Course Syllabus

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ISI Website| indepst@uidaho.edu | 208-885-6641

PSYC 5730 - Blood and Airborne Pathogens: HIV/STDs/Hepatitis/TB

Sponsoring Institution: University of Idaho

3 Credits

Instructor Information

Course Instructor: Steve Meier, PhD, ICPS

Your course instructor is Dr. Steven E. Meier, an Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Idaho. Dr. Meier received his Ph.D. in Psychology from Washington State University. His specialty of training was in experimental psychology with specialties in Learning (Applied Behavior Analysis), Addictive Behavior (Primarily Alcoholism), and Physiological Systems.

Course Description

This course is designed to provide an overview of various blood, airborne, and other pathogens now encountered in a variety of clinical/counseling environments. Some bloodborne pathogens (BBPs) include: Human Immunodeficiency Virus / Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS), sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), Hepatitis, and others. Various airborne pathogens (ABPs) include: Influenza and relatives (COVID Viruses), Tuberculosis, Measles, Chickenpox, Mumps, and Hantavirus among others. Finally, other pathogens emerging within the United States are vector related. Some of these diseases include West Nile Virus, Typhus, and others. 

While they can occur amongst all humans, many of these diseases occur more frequently among individuals experiencing substance abuse, mental illness, homelessness, or who live in high poverty areas.  Consequently, symptom recognition by first line clinicians and referral of clients to appropriate treatment is extremely important. 

Finally, while the focus of this course will be identification of pathogens and potential risk factors associated with various diseases, it is also important to understand aspects of human sexuality, related lifestyles, and high-risk factors associated with these pathogens.

Prerequisites:

PSYC 101 Introduction to Psychology

Course Learning Outcomes

  • Show how the epidemiology of HIV/AIDS has changed across population groups throughout the world.
  • Assist in examining issues related to biases about human sexuality, biases about sexually related topics, and information related to lifestyles.
  • Assist in identifying biases and fears counselors may have when working with clients engaging in high-risk behaviors.

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities (KSAs)

  • Promote clients' knowledge, skills, and attitudes consistent with the maintenance of health and the prevention of HIV/AIDS, TB, STDs, and other communicable diseases
  • Understand and describe the health and behavioral problems related to substance use disorders including the transmission and prevention of HIV/AIDS, TB, STDs, and other infectious diseases

Required Materials

This area is rapidly changing, and texts are often out of date by the time they are printed. Thus, all readings for this course will be selected from a variety of websites and some (not all) Zoom videos that will be posted within the various lessons.  

You may also download the following;

Course Rules & Requirements

Assessment Guidelines:

Assignments and exams must be submitted consecutively, in the order outlined in the course; therefore, it depends on where you are in the course as to when specific items are due, including discussion topics, extra credit, and exams. Other than that, there is no limit on the number of assignments that can be submitted per week. 

  • Submit assignments and receive grades via Canvas.
  • Keep a copy of every assignment submitted. Write your name, V number, course subject and number, and assignment number on every submission.
  • An instructor may take up to three weeks to grade so plan accordingly to meet personal deadlines.
  • The final course grade is issued after all assignments and exams have been graded.
  • Academic Dishonesty: If you cheat or plagiarize someone else's material and you are caught, you will receive an "F" grade for the class. The instructor will also refer you to the Dean of Student’s Office for additional consequences. Note: Copying and pasting material from the world wide web and not citing that information will be considered cheating.
  • Exams are taken in Canvas. Graded exams are not returned to the student.

Assignment Papers: 

You will be required to complete brief papers related to topics you will encounter throughout the course. All assignments will be posted through Canvas. The papers will be of various lengths and assigned points depending on the assignment.  All assignments will be in APA style using appropriate references as needed. Do not use online encyclopedias such as Wikipedia as a source. NO MATERIAL MAY BE CUT AND PASTED FROM THE WEB. 

Movie Reaction Papers: 

You will be required to rent, purchase, or borrow two movies:  

  1. One that contains material related to individuals with HIV, AIDS, or related communicable diseases. Older examples might be Philadelphia or Kids. More recent examples might be Milk or Moonlight. 
  2. The other movie should be related to highly contagious diseases. More recent movies might include Contagion, Virus, or others.  You can go to the following link for additional movies about contagious diseases.   

After watching each movie, you will be required to write a reaction paper related to your feelings about the movie, and your feelings about the sexual issues/lifestyles/other issues or concerns that were related to the topics in the movie. The point of this topic is to make you examine YOUR concept of sexuality and sexual lifestyles, and identity concepts about diseases that make you feel uneasy. There are no right or wrong comments related to this topic. You will be evaluated based on your description of the movie and how you back up your opinions or comments. 

Term Paper:  

Write a term paper on a sexually transmitted disease or sexual issue of your choice. You must use at least ten recent (published within the past five years) references from journal articles or books. Popular press (e.g., Time, Scientific American, Newspapers, etc.) and Non-Governmental web sites will not count toward your total. You can use a maximum of 4 websites in your count.  NO MATERIAL MAY BE CUT AND PASTED FROM THE WEB. 

Compose your term paper using your word processing package (e.g., Microsoft Word). When finished, submit your completed term paper via Canvas. 

