Infectious Disease Transmission Models for Decision-Makers
During the COVID-19 pandemic, both the promise and perils of using infectious disease transmission models to make public health policy decisions became clearer than ever. Optimal use of modeled output requires that public health policy makers be informed consumers of models, that they understand the strengths and limitations of possible approaches, and they know the right questions to ask about the vulnerabilities of the model results. This course aims to provide anyone who makes decisions about public health policies and programs with a clear understanding of how infectious disease transmission models work, the various types and functions, and how they can be appropriately used to make decisions. There is no requirement that students have any prior background in infectious disease models and the course does not include any equations. Anyone with a basic background in public health and infectious diseases with an interest in learning more about infectious disease models will benefit from this course.
In this course, participants will review the basics of infectious disease transmission models, including comparisons to other types of predictions used in daily life and an overview of the key components of a model and modeling structure. Next, participants will delve into the types of infectious disease models: forecasting, inferential, and theoretical models. Then, participants will learn about assessing whether a model is useful, reasonable and relevant, as well as the vulnerabilities of these models. These concepts will be applied to case studies of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa from 2014-2016 and the COVID-19 pandemic. The course will be rounded out with a review of how models inform policy decisions, including major sources of uncertainty for decision making.
Learners who complete this course will have a broad view of infectious disease transmission models, how to assess the usefulness of a given model, and how these models inform policy decisions.
Who should take this course?
-Public health policy makers
-Anyone interested in learning about how infectious disease transmission models can guide public health policy
The development of this training was funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics. We are grateful to Coursera for waiving enrollment fees through 2025.
Review the basics of infections disease epidemiology and transmission and key components of infectious disease models
Present questions that can be answered by infectious disease transmission models and types of models used to answer each type of question
Describe how to assess whether or not a model is “good” or useful for informing policy
Identify the most important considerations for making decisions based on infectious disease transmission models
Syllabus
Syllabus - What you will learn from this course
Week 1
Basics of Infectious Disease Transmission Models
Types of infectious disease models
Assessing the Value of an Infectious Disease Transmission Model
Modeling and policy decisions
FAQ
When will I have access to the lectures and assignments?
Access to lectures and assignments depends on your type of enrollment. If you take a course in audit mode, you will be able to see most course materials for free. To access graded assignments and to earn a Certificate, you will need to purchase the Certificate experience, during or after your audit. If you don't see the audit option:
What will I get if I purchase the Certificate?
When you purchase a Certificate you get access to all course materials, including graded assignments. Upon completing the course, your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page - from there, you can print your Certificate or add it to your LinkedIn profile. If you only want to read and view the course content, you can audit the course for free.
Is financial aid available?
Yes. In select learning programs, you can apply for financial aid or a scholarship if you can’t afford the enrollment fee. If fin aid or scholarship is available for your learning program selection, you’ll find a link to apply on the description page.
Reviews
Wonderful information as always!! thank you for sharing your knowledge and teaching us so well
Professor Emily Gurly does a great job outlining the key elements to understand models of infectious disease.
I'm so estastic to see this course on my mail this morning and able to complete it today. The course is timely for me in my current facility.
very rich data and information from a prespectice of Pulic health .amazing sesison
