Prevention in an International Context.

Members of minoritized population groups are exposed to higher burdens of morbidity and mortality and face barriers to accessing health care systems and other critical resources to achieve optimal health. Intersectional perspectives that emphasize the dimensions of social power and discrimination are just beginning to emerge in public health research. These perspectives contextualize longstanding patterns of health inequalities but are rarely translated into public health curriculum. Concepts like “cultural competence” or “diversity, equity and inclusion” do address the importance of awareness and respect for (cultural) diversity in (patient/client) populations. The research and teaching examples available are largely limited to a USA context, tend to consider specific identities, rather than intersectional characteristics, are not systematically integrated in public health curricula and are usually not rooted in a theoretical approach of teaching. It is imperative that Europe bridges the knowledge-to-teaching gap and begins introducing similar programs, while learning from the limitations of USA efforts. Two steps are needed to strengthen public health educational institutions and improve population health: first, to systematically incorporate an intersectional paradigm into public health curricula; and second, to provide faculty members in public health programs with transformative teaching skills. In this skills building seminar, we aim to 1) discuss the need for incorporating intersectionality into public health curricula in Europe; 2) provide an experiential learning opportunity on social identities and health; and 3) create a space for self-reflection. We first present the introductory course on social identities and their importance in public health (Wandschneider et al.) which has been developed in collaboration with the Association of Schools of Public Health in the European Region (ASPHER) (15 minutes). Secondly, we will have an interactive session to apply an exemplary teaching method (25 minutes). To conclude, we will moderate a discussion guided by the questions “What is needed to integrate such efforts more sustainably in public health teaching practices?” and “How do we address potential barriers?” (20 minutes). This workshop addresses persons who engage in teaching in undergraduate or graduate Public Health programs or provide training to public health and health care professionals. It also invites researchers to reflect on how to frame research on health inequalities. Key messages To address health inequities, we need to incorporate an intersectional paradigm into public health curricula and provide faculty members in public health programs with transformative teaching skills. A model teaching module that is open access could provide the necessary tools to meet this need.

New funding from the European Union (EU) allowed the collaborative development of postgraduate education in public health between five countries in South America and Europe. A planning meeting, two workshops, a final meeting and the use of e-mail and faxes for discussing curricula were employed. One new master of public health in Argentina has begun, plans for new masters in Chile have been developed. A new collaborative module using the Internet was started and is now in its third year, new European plans for distance learning are being developed. Possibilities for collaborative research have been identified and those involved developed a broader horizon and international contacts. The planned grant from the EU was 72,040 Euros. Staff time spent administering the project was much greater than time spent discussing curricula. This is the only publication. Although the aims were achieved, the opportunity costs were great, as methods of assessing European research do not value such work highly and the administrative burden of small EU grants is high. Once a network is established greater efforts should be put into electronic communication, but European programmes currently do not fund such 'remote' support.

Framing the Future: Exploring Inter-Professional Education and Practice in an Undergraduate Course

Healthy UCD is a health promotion initiative in University College Dublin (UCD) which aims to create a sustainable healthy campus for all members of the UCD community. In recent years, Healthy UCD has worked with staff from across the university to provide opportunities for experiential learning to UCD students in areas related to health and wellbeing. The initiative currently has involvement in three modules: 1) Practice Placement – a core MSc in Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics module where students plan and implement a university-wide Healthy Eating Week, 2) Event Management – a core module undertaken by second-year BSc Sport & Exercise Management students, and 3) Student Health & Wellbeing – an undergraduate elective module which challenges students to reflect on issues which affect their own health and wellbeing and that of those around them and then develop a student-focused Healthy UCD campaign. This paper will outline how experiential learning is implemented in these modules, how students are assessed, and the perceptions of students who complete these modules.

