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HL50158: Health policy in an international context

[Page last updated: 15 October 2020]

Follow this link for further information on academic years Academic Year: 2020/1
Further information on owning departmentsOwning Department/School: Department for Health
Further information on credits Credits: 12      [equivalent to 24 CATS credits]
Further information on notional study hours Notional Study Hours: 240
Further information on unit levels Level: Masters UG & PG (FHEQ level 7)
Further information on teaching periods Period:
Modular (no specific semester)
Further information on unit assessment Assessment Summary: CW 100%
Further information on unit assessment Assessment Detail:
  • Assignment (CW 100% - Qualifying Mark: 40)
Further information on supplementary assessment Supplementary Assessment:
Like-for-like reassessment (where allowed by programme regulations)
Further information on requisites Requisites:
Description: Aims:
1. To enable students to critically understand the development of health policies in different international contexts.
2. To enable students to obtain a critical awareness of how their professional practice is influenced by health policy.
3. To equip students with the knowledge and skills required to evaluate critically a policy relating to professional health practice from a given list of topics.

Learning Outcomes:
On completion of the unit students should have shown evidence of being able to:
1. Evaluate critically health policy issues in an international context.
2. Analyse the literature on which such policy issues are based and critically appraise its significance in the development, and evolution, of policy in different national contexts.
3. Assess the impacts of policy on service development and delivery.
4. Identify and articulate revisions and/or amendments to policy in the light of their own experience in practice.

Skills:
1. Critical policy analysis (Intellectual skill: taught and assessed).
2. Literature review (Intellectual skill: facilitated and assessed).
3. Synthesis of policy related theory, research and practice from different international contexts, (Intellectual skill, professional skill, taught and assessed).
4. Applying results of analysis and research to professional practice: (Professional skill: taught and assessed).

Content:
1. Introduction to comparative health policy: Healthcare as public policy, classifications of healthcare systems. The politics of health. Problems in health policy.
2. Funding and governance: Comparing funding of health systems, resource allocation and rationing, health governance between centre and locality.
3. Reforming health systems: Reform and policy implementation, the market and managed competition, health and social justice.
4. Health professions: The state and professional regulation, professional power and the policy process, consumerism and the expert patient.
5. Public Health Policy: Social models of health and illness, challenging the bio-medical model, the regulation of lifestyle, a range of public health policy topics (this will change over time, but will initially cover health inequalities, smoking cessation and obesity).
Further information on programme availabilityProgramme availability:

HL50158 is a Stage Required Unit on the following programmes:

Department for Health

Notes:

  • This unit catalogue is applicable for the 2020/21 academic year only. Students continuing their studies into 2021/22 and beyond should not assume that this unit will be available in future years in the format displayed here for 2020/21.
  • Programmes and units are subject to change in accordance with normal University procedures.
  • Availability of units will be subject to constraints such as staff availability, minimum and maximum group sizes, and timetabling factors as well as a student's ability to meet any pre-requisite rules.
  • Find out more about these and other important University terms and conditions here.