Exams and Quizzes: 

There will be two exams given throughout the course of the semester.  Each will be open book, open note, and open person exams. That is, you can use any information you wish to help you.

Note, these exams are intense and cover a lot of material. They will usually take 5 hours or more to complete.  Doing one question per day is the way to go.  Write out the answer in Word, then upload your answer into Canvas.  APA style is required as well as referencing any material you use.

Email Standards

  • Subject line: include your name, V number, course subject and number, and assignment number(s)
    • Example: Joe Vandal, V01234567, BUS L321, Assignments 1, 2
  • Email body: place questions or comments for the instructor
  • Copy the ISI office at indepst@uidaho.edu

Lesson Plan

  • Lesson 1 - HIV / AIDS in the USA
    • Assignment 1 Dot Slides Reaction - See Lesson 1 for instructions (10 points)
    • Assignment 2 Data Comparisons - See Lesson 1 for instructions (25 points)
    • Assignment 3: US National vs Idaho Data - See Lesson 1 for instructions (10 points)
  • Lesson 2 - HIV / AIDS Outside the USA
    • Assignment 4: HIV Outside the U.S. - See Lesson 2 for instructions  (20 points)
  • Lesson 3 - Epidemiology of STDS
    • Begin identifying your movies
    • Assignment 5 STD Epidemiology - See Lesson 3, task 5 for instructions (30 points)
  • Lessons 4 - HIV Facts, 5 - Risk Factors and 6 - Fears and Phobias
    • Assignment 6 Reaction to Risk Behaviors - See Lesson 5, Task 1 for instructions (10 points)
  • Exam 1 Lessons 1—4 , Assignments 1—6 (100 points)
  • Lesson 7 - Drug Use
    • Assignment 7 Drug Use - See Lesson 7 for instructions and include both papers here with a separation between papers. (15 points)
  • Lesson 8 - STDs
    • Assignment 8 STDs - See Lesson 8 for instructions (10 points)
  • Lesson 9 - Hepatitis
    • Assignment 9 Hepatitis - See Lesson 9 for instructions (10 points)
  • Lesson 10 - Tuberculosis (TB) and 11 - Airborne Pathogens
    • Assignment 10 TB - See Lesson 10 for instructions (25 points)
  • Lesson 12 Other Pathogens
    • Assignments 11 HIV and STD Prevention Due (15 points)
    • All Movies Assignments Due (50 points each)
      • Movie Reaction Paper #1 - Provide an overview of the movie, then your reaction to it. Minimum two pages, max 4 pages.
      • Movie Reaction Paper #2 - Provide an overview of the movie, then your reaction to it. Minimum two pages, max 4 pages.
  • Lessons 13 - HIV Prevention, 14 - STD Prevention, and 15 - Hepatitis Prevention
    • Assignment 12 Hepatitis Prevention (10 points)
  • Lesson 16 - TB Prevention
  • Exam 2 Lessons 7—16   (100 points)
  • Term Paper (100 points)

Grade Information

Points Possible

Lesson Assignments - Points Possible (190 points)

  • Assignment 1: Dot Slides Reaction (10 points)
  • Assignment 2: Data Comparisons (25 points)
  • Assignment 3: US National vs. Idaho Data (10 points)
  • Assignment 4: HIV Outside the U.S. (20 points)
  • Assignment 5: STD Epidemiology (30 points)
  • Assignment 6: Reaction to Risk Behaviors (10 points)
  • Assignment 7: Drug Use (15 points)
  • Assignment 8: STDs (10 points)
  • Assignment 9: Hepatitis (10 points)
  • Assignment 10: TB (25 points)
  • Assignment 11: HIV and STD Prevention Due (15 points)
  • Assignment 12: Hepatitis Prevention (10 points)

Movie Reaction Papers - Points Possible (100 points)

  • Movie Reaction Paper #1 (50 points)
  • Movie Reaction Paper #2 (50 points)

Term Paper - Points Possible (100 points)

Course Exams - Points Possible (200 points)

  • Exam 1 (100 points)
  • Exam 2 (100 points)

Total points possible: 590

All grading will be based on the following scale:

Grading Scale
Points Percent Grade
531-590 90-100% A
472-530 80-89% B
413-471 70-79% C
354-412 60-69% D
353 and under Below 60% F

Course Policies

Refer to the ISI website's Current Students page for the most current policies and procedures, including information on setting up accounts, student confidentiality, exams, transcripts, course exchanges, refunds, academic integrity, library resources, disability support and other services. 

Cheating and Plagiarism:

The policy for cheating in this class is clear.  You will receive an "F" grade in the course.  Further, cutting and pasting material from the WWW or another person's work will be considered cheating and result in an "F" grade.  All students plagiarizing others material will be referred to the Dean of Students office for additional sanctions.

All materials are scanned for plagiarism by software in Canvas.  Thus, submit your own work.  Again, do not cheat in this class. 

University Disability Support Services

Reasonable accommodations are available for students who have documented temporary or permanent disabilities.  “Students with disabilities needing accommodations to fully participate in this class should contact the Center for Disability Access and Resources (CDAR). All accommodations must be approved through CDAR prior to being implemented. To learn more about the accommodation process, visit CDAR's website or call 208-885-6307.”