Community Health and Prevention Department
The Department of Community Health and Prevention at Drexel University Dornsife School of Public Health promotes health through the scientific study of communities, examining the social, cultural, economic, and environmental factors that influence health at the neighborhood level.
Our work also focuses on the human rights and social justice aspects of public health. We are committed to securing the conditions that support population health.
The Department of Community Health & Prevention enthusiastically supports the Drexel Dornsife School of Public Health's Action Plan to Enhance Diversity, Inclusion, Equity and Anti-Racism.
What is Community Health and Prevention?
Community Health and Prevention aims to understand health behavior, promote the health of communities, and sustain community health.
The work of community health and prevention includes designing, implementing, managing and evaluating health programs and policies in domestic and global settings.
Drexel Dornsife’s Community Health and Prevention Mission and Vision
Dornsife’s Community Health and Prevention (CHP) department emphasizes an education based on the principles of community engagement, participatory action, and human-rights-based values in research, practice, and policy.
Our multidisciplinary approach to community health is reflected in our actions, public health programs, and policies that build upon community values, strengths, and assets.
Our community health training programs offer a diverse student body the chance to learn and practice rigorous behavioral and prevention science methodologies to become experts in a range of community health areas.
- Department of community health partnerships and other relationships with more than 100 community organizations offer students an unparalleled chance to develop real-world expertise in urban and neighborhood-focused public health.
- Our faculty are renowned for their innovative strategies in community health promotion and public health practice. They work closely with our students and community partners to break new ground in public health research and the investigation of community factors linked to health.
- CHP faculty lead a wide variety of Dornsife's centers and programs, including the Drexel Maternal and Child Health Program, Office of Global Health, Drexel Urban Health Collaborative, the Center for Nonviolence and Social Justice, and Dornsife's Public Health Undergraduate Education Programs.
- Our graduates build rewarding careers in public health, not only in community-based organizations, but also in government, industry, academia, and the not-for-profit sector.
To learn more about our community health degrees, request more information to speak with a member of our admissions team today or visit the links below for a full list of programs.
A Word From Our Department Chair
Amy Carroll-Scott, PhD, MPH
Department Chair and Associate Professor
"Our human rights foundation, our collaborative spirit, and our commitment to addressing structural inequities and the social determinants of health, makes our department uniquely poised to impact today’s urgent public health challenges."
Read Amy Carroll-Scott's Welcome Letter and Faculty Bio.
Community Health and Prevention Degrees and Courses
Undergraduate Programs in Public Health
View all undergraduate public health courses in the Drexel Catalog.
Community Health Master's and Doctoral Programs
View all CHP department graduate courses in the Drexel Catalog.
Graduate Minors in Community Health
Learn more about Public Health Graduate Minors, which are open to all graduate students at Drexel.
Community Health and Prevention Graduate Certificates
Featured Research in Community Health and Prevention
A collaboration between researchers in the Community Health and Prevention Department and the Promise Zone Research Connection leads to published recommendations and best practices for Philadelphia's Institutional Review Boards.
To determine whether a community-driven guaranteed income program has an impact on birth and health outcomes, researchers at Dornsife are conducting an evaluation study.
Co-leading this effort are Ali Groves, PhD, MHS, associate professor, and Elizabeth (Libby) Salerno Valdez, PhD, MPH, assistant professor, both in the department of Community Health and Prevention.
More Research News
Featured CHP Student Story