Health Policy Analysis

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Health policy
(Introductory course, 0.5 ECTS)
Audience: MPH students
This course aimed to introduce health policy environment that shapes public health and to enhance understanding of health policy process and analysis. The objective of this course is to build understanding of fundamental ideas, issues and problems in health policy and management and thereby to provide a strong foundation for future studies and careers in the health care field.
Lecture 1. Health policy framework
• Importance of health policy
To understand the relationship between health policy and health, and impacts of other policies on the current main health issues, such as obesity.
• Health policy triangle
To gain an understanding of interaction between major
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To obtain knowledge of how evidence is used (or manipulated or ignored) to formulate policy considering individual’s rights versus public interest.
• Policy formulation approaches
To introduce policy approaches (The rational approach and the hurried approach) to develop and analyze specific policy issues.
Lecture 3. Health policy analysis
• Characteristics of sound health policy
Health policy decisions on specific issues are mostly chosen by either competing values or assessment of available information. However, several characteristics are important to develop good health policy.
• Policy analysis approaches
To gain an understanding of methods for assessing the possible impact of different policies; comparing alternative courses of action in terms of costs and health benefits; incorporating other types of considerations (e.g. distributional concerns) in setting priorities for public health policy.

Discussion topics:
1. Health policy implementation
2. Lobbying
3. Advocacy
4. Media, public opinion
5. Ethical
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• Health care insurance
To introduce the importance of health care insurance as is one of the effective tools to achieve Universal Health Coverage in Sustainable Development Goals era.
Lecture 2. Population health assessment
• Health assessment approaches
To introduce population health assessment approaches to meet the changing population needs e.g. to arrange chronic disease management.
• Health care reform
To understand why and when the health care reform is necessary in health care delivery to meet major health policy creations and changes by the government.
Lecture 3. Providers of health care
• Medical professionals and health care workforce
To understand the policy of supply and demand of medical professionals and challenges in health care workforce.
• Health care labor market
To explain health care labor market assessment and how to develop an effective policy on managing health care labor market to positively influence public health prevention and trending morbidity and mortality.
Lecture 4. Users of health care
• Role of the patient in the health care