Master of Public Health MPH

Module content will include:

1. The nature and purposes of epidemiology and exploration of the concepts: prevalence, incidence, case controls, rates, risks and confidence intervals.
2. Epidemiological study design: descriptive studies, retrospective studies, prospective studies, experimental studies. Dealing with chance, bias and confounding. 
3. Measurement of health and disease in populations using routinely collected and ad hoc data: for example, mortality and morbidity data, cancer registry data, surveys. Validated instruments to measure health, wellbeing, illness and disease. Statistical approaches to the analysis of epidemiological data.
4. Epidemiological evidence: collating, analysing and interpreting data to prepare a population health needs assessment. Using Geographical Information Systems for spatial analysis. 
5. Formulating strategies for intervention and health service planning.
6. Identifying contemporary health issues revealing patterns of health and disease using the time, place and person framework. Population demographics and health needs. Public health intelligence: systems, management and data security.

Epidemiology is frequently defined as the study of the patterns of health and disease in populations and the factors that influence such patterns. Thus, epidemiological evidence has an important role in monitoring and assessing population health and wellbeing and provides the evidence base for evaluating health needs.  As such, it constitutes a core discipline for public health practitioners.  This module is for students who have little or no experience of studying epidemiology. It introduces key epidemiological concepts and methods and explores their application to monitoring and assessing population health and wellbeing. 

Aims:

1. To introduce students to the discipline of epidemiology.
2. To develop knowledge and understanding of design strategies and methods used in epidemiological research.
3. To develop and extend students’ data handling and data interpretation skills.
4. To develop an ability to deploy epidemiological concepts in the analysis of population health.
5. To foster a critical appreciation of epidemiological research.

Specific coten will vary according to the specific subject chosen by the students, and will be agreed within the dissertation Research Team and the supervisor.  Group tutorial sessions and taught sessions will cover relevant skill development, methodological and ethical issues, project management issues and other matters concerned with the production of the final dissertation documents.

The six taught modules will have developed students' knowledge and understanding of, and insight into, the research process. In addition, they will have developed a variety of skills in relation to retrieving and appraising research evidence and collecting and analysing qualitative and quantitative data. The dissertation module builds on this foundation and provides the opportunity for students, with tutorial support, to use this repertoire to plan, design and carry out a piece of primary research within a Research Team, whilst also demonstrating their independence as a researcher. The aims of the module are therefore:

1. to provide students with the opportunity for sustained and independent study through completion of a research project;
2. to increase students' understanding and appreciation of the practice of research and relevant methodological and ethical issues;
3. to provide students with the opportunity for the in-depth and critical examination of a specific research question which furthers their understanding of the research process and the specified research problem.

Module content will include:

1. Public health in an historical and theoretical context. The development of public health, the rise and limits of medicine, and the emergence of health promotion. 
2. Introduction to population health – demographics, changes in population and disease patterns, measurement of health and disease, protection and screening.  
3. Social justice perspective of public health with reference to the main social, economic, political and environmental determinants of health.
4. Public health ethics and ideologies that underpin the policy making process in relation to key public health issues.
5. Community-based and community development strategies to promote health.
6. Theoretical models and their practical application to practice – brief interventions, motivational interviewing, social marketing approaches, social capital.

The aims of the module are:

1. To provide a framework for thinking critically about the nature, purposes and practice of public health.  
2. To develop a critical appreciation of the determinants of health and wellbeing.  
3. To examine critically the potential for individual, organisational and community-based approaches to promoting public health.  
4. To examine critically the role of policy and power in promoting health.

Module content will include:

1. The aetiology and transmission of common communicable diseases e.g. the epidemiological triad. 
2. National and international policies on surveillance of communicable diseases and environmental hazards e.g. Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System (WHO); European surveillance systems – Eurosurveillance (ECDC); GAVI.
3. The roles and responsibilities of the local, national and international agencies responsible for the prevention, surveillance and control of communicable diseases and emerging environmentally determined diseases e.g. UKHSA, ECDC, CCDC, WHO,
   etc.
4. The epidemiology and related microbiology of communicable diseases e.g. MRSA, C. difficile, Legionella, Human Seasonal Influenza, childhood communicable diseases, and any other communicable diseases associated with national wealth. 
5. The international strategies for prevention of communicable diseases, with particular reference to environmental factors and principles of immunity and immunisation; immunisation programmes including systems for monitoring vaccine uptake and the implications of biological terrorism.
6. The legal basis of communicable disease control and environmental public health through examination of legislation, and international and national policies, in selected countries.

