Health Economics - Professional/Short course

Program Overview

This 15-credit, level 7 (Masters level) distance learning module in Health Economics from the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol) provides a comprehensive understanding of the principles and applications of health economics. Students will learn about ethical perspectives, alternative approaches, inequalities in health and healthcare, economic efficiency measures, and commissioning and decision making.

Program Outline

Degree Overview:

Health Economics - Professional/Short Course

University of the West of England (UWE Bristol)

This 15-credit, level 7 (Masters level) distance learning module provides students with a thorough understanding of the principles and applications of health economics.

Learning Outcomes:

Upon successful completion, students will be able to:

• Understand the ethical basis of economics and its role in resource allocation within health and social care.
• Grasp the tools and techniques used in economic approaches and the limitations of economic evidence in conducting health and social care evaluations.
• Analyze alternative theoretical approaches within health economics and critically examine the trade-off between efficiency and equity in international health systems and its impact on healthcare delivery.
• Appraise the validity and reliability of economic evidence for health and social care interventions, taking into account diverse physical, social, cultural, and institutional contexts.
• Critically examine approaches to estimating economic efficiency where social capital and community assets are significant factors.
• Reflect on the factors contributing to inequalities in health and health care distribution and critically examine healthcare intervention prioritization and commissioning within communities.

Outline:

Content:

The module syllabus covers the following key areas of health economics:

• Ethical Perspectives:
The connection between ethics, resource allocation, and health and social care.
• Importance of Context:
Understanding the role and influence of context in health and social care interventions, the relationship between interventions and outcomes, and factors influencing behavior changes.
• Alternative Approaches:
Examination of welfarist, extra welfarist, and capability models in health economics, exploring various cost-effectiveness assessment methods.
• Inequalities in Health and Healthcare:
Investigating the impact of social, physical environments, household factors, and individual motivation on health inequalities, analyzing the Marmot Review.
• Efficiency and Equity Trade-off:
Exploring the balance between efficiency and equity in resource allocation for primary prevention, health systems, and health policies, including legislation, regulation, nudges, and targeted population interventions.
• Economic Evidence Base:
Understanding the nature of the evidence base used for economic analysis of healthcare and public health programs.
• Economic Efficiency Measures:
Analyzing various measures of economic efficiency in resource allocation for healthcare, including cost-benefit ratios, cost per QALY, ICER, and Social Return on Investment.
• Commissioning and Decision Making:
Exploring the processes of commissioning health and social care, public health programs, and services, along with priority setting, rationing, and decision making in health and social care.
• Spatial Planning and Health:
Examining the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of integrating health considerations into built environment planning.

Structure:

• Total credit value: 15 credits
• Level: 7 (Masters level)
• Delivery mode: Distance learning
• Learning hours: 150 allocated hours (approx.
8 hours of virtual contact and 142 hours of independent study)

Assessment:

• Submission: One written project of 3,000 words.
• Project content: Critical review of one published economic evaluation of an intervention in rehabilitation, selected by the module leader.
• Assessment focus: Critically appraise the selected paper and construct an argument analyzing the challenges of allocating resources for health improvement in real-world settings.

Teaching:

• Learning approach: Blended learning, including online materials, discussion forums, essential reading, and virtual contact sessions for group discussions and tutor support.
• Faculty: Experienced academics and researchers in the field of health economics.
• Scheduled learning: Up to 8 hours of virtual contact sessions for group discussion and tutor support.
• Independent learning: 142 hours of independent study, including online activities, reading, case study preparation, and assessment preparation.

Careers:

• Potential career paths include roles in health economics, policy analysis, research, and consultancy within government, healthcare organizations, and pharmaceutical companies.

Other:

• The module is offered as a standalone course or as part of an undergraduate or postgraduate (Masters level) program.
• Applicants are expected to have their own headset/microphone for online sessions.