Social policy, health economics, and the organisation and management of health and health care programmes are among the core competencies identified by the UK Faculty of Public Health. The module has been designed to provide students with an in-depth knowledge and understanding of these. Health policy defines what ‘we’ want a health system to do. We will reflect on how policy is made, implemented and reviewed, looking at how public health advocates can seek an impact on policymaking. We also look at the governance (organisation and management) of health systems, paying particular attention to how these are defined, organised and funded. Attention is also given to how the performance of health systems is measured and assessed. This includes international comparisons and consideration of public, private and mixed economy models. We consider the measurement of effectiveness, and how to allocate resources, linking this to the health economics component, in which we introduce students to its key concepts, and particularly its application to public health. We will cover the evaluation of programmes and interventions, and ways to think about cost effectiveness (‘value for money’). The aim is to allow students to understand what health economics does, and to think critically about how it can be useful to public health, as well as its possible pitfalls. By studying these three components the module looks at how health (and social care) services are planned, managed, and held to account, and how change and service improvements are implemented and led, both nationally and within local organisations.
The module will be delivered through lecture delivery, problem-based learning, small group learning, and self-directed learning, while assessment will consist of two assignments; a group exercise producing a presentation examining evidence from other countries about possible solutions to a public health challenge, and an individual assignment in which a policy brief is produced. The module will also provide an opportunity for students to transfer their learning from other modules such as ‘Health Improvement’ and it is expected that students will complete self-directed learning via the assigned pre-reading before each teaching session. This reading will be available via the virtual learning environment (VLE) in advance of the module and the VLE will also be used to provide general module information (e.g. module guide and learning outcomes), communicate with students regarding module-specific issues, and provide the platform to submit their two summative assignments.