Health Economics and Evaluation for Public Health

Module overview

Economics is the study of how society decides what to produce, how to produce it and for whom to produce it. Society has limited resources available to meet unlimited wants with respect to achieving health. Pressures from demographic change, technological advances and changing lifestyle habits make health economics an interesting and important aspect of everyday life as choices must be made as to what health programmes can be provided and how they should be provided. Health economics is relevant to many sectors (e.g., health services, public health, medicine, pharmaceutical and health technology industry), which makes this module of direct interest to the postgraduate programmes in Public Health and Global Health.

The module is organised in two sections. The first section introduces economic theory and important fundamental economic concepts, considers health care as a commodity and looks at different types of health care systems. Utilising this theory as underpinning knowledge the module turns to focus on the methodology that can be used to evaluate public health services. Firstly, it introduces methods of pragmatic evaluation of health services for public health practice, which will equip those completing the module with useful frameworks that are directly applicable to health contexts globally. Secondly, it will cover the methodology used in conducting economic evaluation and how these are used to influence decision making.

Aims and Objectives

Learning Outcomes

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

Explain the structure and functioning of health care markets
Explain the basic premise under which allocation decisions in the public/global health field are taken
Provide an introduction to evaluation and health economics
Illustrate the concepts behind health economic analysis and decision making.
Explain and illustrate methods of pragmatic evaluation.
Describe methods used to assess quality in healthcare and quality improvement frameworks

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

Design an evaluation of a public health intervention.
Frame the evaluation question appropriately.
Consider the strengths and limitations of different types of evaluation and be able to communicate these in a manner which means results are used appropriately.
Critically analyse the advantages and disadvantages of government intervention in health care.
Interpret the output of evaluations.
Apply a global perspective to understanding the resource implications and economic efficiency of health care systems

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

Communicate pragmatic and health economic evaluations and information.

Learning and Teaching

Teaching and learning methods

The module will consist of face-to-face lectures delivered on bloc in three sections of 10, 10, and 12 hours respectively. The lectures will contain theoretical analysis with real-world examples and applications to improve students' learning and analytical skills. In-class group discussions of research papers and exercises will facilitate deeper understanding and encourage critical thinking.

Study time
Type	Hours
Teaching	32
Independent Study	118
Total study time	150

Assessment

Assessment strategy

The assessment includes both a formative and a summative element. The formative assessment has two components i) a group presentation of pragmatic evaluation and ii) written and oral presentation of a critical appraisal. The summative assessment is an individual written assignment which require the student to complete a relevant checklist and write a critical appraisal of a particular paper or report. The critical appraisal should not exceed 2000 words in length.

The pass mark for the written assignment (critical appraisal) and module is 50%. If you have failed the module, you will have the opportunity to submit work at the next referral (re-sit) opportunity. On passing your referral, your final module mark will be capped at 50%.

Formative

This is how we’ll give you feedback as you are learning. It is not a formal test or exam.

Oral presentation and a written assignment

Assessment Type: Formative
Feedback:
Final Assessment: No
Group Work: No

Group presentation

Assessment Type: Formative
Feedback:
Final Assessment: No
Group Work: Yes

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Breakdown
Method	Percentage contribution
Written assessment	100%