| Unit name | Global Health Policy Evidence Toolkit |
|---|---|
| Unit code | SPOLM0086 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Dr. Li |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
None |
| School/department | School for Policy Studies |
| Faculty | Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
Why is this unit important?
Policy actors in government, public health, health promotion, health charities and international UN bodies play important roles in shaping policy. Available tools they tend to use include health needs assessments; cost-benefits analyses; and monitoring frameworks connected to the Sustainable Development Goals (among others). Crucial decisions often must be made within limited resources and time, while assessing the strength and relevance of different forms of evidence.
This unit introduces you to a set of practical evidence-making approaches and tools frequently used to support global health policy decisions. One unique and exciting feature of this unit is that you will critically engage with the strengths and limitations of traditional and emergent (e.g. systems thinking) approaches in the field.
Key questions include:
How does this unit fit into your programme of study
This unit extends your learning about the uses and applications of evidence-making tools in global health policy – beyond methodologies for evidence collection and generation explored in the TB1 Research Methods unit. It enables you to critically appraise practical approaches used by practitioners and help you to develop skills for future practice. You will draw on some of the issues studied in your other optional TB2 units as application case studies for tools introduced in this unit. This unit also appeals to those of you who wish to undertake the Work Based Applied Research Project as you will apply this unit’s learning with your host organisation.
An overview of content:
This unit helps you to critically engage with the broad range of evidence tools generated in the context of real-world global health to introduce, improve and evaluate policies. These tools include needs assessments; impact assessments, rapid evidence and also systematic reviews; as well as monitoring and evaluation frameworks commonly used in the global health policy field. The unit will furthermore enable you to learn about how Systems Thinking has started to productively disrupt existing heuristics and assumptions about health interventions that have tended to be single-issue focused, encouraging an approach to solutions-development that demands far broader interpretations of inclusion, complexity and problem/outcome definition.
How will you be different as a result of this unit
You will become critically conversant with different applications of global health evidence collation and Sustainable Development Goal-type metrics related to policy introduction, change and evaluation. You will be encouraged to formulate original and creative ideas as you start to question conventional approaches to the constitution of traditional measures through the application of systems thinking to global health policy.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the unit, you will be able to:
The unit will be delivered through a combination of lectures and student-centred seminars. Seminars will incorporate small group as well as self-directed exercises enabling you to apply and consolidate your learning through problem-focused inquiry.
Tasks which help you learn and prepare for your summative tasks (formative)
Group presentation – you will work with other students to present a critical overview of a functional example of evidence used in practice–including its strengths and limitations– to support global health policy development.
Tasks which count toward your unit mark (summative)
Case Study (3000 words, 100%)
This assessment meets all Learning Outcomes
When assessment does not go to plan
Subject to the university regulations for taught programmes, unsuccessful students may be offered an opportunity for reassessment. If you are eligible to resubmit and where appropriate, you may submit a revised version of your previous assignment or complete an alternative assessment in the same format as the original assessment.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. SPOLM0086).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The assessment methods listed in this unit specification are designed to enable students to demonstrate the named learning outcomes (LOs). Where a disability prevents a student from undertaking a specific method of assessment, schools will make reasonable adjustments to support a student to demonstrate the LO by an alternative method or with additional resources.
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
