This course is an introduction for students to the essential factors that promote or challenge the development of personal health and healthy lifestyles, including nutrition, physical fitness, stress management, mental and emotional health, sexuality and relationships, violence and injury, and substance abuse. Students examine how cultural and socioeconomic factors influence people's perception of their health as well as their health behavior. Students review tools for assessing health and risk and have the opportunity to assess their own health and behavior using a health risk appraisal.

Human nutritional requirements change over the course of the lifespan. Students in this course examine the fundamentals of nutrition and the variation of nutritional needs at different life stages, including pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and old age. Students discuss issues such as obesity and eating disorders as well as the link between diet and disease. Students conduct a personal dietary assessment and analyze the relationship between food choices and health status in their own lives.

Physical fitness is an important component of overall health and quality of life. In this course, students focus on the fundamental concepts and principles of physical fitness, including flexibility, cardiovascular health, muscular strength, muscular endurance, and body composition, as well as the physiological and psychological processes through which exercise influences health. Students create a personalized fitness program and explore the health advantages of a physically active lifestyle, including the mental, social, and psychological benefits. They also examine the harmful effects of a sedentary lifestyle, particularly with regard to the risk of chronic disease.

Students in this course learn about a holistic approach to stress management. They address the emotional and physical dimensions of stress as well as scientific foundations and physiological pathways. Students explore the mind-body connection, and they study fundamental principles, theories, and relaxation techniques—including cognitive and physical behavior change interventions—that can help people effectively manage personal stress.

The principles and theories of health communication and their application to health promotion and behavior change are the foci of this course. Students examine how to design and deliver health messages to various audiences while remaining sensitive to cultural, socioeconomic, and educational factors influencing the audience. Students evaluate important dimensions of intercultural and intracultural communication and study how to make scholarly writing accessible to the general population. They also explore the use of emerging technologies and social media in marketing and communications.

Health and wellness involve more than physical symptoms and diseases. Health psychology is a dynamic course that gives students the opportunity to explore the field of health psychology, with a focus on how physical, psychological, sociocultural, economic, and spiritual factors impact health and wellness. Throughout the course, students examine the importance of health disparities and health literacy, explore strategies for promoting health-enhancing behaviors, and apply health psychology research to various health issues. Students also apply their learning to the development of their own health goals. The course culminates in a case study that synthesizes students’ learning from the previous weeks.