HP401 Half Unit
Introduction to Health Policy and Politics
This information is for the 2023/24 session.
Teacher responsible
Dr Justin Parkhurst COW 2.08
Availability
This course is compulsory on the MSc in Global Health Policy and MSc in International Health Policy. This course is available on the MSc in Health Policy, Planning and Financing and MSc in International Health Policy (Health Economics). This course is available as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit.
Course content
A comparative approach to the development of health and healthcare policies in high, middle, and low income country settings, emphasising the goals of health policymaking, public health approaches, the political nature of health policy issues, and core concepts from policy studies that can be used to conceptualise policy change dynamcs in health.
The course will introduce concept of risk and risk reducing strategies, theories of planning, and priority setting techniques in health care. In addition, the course will examine the processes and forces shaping the development and implementation of health policy. The course will examine core concepts such as power, the role of the state and other policy stakeholders (e.g. NGOs, international organisations, etc.), institutions, and evidence, in shaping health policy agendas or choices.
Teaching
This course will be delivered through a combination of lectures and seminars totalling a minimum 23 hours during Autumn Term. Seminars will take place in small groups where students will work together in small groups on structured learning activities set by the course leads.
There will be a departmental reading week in Week 6 of term.
Formative coursework
Students will sit a mock written exam in the last week of term.
Indicative reading
Green, A., An Introduction to Health Planning for Developing Health Systems, new edn, OUP, 2007.
Walt, Gill. 1994. Health policy: an introduction to process and power. London: Zed Books.
Hill, M. The Policy Process, a reader, second ed. Harlow: Prentice Hall 1997
Buse, Kent, Nick Mays, and Gill Walt. 2012. Making Health Policy. Maidenhead, Berkshire: Open University Press.
D Leon & G Walt (eds), Poverty, Inequality and Health: An international perspective, OUP (2001)
Parkhurst, J. The politics of evidence: from evidence based policy to the good governance of evidence. London Routledge 2016.
Assessment
Exam (100%, duration: 2 hours) in the spring exam period.
Student performance results
(2019/20 - 2021/22 combined)
| Classification | % of students |
|---|---|
| Distinction | 8.7 |
| Merit | 67.3 |
| Pass | 21 |
| Fail | 2.9 |
Key facts
Department: Health Policy
Total students 2022/23: 95
Average class size 2022/23: 14
Controlled access 2022/23: Yes
Lecture capture used 2022/23: Yes (MT)
Value: Half Unit
Course selection videos
Some departments have produced short videos to introduce their courses. Please refer to the course selection videos index page for further information.
Personal development skills
- Self-management
- Team working
- Problem solving
- Application of information skills
- Communication
- Specialist skills