Master of Public Health MPH

Epidemiology is the study of the distribution and determinants of health and disease in human populations. This module introduces the fundamentals of epidemiology and equips students with the essential skills needed to analyse and interpret data from epidemiological studies. Focus is on supporting students to develop the required skills to design epidemiological studies, analyse epidemiological data and critically appraise epidemiological studies. 

The module aims to: 

1. Introduce students to the principles of epidemiology and statistics.
2. Develop students' knowledge and understanding of epidemiological research study design. 
3. Develop students' skills in the analysis and interpretation of epidemiological data and appraisal of epidemiological evidence.

This module is benchmarked against the Assessing the evidence of effectiveness of interventions, programmes and services to improve population health and wellbeing, Public health intelligence and Academic Public Health areas in the Public Health Skills and Career Framework. Also, Functions A1 - A5, C2 - C4 in the Public Health Skills and Knowledge Framework.

Module content will include:

• Research and professional practice: Evidence-based practice, benchmarking, audit, evaluation, practice development and research, research methodologies.
• Key concepts and issues in social and behavioural research: Research topics and research questions, systematic reviews, answering questions with data, validity and reliability of data, qualitative and quantitative data, description, exploration, finding connections, formulating and testing hypotheses, populations and sampling, phenomenology and positivism.
• Research traditions and designs: Ethnography, survey, experiment, mixed method, research process.
• Gathering and analysing data: Observation, questionnaires, interviews, psycho-bio-metrics. Data analysis and drawing conclusions. Systematic reviews; meta-synthesis.
• Literature review: Searching, locating, reading and summarising, reviewing and critiquing, organising, synthesising, and using the literature. Purpose and value of systematic reviews.
• Preparing the research proposal: Identifying research questions for chosen topic. Designing a study to address the questions. Data gathering and recording, data analysis. Considering alternative approaches: Critical analysis of alternative methods of research to the chosen approach. Process of systematic reviews. 
• Ethical frameworks, constraints, data protection, confidentiality, human rights, Helsinki declaration.

The aims of the module are:

1. Provide a comprehensive introduction to social and behavioural research with regard to key concepts, approaches, and techniques.
2. Facilitate the preparation of a research proposal for the dissertation.
3. Enable students to identify the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to their research topic.

This module is benchmarked against the Health improvement, Health protection, Health and social care quality areas in the Public Health Skills and Career Framework. Also, Functions A2, A3, A4, A5, B2 and C3 in the Public Health Skills and Knowledge Framework.

Module content will include:

• Public health in a historical and theoretical context. The development of public health, the rise and limits of medicine, and the emergence of health promotion.
• Introduction to population health – demographics, changes in population and disease patterns, measurement of health and disease, protection and screening.
• Social justice perspective of public health with reference to the main social, economic, political and environmental determinants of health.
• Public health ethics and ideologies that underpin the policy making process in relation to key public health issues.
• Community-based and community development strategies to promote health.
• Theoretical models and their practical application to practice – brief interventions, motivational interviewing, social marketing approaches, social capital.

The aims of the module are:

1. To provide a framework for thinking critically about the nature, purposes and practice of public health.
2. To develop a critical appreciation of the determinants of health and wellbeing
3. To examine critically the potential for individual, organisational and community-based approaches to promoting public health
4. To examine critically the role of policy and power in promoting health.

This module is benchmarked against the Health improvement, Health protection, Health and social care quality and Core areas in the Public Health Skills and Career Framework. Also, Functions Areas A, B and C in the Public Health Skills and Knowledge Framework.

The aim of this module is to give students a clear understanding of the impact of communicable diseases on the health of a population. Students taking this module will gain an understanding of the roles of local, national and international agencies responsible for the prevention, surveillance and control of communicable diseases.

