Module: Health Policy

Latest Module Specifications

Current Academic Year 2025 - 2026

Module Title	Health Policy
Module Code	POL1007 (ITS: LG5063)
Faculty	Law & Government	School	Humanities & Social Sciences
NFQ level	9	Credit Rating	10

Description

Policy is among the key determinants of health. It also plays a major role in shaping the financing, delivery and regulation of healthcare. This module introduces participants to key paradigms and concepts in the study of contemporary health policy with a particular focus on the social and commercial determinants of health; Health in All Policies (HiAP) approach; key pillars of health care systems and their major components: health care financing, delivery and regulation; pharmaceutical policy; mental health policy; sexual and reproductive health policy; the health policy responses to epidemics and pandemics and; the politics of health and health care. It takes a distinctively interdisciplinary approach to matters of health policy, foregrounding the benefits of bringing together healthcare practitioner, citizen/patient and policymaker perspectives in health policy analysis. Through exposing them to the global health policy debates and international case studies, the module aims to equip participants with the skills necessary to undertake policy analysis in relation to the current and emergent challenges in health. This module targets both social and health sciences students as it aims to enhance the transversal skills for both groups on its completion.

Learning Outcomes

1. Gain familiarity with key concepts and principles in public health and health care policy.
2. Identify the difference between public health and health care policy, and its importance.
3. Understand the organisation and functioning of health care systems, including their principles and types of financing health care they are built upon.
4. Learn different frameworks for analysing a range of health policy issues.
5. Compare health policies of different countries based on available comparative data and international benchmarks.
6. Identify, investigate and critique key health policy issues from the perspectives of citizens, policymakers, health practitioners, professional bodies and patients.

*Type*	*Hours*	*Description*
Workload	Full time hours per semester
Lecture	11	Weekly lectures.
Debate	11	Guided class discussions.
Directed learning	90	Preparatory readings for class and background readings for assessments.
Assignment Completion	90	Preparing and submitting two reflection papers and a research paper.
Assessment Feedback	9	Engaging with the individual feedback provided for each assignment.
Total Workload: 211

Section Breakdown
CRN	20620	Part of Term	Semester 2
Coursework	0%	Examination Weight	0%
Grade Scale		Pass Both Elements	Y
Resit Category		Best Mark	N
Module Co-ordinator	Valesca Lima	Module Teacher	Volkan Yilmaz

Type	Description	% of total	Assessment Date
Assessment Breakdown
Research Paper	Participants are asked to write a final paper on a well-defined health policy question either by conducting a comprehensive literature survey or providing an empirical analysis of publicly-available data.	60%	n/a
Assignment	Two reflection papers on the topics covered in the lectures	40%	n/a

Reassessment Requirement Type
Resit arrangements are explained by the following categories; RC1: A resit is available for both^* components of the module. RC2: No resit is available for a 100% coursework module. RC3: No resit is available for the coursework component where there is a coursework and summative examination element. ^* ‘Both’ is used in the context of the module having a coursework/summative examination split; where the module is 100% coursework, there will also be a resit of the assessment

Pre-requisite	None
Co-requisite	None
Compatibles	None
Incompatibles	None

All module information is indicative and subject to change. For further information,students are advised to refer to the University's Marks and Standards and Programme Specific Regulations at: http://www.dcu.ie/registry/examinations/index.shtml

Indicative Content and Learning Activities

A brief history of public health policy

Social determinants of health

Public health policy case study: Tobacco control policies

Financing health care and access

Health care systems

Pharmaceutical policy and access to medicines

Mental health policy

Sexual and reproductive health policy

Health policy response to epidemics and pandemics

The politics of health and health care

Indicative Reading List

Books:

Robert H. Blank, Viola Burau, Ellen Kuhlmann: 2017, Comparative Health Policy, 5th, Bloomsbury Publishing, London, 978113754495
George Rosen: 2015, A History of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University Press, 440, 1421416018
Richard Wilkinson, Kate Pickett: 2010, The Spirit Level, Penguin UK, 374, 0241954290

Articles:

Daniel Carpenter: 2012, Is Health Politics Different?, Annual Review of Political Science, 15, 287-3, https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-polisci-050409-113009,

Other Resources

World Health Organization: 2021, Tracking universal health coverage: 2021 global monitoring report, https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240040618,