| Unit name | Developing and Evaluating Public Health Interventions |
|---|---|
| Unit code | BRMSM0076 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Dr. Keighley |
| 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 | Bristol Medical School |
| Faculty | Faculty of Health Sciences |
Why is this unit important?
A key focus of public health is intervening to bring about changes to improve people’s health. This is what this unit is all about! We start by discussing the different approaches to developing public health interventions, considering the complexity of public health issues and therefore the interventions needed to address them. We will also consider in what circumstances different approaches are appropriate, the potential impact of these approaches on existing health inequalities, and even whether it is appropriate to intervene at all. We then move on to how to design evaluations of public health interventions, covering a range of different study designs and discussing the trade-offs that must sometimes be made between academic rigour and the pragmatism needed for real-world scenarios. Throughout the unit, we draw on expertise from the Centre of Public Health and other local institutions to bring you real-life examples of developing and evaluating public health interventions.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study
This unit will build on your knowledge and understanding of the concepts and methods covered in the Epidemiology and Statistics and Research Methods units in Teaching Block 1. You will apply this knowledge and understanding to the context of developing and evaluating public health interventions and critically appraising the different approaches used. The skills that you develop in this unit will help prepare you for your dissertation.
An overview of content
Key topics we cover:
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit
By the end of the unit, you will have a good understanding of the complexity of public health problems and the development and evaluation of interventions needed to tackle them. In turn, this will help you to be more open-minded to the different approaches used and key issues that may arise. You will also have gained experience of working as part of a team to consider important aspects of designing and evaluating public health interventions, and considering the different perspectives that stakeholders may have. This unit will help prepare you for a career in public health with a research, health services, or government perspective.
Learning outcomes
By the end of this unit, you will be able to:
The learning methods on this unit reflect our overarching aim of enabling you to apply relevant technical skills and knowledge to real-world public health contexts and familiarising you with the collaborative nature of evaluating public health interventions. The unit therefore uses a mixture of lectures (in-person and online) and in-person group-based practical sessions/problem-based learning exercises based on case studies from the UK, European, and international health examples. You will learn about core concepts through live lectures, where you will be given opportunities to ask questions. These sessions will be supplemented with small group work, where working in groups, you will discuss your ideas and understanding with others and work together to solve problems. Self-directed asynchronous work will further consolidate your learning and may include reading, accessing web-based supplementary materials, listening to pre-recorded mini-lectures and other materials, and online discussion boards.
These ways of learning will prepare you for the summative assessment, which involves synthesising the information you have learnt in the unit and applying it to solve problems.
Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks (formative assessment):
In each session of this unit, there will be groupwork activities where we will work together discussing and reflecting on different aspects of how we may design and evaluate public health interventions. These activities will give you the opportunity to consolidate and apply your knowledge and understanding from sessions. There will also be formative assessment activities where you will be given an opportunity to practice elements of the summative assessment and discuss your responses with your peers and the unit leads. There will be Question and Answer (Q&A) sessions where you will have the opportunity to ask questions and clarify your understanding about the summative assessment tasks.
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative assessment):
The summative assessment will comprise two tasks. Task 1 will be mid-way through the unit, Task 2 will be at the end of the unit:
When assessment does not go to plan
If you do not pass the unit, you will normally be given the opportunity to take a reassessment as per the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes. Decisions on the award of reassessment will normally be taken after all taught units of the year have been completed. Reassessment will normally be in a similar format to the original assessment that has been failed.
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. BRMSM0076).
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.
