This second semester course is based around the ‘health needs assessment’ approach (burden of ill-health and effectiveness of intervention) in relation to the provision of services/support in the context of political-economic-social circumstances to improving the health of a population. The course covers the core concepts of public health (including population at risk, prevention, effective intervention, monitoring population health, burden of disease and health inequalities) across the three major public health domains of health protection, health promotion and healthcare evaluation.
On completion of the ‘Health Needs Assessment’ course students should be able to:
- Describe the relevance and contributions of health protection, health promotion and healthcare provision towards improving population health as a whole.
- Locate, utilise, analyse, interpret and present data obtained from the major sources of information commonly available to assess population health.
- Integrate the underpinning scientific approaches of epidemiology and biostatistics within the context of ‘health needs assessment’ as a rational approach to improving the health of a population.
- Demonstrate the ability to undertake the assessment of health needs in relation to a relevant public health issue and make recommendations to improve health based on the best evidence available.
- Communicate public health related information orally and as a professionally written report to support a critically argued approach to improving the health of a population.
The course provides an opportunity for MPH students to select a ‘health needs assessment topic’ that will form the basis for their ‘professional public health report’ or ‘academic manuscript’ research-based coursework which is undertake in the third semester.
