Postgraduate - UnitMPH5269 - Foundations of health policy

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2013 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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6 points, SCA Band 3, 0.125 EFTSL

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Level	Postgraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences
Organisational Unit	Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine
Offered	Alfred Hospital First semester 2013 (Day) Alfred Hospital First semester 2013 (Off-campus)
Coordinator(s)	Dr C Joyce, Prof B Oldenburg

Synopsis

Delivery of health services is underpinned by a framework of health policies and other health system elements. Health professional leaders and managers, and those who aspire to these roles, need to know about these policies and about the process of policy making so that they can understand why a policy is what it is, and how to engage in the policy making process.

This unit involves a structured review of policy making processes, via WebCT based modules, readings and online tasks, supplemented by workshops with senior health policy practitioners. It considers key challenges and major issues confronting governments and health systems around the world, and how policy can help address these. The unit presents foundation concepts in health policy, which can be extended with further study of health care delivery policies (MPH5272) and/or global health and primary prevention policies (MPH5260).

Outcomes

Understand the policy process
Identify and analyse stakeholder interests
Recognise key current issues on the Australian and global health policy agendas
Locate sources of information guiding health policy content and process.
Critically analyse policies
Evaluate the implications of the political context of policy development
Draw out the policy implications of research evidence and other forms of evidence
Present well-informed, clear, and well-reasoned arguments on policy-relevant questions
Critically reflect on their learning about health systems policy and its application and/or future development

Assessment

Web-based tasks (40%)
Written assignments (60%)

Chief examiner(s)

Dr Catherine Joyce

Contact hours

15 contact hours over 2 block days

Prohibitions

MPH5231

Additional information on this unit is available from the faculty at:

http://www.med.monash.edu.au/epidemiology/pgrad