Career Planning in Public Health

Recognizing and addressing health inequities among minority populations are pivotal to public health. Further, public health strives to understand the complexities between race and health without limiting discussions around race as a trivial variable. This commitment toward equity demonstrates considerable similarities to Critical Race Theory (CRT) which led to the creation of the Public Health Critical Race (PHCR) Praxis to instill CRT within public health. However, the literature on how public health education incorporates critical race studies remains limited. The goal of this study was to examine how public health curriculum currently aligns with the PHCR praxis and meets public health's goal of health equity. This qualitative study employed document analysis to evaluate academic syllabi from CEPH-accredited MPH programs. Stratified random sampling was applied across two sampling pools, Schools of Public Health (SPH), and Public Health Programs (PHP). Course overviews, course objectives, course curricular information, and course policies were identified and extracted from each syllabus for analysis. A total of 53 syllabi were obtained from a final sample of nine public universities and one private. Through inductive and directed content analysis, a priori themes of Structural Determinism, Voice, Critical Approaches, Ordinariness of Racism, Social Construction of Knowledge, Intersectionality, Disciplinary Self-Critique, Primacy of Racialization, Race as a Social Construct, Race Consciousness, and their respective categories arose as salient. Two new themes, Antiracism Practices and Culture of Inclusivity, were also present. This study is the first to explore public health education's current curricular practices concerning CRT and antiracist praxes. The results confirm the interwoven nature of public health education with critical race studies, as all principles of PHCR praxis were present. However, the prevalence of these principles varied, suggesting gaps in the alignment of public health curricula and CRT. It is essential that public health educators ensure that the foundational competencies students are expected to display align with public health's goal of health equity. This work can equip MPH programs and public health educators with the ability to revise or bolster their current curricular and instructional efforts to support the pursuit of health, racial equity, and social justice.

Applied public mental health: bridging the gap between evidence and clinical practice.

IntroductionApplied practice experiences are essential components of the Masters of Public Health (MPH) curriculum. The objective of this study was to examine students’ perspectives on the skills and expertise they developed in an MPH course offering applied practice opportunities.MethodsOf 236 students who took the course from 2008 to 2018, email addresses were obtained for 212 and 104 completed the consent form. Following consent, reflection essays were de-identified and analyzed using a rapid qualitative analysis approach. The essays addressed students’ learning experiences and application of the competencies for MPH programs set by the Council for Education in Public Health (CEPH). Deductive and inductive analytical lenses were used to identify the key lessons learned by each cohort of students. Semi-structured guides and matrixes for essay analysis were created using assignment instructions and CEPH competencies.ResultsAlthough the reflection paper assignment varied across the years, commonalities were observed in the student reflections. Key themes included turning theory into practice, navigating the complex environment of public health practice, skill building, critical self-reflection, challenges encountered, and elements that facilitated project success. Students reported developing practical skills, such as planning for independent research (e.g., preparing for institutional review board (IRB) submission, consulting with faculty and other experts), identifying realistic approaches for data extraction during chart reviews and analyses of electronic medical records, and disseminating findings for diverse stakeholders and audiences. Students also reported strengthening cross-cutting skills such as communication, teamwork, and problem-solving that were useful for navigating power dynamics and balancing competing interests and expectations. Students explored their identity as public health professionals as they navigated the dynamics of public health practice.ConclusionThe applied practice experience served as a valuable tool for knowledge and skills acquisition. Moreover, it served as an opportunity for students to engage with the unique organizational cultures of their respective community partners and to deepen their understanding the complexities of conducting meaningful community-engaged research.ImplicationsThis study demonstrates the utility of analyzing students’ critical self-reflections as a tool for exploring learning experiences when training future public health professionals. The findings can help educators design future applied practice experiences.

Background Healthy UCD is a health promotion initiative in University College Dublin (UCD). Working together with university academic staff, we have provided opportunities for graded experiential learning for students in health and wellbeing-related courses. This abstract presents how experiential learning was implemented in the 2020/21 academic year. Objectives The first objective was to provide a public health nutrition learning opportunity to MSc in Clinical Nutrition & Dietetics students through the design, implementation and evaluation of UCD Healthy Eating Week in Autumn 2020. Secondly, we aimed to facilitate the running of a wellbeing event by BSc Sport & Exercise Management students with Healthy UCD as their client in Spring 2021. The students had the additional challenge this year of delivering the content online. Results MSc Clinical Nutrition & Dietetics students utilised Healthy UCD's website and social media channels to deliver a virtual Healthy Eating Week. Infographics, videos, articles and podcasts were produced which generated 1,000 website visits and reached over 3,000 on social media. Most students involved agreed that the event was successful (95%) and that they were sufficiently supported by Healthy UCD and their tutors (65%). BSc Sport & Exercise Management students devised and delivered a week-long event titled “Wellbeing Your Way”, creating wellbeing seminars and live exercise classes with each receiving an average of 460 views. The students reported gaining valuable experience of the responsibilities of running a professional event and operating as a team. Conclusions These examples of experiential learning for credit demonstrate how university campus health promotion teams can facilitate student learning and simultaneously reap the benefit for university faculty and students. The key requirements are committed academic engagement and supported students. Key messages University campus health promotion provides excellent opportunities for experiential learning. Health promotion practical experience can have benefits both for students and for the university.

