This course provides students with an opportunity to explore how health policy is developed, implemented and experienced across national and global contexts. Students will investigate the complex relationships between healthcare and social care systems, examining how different models of organisation and delivery shape people's lives. Framed by a social determinants of health perspective, the course will help students develop an in-depth understanding of the structural, political, and societal forces that shape health policy, and ultimately contribute to inequalities in health outcomes. Through contemporary policy debates and real-world case studies, students will explore how policy decisions are made, how they are implemented in practice, and how they are experienced by individuals and communities in diverse settings. 

This course is delivered in person and consists of a one-hour face-to-face lecture followed by a one-hour face-to-face seminar each week. Classes are scheduled on Mondays, with seminars taking place immediately after the lecture.

Teaching combines formal lectures with small-group seminars. Seminars are designed to foster informed discussion around set topics and may include student presentations, group activities, and open discussion.

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Summative assessment will be through two components of assessment:

1. Global Case Study Group Presentation and Individual Written Reflection - 30% weighting as follows:

Group presentation: 10% where all students in the group receive the same grade; Individual Written Reflection (1000 words): 20%

2. Individual Policy Brief (2500 words): 70%

Programme / course convenors and teaching staff will ensure that due consideration is given to students with disabilities, and that reasonable adjustments are implemented wherever possible, in consultation with relevant support services.

A Flexible Assessment approach will be applied, in line with Disability Service recommendations. This includes:

o Consideration of alternative assessment formats where appropriate (e.g., adaptations to oral assessments)

o Implementation of reasonable adjustments on a case-by-case basis

Examples could include:

■ Oral presentation: submit a recording of the presentation, or in a session alone with the markers, instead of in front of a group of students as an alternative.

■ Group work: provide structured and specific roles to give clarity and purpose; where students may have impaired social cognition, such as in autism, assign groups rather than asking students to self-assign.

Further examples may be found here: https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/disability/staffresources/staffsupportingdisabledstudents/ 

This course aims to provide students with the knowledge and skills to describe and critique health policies from national and international perspectives. Using interdisciplinary evidence and theory, students will be encouraged to examine the relationships between healthcare and social care systems, including the ways structural, political, and societal forces shape service delivery and health outcomes. Ideal for those looking to enhance their understandings of competing perspectives within contemporary health policy debates, the course will equip students with the analytical tools and critical insight needed to engage with policy processes and contribute meaningfully to discussions on population health and wellbeing.

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

■ Demonstrate comprehensive understanding of healthcare and social care systems and delivery.

■ Demonstrate comprehensive understanding of contemporary health policy issues and the policy options for addressing them.

■ Apply comparative analysis to examine health policy issues across different national and international contexts contexts.

■ Critically analyse the societal determinants that shape health policy decisions using interdisciplinary perspectives and diverse forms of evidence from a global perspective.

■ Communicate health policy debates clearly and effectively in a range of written, visual, and oral formats tailored to different audiences.