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The WHO has launched a free, self-paced online course on behavioral sciences for public health practitioners worldwide. The five-hour, nine-module course teaches how psychological, social, and environmental factors shape health behaviors — and how to design better interventions around them. It's open to a wide audience, from ministry staff to NGO workers, with no prior expertise required.
The World Health Organization has launched Behavioural Sciences for Better Health, a free, self-paced e-learning course available through the WHO Academy. Designed for public health practitioners, ministry of health staff, UN partners, NGOs, and policy advisers, the course requires no prior background in behavioral sciences and can be completed in about five hours across nine modules.
The course tackles a core challenge in public health: even the best evidence-based interventions fail if people don't adopt or sustain healthy behaviors. By drawing on psychological, cognitive, social, cultural, and environmental insights, the curriculum helps practitioners understand why people behave the way they do — and how to design programs that actually work in real-world contexts. A key feature is WHO's DDDIE framework (Define, Diagnose, Design, Implement, Evaluate), which gives practitioners a structured roadmap for turning behavioral insights into actionable public health programs.
Quick Facts:
Why it matters: Human behavior is at the root of many of today's biggest health crises. Equipping practitioners globally with behavioral science tools could meaningfully improve how public health programs are designed and delivered.