Digital Public Health stands for the integration and use of digital tools, automation, use of modelling and prediction, and personalisation and precision into public health services that build on improved access to health data and analytics. To capitalise on the opportunities that digital transformations offer to the mission of public health, the public health workforce needs education and training to develop the relevant digital competencies. With few exceptions, however, digital skills still need to become a routine part of public health training. Barriers to incorporating digital public health in public health training include uncertainty about what to teach, how to teach it, and who to teach it to. Firstly, digital competencies in public health are an evolving concept, making it challenging for education designers to make the necessary changes to public health curricula. Secondly, public health programmes already incorporate considerable subject matter, making the simple addition of content challenging. Finally, the rapid development of digital technologies requires us to find ways to develop closer collaboration with experts in information and communication technologies. Across Europe, experience in overcoming these barriers is emerging. This session will examine current developments in digital public health education and training and craft a roadmap for effectively including digital public health in public health training across Europe. The workshop will feature presentations of recent or ongoing research projects in which the speakers examine efforts to define a generic set of digital competencies for public health training in Europe. The presentations will include insights from a scoping review of international guidance on digital competencies for public health practice, two Delphi studies defining digital competencies for general public health education in Germany and in Europe, expert guidance for public health schools on integrating digital competencies into curricula, and a mapping of training experiences in a course on digital health literacy for public health professionals. An interactive discussion will follow, during which the presenters and participants will critically examine the emerging set of digital competencies for public health education and discuss potential next steps for implementation. Workshop participants will leave the workshop with an in-depth understanding of the current progress and outstanding challenges in incorporating digital competencies in public health education and training across Europe. Key messages • Digital competencies are a critical component of 21st-century public health, but uncertainty about what to teach, how to teach it, and to whom to teach it needs to be addressed. • This workshop will examine progress in defining digital competencies for public health and craft a roadmap for effectively including digital skills in public health training and education in Europe.

The Slovak Medical University (SMU) holds a unique position in the health education system in Slovakia. It has a direct connection to the health sector, allowing health education to reflect the actual needs in this field. Because of increasing importance of public health in the last decades, more attention must be given to disease prevention and the promotion of healthy lifestyles. We aim to highlight the main characteristics of health higher education at one of the specialized health universities in Slovakia, with a particular focus on public health and its practical impacts. We analysed the available legal regulations for postgraduate studies in Slovakia and the officially valid documents of the Faculty of Public Health (FPH) and the Slovak Medical University in accordance with the accredited study programme in Public Health. Archived data from the Department of Science, Research, and Doctoral Studies of the Faculty over the past 10 years were used for the analysis of postgraduate studies (2013-2023). PhD studies in Slovakia are conducted in accordance with Act No. 131/2002 Coll. on Higher Education Institutions and on amendments to certain acts. There are two forms of PhD study in Slovakia: full-time and external. The evaluation of study results is based on the credit system. The doctoral study programme proceeds according to an individual study plan under the guidance of the advisor. The PhD study concludes with the defence of the dissertation, which serves as the final thesis. A total of 97 students have graduated at FPH SMU in Public Health in the last 10 years. The majority of graduates were females (68% vs. 32% males) and studied in the external form of study (80.4% vs. 19.6% in the full-time programme). The most frequent research topics at FPH SMU in the last 10 years included Epidemiology and Prevention of Non-communicable (21.7%) and Infectious Diseases (11.3%), Health Management and Policy (17.5%), Environmental Health (15.5%), as well as Occupational Health (13.4%). High-quality and innovative postgraduate education in public health plays a crucial role in this field, preparing experts for the public health services. From a quality perspective, it is substantial to share experiences with various study programmes across the European region, as well as with other universities. Graduates of the Faculty of Public Health are highly sought-after professionals with diverse career opportunities not only in Slovakia but also within the European Union, other countries, and various important international institutions.