The aim of this module is to give students a clear understanding of the impact of communicable diseases on the health of a population. Students taking this module will gain an understanding of the roles of local, national and international agencies responsible for the prevention, surveillance and control of communicable diseases.

Module content will include:

1. Use of leadership frameworks and toolkits, values, beliefs, self-awareness, role modelling, personal motivation, personal boundaries, creativity, mind mapping, action planning development, action learning sets, reflective practice.
2. Team building, winning teams, leading change through teamwork, the learning organisation.
3. Vision, setting direction, transformational leadership, innovation, influencing and negotiating skills, environmental scanning, organisational culture; systems thinking, theories and models, barriers to change, conflict resolution, organisational development, why leaders succeed or fail. 
4. Frameworks for critiquing the provenance of polices. Political, economic, social and technological drivers for change.
5. Service vision, collaborative working, client participation, integration and inclusiveness, advocacy and empowerment, governance and accountability.

This module aims:

1. To explore the correlation between policy development and leadership.
2. To enable students to critically analyse and enhance their leadership abilities.
3. To enable students to utilise relevant leadership skills and apply them to their field of practice.
4. To promote appropriate strategies for critical thinking and reflective practice.

Module content will include:

1. The fundamental concepts and principles of health economics relevant to health and health care, including the notions of scarcity, supply and demand, marginal analysis, distinctions between need and demand, opportunity cost, margins, efficiency and equity.
2. Techniques of economic appraisal including cost-effectiveness analysis and modelling, cost-utility analysis, option appraisal and cost-benefit analysis, the measurement of health benefits in terms of QALYs and related measures e.g. DALYs. 
3. The role of economic evaluation and priority setting in health care decision making, including the cost-effectiveness of public health, and public health interventions and involvement.
4. Resource allocation; commissioning, procurement and prioritisation.
5. The interaction between health and economic development, including analysis of investment in health improvement and the part played by economic development and global organisations.

The aim of this module is to give students a clear understanding of the fundamental concepts and principles of economics relevant to health and health care. Students taking this module will gain an understanding of the interactions between health and economic development, understand different methods of financing and delivering health care, and understand the methods and application of economic appraisal in health care in an international context.

Module content will include: 

1. Research and professional practice: Evidence-based practice, benchmarking, audit, evaluation, practice development and research, research methodologies.
2. Key concepts and issues in social and behavioural research: Research topics and research questions, systematic reviews, answering questions with data, validity and reliability of data, qualitative and quantitative data, description, exploration, finding connections, formulating and testing hypotheses, populations and sampling, phenomenology and positivism.
3. Research traditions and designs: Ethnography, survey, experiment, mixed method, research process.
4. Gathering and analysing data: Observation, questionnaires, interviews, psycho-bio-metrics. Data analysis and drawing conclusions. Systematic reviews; meta-synthesis.
5. Literature review: Searching, locating, reading and summarising, reviewing and critiquing, organising, synthesising, and using the literature. Purpose and value of systematic reviews.
6. Preparing the research proposal: Identifying research questions for chosen topic. Designing a study to address the questions. Data gathering and recording, data analysis. Considering alternative approaches: Critical analysis of alternative methods of research to the chosen approach. Process of systematic reviews. 
7. Ethical frameworks, constraints, data protection, confidentiality, human rights, Helsinki declaration.

The aims of this module are to: 

1. Provide a comprehensive introduction to social and behavioural research with regard to key concepts, approaches, and techniques.
2. Facilitate the preparation of a research proposal for the dissertation.
3. Enable students to identify the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to their research topic.