Health Education and Health Promotion
With cases in La Crosse County, health experts waiting for signs of community spread
This shows the exponential growth of the disease if life continued as usual. But if we limit the contacts we have with others, the number of cases goes down significantly and happens over a longer period of time so as to not overwhelm healthcare providers.
“Not knowing how many people are potentially infectious at this particular point in time, raises some concerns,” said Dan Duquette, professor of Health Education & Health Promotion at UW-La Crosse.
You might have heard experts talk about flattening the curve or seen this graphic, which shows how fast the disease could spread without intervention. Social isolation drastically slows the number of cases, but it might not get rid of it. “But at least it becomes very, very negligible in populations,” Duquette said.
“It becomes really important in controlling communicable, infectious diseases to be able to trace the contacts people have had,” Duquette said.
Duquette said this still can be done, like with the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. But, limited resources at the local level could be spread thin if the cases of the new coronavirus increase rapidly through community spread, so we all have to follow the guidelines. “If we follow those recommendations, social distancing and [good] hand hygiene, we can deal with the disease,” Duquette said.
Environmental Health course at UWL learning from COVID-19
Dr. Dan Duquette's PH 335 Environmental Health class at UW La Crosse
COVID-19, alongside other coronaviruses, such as SARS and MERS are a hot topic right now in UWL's Environmental Health course.
The class, taught by Dr. Dan Duquette, focuses on real-life examples of the viral interaction between people, the environment and animals.
Students at UW-La Crosse study the origins of the Coronavirus and its threat
Students at UW La Crosse in Dr. Dan Duquette's PH 335 Environmental Health class were busy studying about the coronavirus Tuesday as part of their environmental health class.
Due to COVID-19, our physical office is closed. However, all classes will be held online and instructors and staff are working remotely. We recommend email or Canvas to reach instructors and email or phone for departmental business.
Summer Session Courses
The HEHP department will be offering HED 469 Drugs, Society and Human Behavior; PH 200 Public Health for the Educated Citizen; and PH 340 Epidemiology & Human Disease Prevention during the summer session starting on July 20th. Please see our News and Events page for more information:
The Department of Health Education and Health Promotion (HEHP) offers the following degree options:
✹ the only Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) accredited Bachelor of Science in Public Health and Community Health Education in the UW System
✹ an online collaborative degree completion program in Health and Wellness Management
✹ an online Master of Science in Health Care Administration
Individuals completing their degree from the HEHP department can find employment in a variety of settings to include:
✹ government - local, county, state and federal
✹ not-for profit, for profit, and voluntary organizations
✹ business and industry
✹ healthcare, clinics, hospitals and insurance companies
✹ schools, universities and many other community-based agencies
Students who graduate with our public health degree have a strong foundation in public health and are skilled in the competencies identified by the Council on Education for Public Health at the Bachelor's level.
Vision: Healthier people participating, learning, and living in healthier communities.
Mission: To prepare leaders in school and community health through the bridging of competency and standards-based education, scholarship, advocacy, and service-related endeavors, thereby contributing to healthier people and healthier communities.
To pursue this mission, we (department faculty, staff, students, and others) collaborate to:
✹ Advocate for the advancement of the profession.
✹ Provide the highest quality of professional preparation.
✹ Prepare students, professionals, and academic programs for credentialing processes.
✹ Provide innovative professional development opportunities.
✹ Offer authentic life-enhancing service-learning opportunities.
✹ Strengthen health-related community capacity through collaboration and service within our world.
✹ Aim to cultivate motivated, self-directed, continuous life-long learners.
Select from the links to the left to view information about each program. For additional information about this department or the programs it offers, please contact the Department Chair.
Dr. R. Daniel Duquette, CHES, Chair
Department of Health Education
and Health Promotion
University of Wisconsin La Crosse
124 Mitchell Hall
1725 State Street
La Crosse, WI 54601
608.785.8161
608.785.6792 (fax)
rduquette@uwlax.edu