Module content will include:

1. The aetiology and transmission of common communicable diseases e.g. the epidemiological triad. 
2. National and international policies on surveillance of communicable diseases and environmental hazards e.g. Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System (WHO); European surveillance systems – Eurosurveillance (ECDC); GAVI.
3. The roles and responsibilities of the local, national and international agencies responsible for the prevention, surveillance and control of communicable diseases and emerging environmentally determined diseases e.g. UKHSA, ECDC, CCDC, WHO, etc.
4. The epidemiology and related microbiology of communicable diseases e.g. MRSA, C. difficile, Legionella, Human Seasonal Influenza, childhood communicable diseases, and any other communicable diseases associated with national wealth. 
5. The international strategies for prevention of communicable diseases, with particular reference to environmental factors and principles of immunity and immunisation; immunisation programmes including systems for monitoring vaccine uptake and the implications of biological terrorism.
6. The legal basis of communicable disease control and environmental public health through examination of public health implementation frameworks, legislation, and international and national policies, in selected countries.

This module is benchmarked against the Health improvement, Health protection, Public Health Intelligence, Health and social care quality and Cores areas 2 & 3 in the Public Health Skills and Career Framework. Also, Function Areas B & C in the Public Health Skills and Knowledge Framework.

The module aims to:

1. To explore the correlation between policy development and leadership.
2. To enable students to critically analyse and enhance their leadership abilities.
3. To enable students to utilise relevant leadership skills and apply them to their field of practice.
4. To promote appropriate strategies for critical thinking and reflective practice.

Module content will include:

1. Use of leadership frameworks and toolkits, values, beliefs, self-awareness, role modelling, personal motivation, personal boundaries, creativity, mind mapping, action planning development, action learning sets, reflective practice.
2. Team building, winning teams, leading change through teamwork, the learning organisation.
3. Vision, setting direction, transformational leadership, innovation, influencing and negotiating skills, environmental scanning, organisational culture; systems thinking, theories and models, barriers to change, conflict resolution, organisational development, why leaders succeed or fail. 
4. Frameworks for critiquing the provenance of polices. Political, economic, social and technological drivers for change.
5. Service vision, collaborative working, client participation, integration and inclusiveness, advocacy and empowerment, governance and accountability.

This module is benchmarked against the Health improvement, Health protection, Public Health Intelligence, Health and social care quality and Cores areas 2 & 3 in the Public Health Skills and Career Framework. Also, Function Areas B & C in the Public Health Skills and Knowledge Framework.

The aim of this module is to give students a clear understanding of the fundamental concepts and principles of economics relevant to health and health care. Students taking this module will gain an understanding of the interactions between health and economic development, understand different methods of financing and delivering health care, and understand the methods and application of economic appraisal in health care in an international context.

Module content will include:

1. The fundamental concepts and principles of health economics relevant to health and health care, including the notions of scarcity, supply and demand, marginal analysis, distinctions between need and demand, opportunity cost, margins, efficiency and equity.
2. Techniques of economic appraisal including cost-effectiveness analysis and modelling, cost-utility analysis, option appraisal and cost-benefit analysis, the measurement of health benefits in terms of QALYs and related measures e.g. DALYs. 
3. The role of economic evaluation and priority setting in health care decision making, including the cost-effectiveness of public health, and public health interventions and involvement.
4. Resource allocation; commissioning, procurement and prioritisation.
5. The interaction between health and economic development, including analysis of investment in health improvement and the part played by economic development and global organisations.

This module consolidates the learning and knowledge acquisition provided on the course. It encompasses all Function Areas in the Public Health Skills and Knowledge Framework. Similarly, it represents a thorough understanding of all Core and Non-core areas in the Public Health Skills and Career Framework, particularly Public health intelligence and Academic public health.

The six taught modules will have developed students' knowledge and understanding of, and insight into, the research process. In addition, they will have developed a variety of skills in relation to retrieving and appraising research evidence and collecting and analysing qualitative and quantitative data. The dissertation module builds on this foundation and provides the opportunity for students, with tutorial support, to use this repertoire to plan, design and carry out a piece of primary research within a Research Team, whilst also demonstrating their independence as a researcher.

The aims of the module are therefore:

1. to provide students with the opportunity for sustained and independent study through completion of a research project
2. to increase students' understanding and appreciation of the practice of research and relevant methodological and ethical issues
3. to provide students with the opportunity for the in-depth and critical examination of a specific research question which furthers their understanding of the research process and the specified research problem.