Last modified: 31 May 2022 13:05
This course challenges you to engage robustly with questions about what is good and right (and why) in public health policy and practice. You will develop your ability to critique and participate effectively in debates about what matters – and what is morally justified - in efforts to improve the health and wellbeing of communities and populations. You will develop the knowledge and confidence to identify value-based assumptions as you examine a range of real-world health problems and practice justifying and objecting to different strategies for addressing them
| Study Type | Postgraduate | Level | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Term | Second Term | Credit Points | 15 credits (7.5 ECTS credits) |
| Campus | Aberdeen | Sustained Study | No |
| Co-ordinators |
|
||
The course will explore the key concepts and forms of critical reasoning used to discuss the ethical and political appropriateness of efforts to address the health and wellbeing of communities and populations. It will engage students in reflection and debate about a range of contested issues that arise in public health policy and practice (including the provision of state funding for health services). The selection of issues will depend partly on topicality and on student interest but might include, for example: notions of responsibility in 'lifestyle', corporate and state behaviours; compulsion in the management of communicable diseases; fairness in responses to social/global inequalities in health.
Information on contact teaching time is available from the course guide.
Alternative Assessment
500 word essay (15%)
Individual presentation (35%)
2,000-word essay (50%)
Alternative Resit Assessment
Written assignment with 5 short answer questions (maximum 400 words each). The resits for this course will take place in week 42
1. Online discussion exercises
2. Computer based MCQ
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Conceptual | Understand | Identify the main forms of ethical and political reasoning used in professional and public debates about the appropriateness of public health interventions, and explain their key strengths and limitat |
| Procedural | Create | Formulate and communicate a coherent justification of your own position on an ethically contested public health policy/intervention, including an anticipation of, and response to, a likely objection t |
| Conceptual | Analyse | Reflect critically on different conceptions of key concepts in public health ethics (e.g. health, justice autonomy, responsibility, solidarity, vulnerability) and give examples of their relevance in d |
| Conceptual | Evaluate | Summarise the key points of an academic journal article that reports ethical reasoning about a public health topic for presentation to, and critical discussion with, public health colleagues |
We have detected that you are have compatibility mode enabled or are using an old version of Internet Explorer. You either need to switch off compatibility mode for this site or upgrade your browser.
