Title:	Decision-making in Public Health: Evidence, Politics or Diplomacy
Keywords:	Health Policy Evidence based medicine Disease prevention, control and elimination
Country:	Germany
Institution:	Germany - Heidelberg Institute of Global Health, University of Heidelberg
Course coordinator:	Dr. Silvia Runge-Ranzinger Dr. Olaf Horstick
Date start:	2019-05-20
Date end:	2019-05-24
About duration and dates:	5 days + pre-reading
Classification:	advanced optional
Mode of delivery:	Face to face
Course location: Institute of Public Health Im Neuenheimer Feld 365, Room 007 D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany
ECTS credit points:	2 ECTS credits
SIT: 60 SIT (40 hours contact time and 20 hours self-study time, of which 10 hours are allocated for pre-reading before course start + 5 additional hours for individual assignment after course end.
Language:	English
Description: By the end of this course participants will be able to: • Establish and critically discuss evidence-informed concepts and identify different approaches for health policy decisions • Develop strategies for evidence-based decision-making and pertinent evidence-informed decisions on a given problem in the field of health, including prioritization of information, critical appraisal and synthesis of information • Identify and involve stakeholders influencing health research, policy and practice
Assessment Procedures: Course participants are expected to attend teaching sessions full-time and participate actively in discussions and group assignments. Participants’ learning will be assessed on: • 60%: Individual written assignment (essay), 2500 words; critical synthesis of retrieved information on selected topics • 40%: Group work, 15 min oral presentation on selected topics If the student fails to reach the passing grade of 60% (average from both assessments), s/he will be able to re-submit the individual written assignment not later than 2 weeks after receiving coordinator’s comments.
Content: This course aims to provide students with the necessary tools to develop evidence-informed decisions in health. First - the module aims to equip students with the skills to systematically assess and critically appraise existing information (literature, reports, websites, databases - building on simple searches for high level authoritative evidence, or (if this is not available) developing concepts how to establish evidence-informed technical overviews). Students learn to provide evidence for their own managerial decision-making, but also for communicating and translating such evidence into the process of changing and improving policy and practice. Second - With case studies other approaches of decision-making in health, as often applied in practice, such as political or diplomacy-driven approaches will be identified. This aims to raise awareness of students to the different motives of stakeholders in decision-making. Third - strategies for ensuring the use of evidence-informed decisions will be discussed, with a focus on concepts to establish evidence-informed technical overviews including • methods and tools that increase evidence relevance for practice, e.g.: involving decision-makers and communities, using effective communication strategies • synthesis and presentation of evidence-informed analysis
Methods: The course aims to initiate an active participatory learning process. • Key facts and concepts are addressed in the interactive lectures, which amount to 16 hours of the coursework. • 10 hours of individual reading assignments deepens this knowledge. • Development of related skills is supported by tutored individual practical exercises during the course (10 hours) and individual written assignments (10 hours) to be submitted after course end. • Case studies are used for better understanding and analysing processes at work in the dynamics between evidence, policy and practice. These form the basis for group work (max 5 participants per group) followed by group presentations (10 hours). • A panel debate and plenary discussion is used to synthesize the contents at the end of the module (4 hours)
Prerequisites: English: TOEFL test 5.5 or IELTS 6.5 or equivalent language skills
Attendance: Maximum number of students (including tropEd students): 25
Selection: First come, first served
Fees: tropEd students: 500 EUR, General admission: 750 EUR
Scholarships: None.
Major changes since initial accreditation: No major changes since last accreditation. The course is now coordinated by two persons.
Student evaluation: Overall, the course received very good evaluations. The participatory approach with strong group work elements on “assess, choose and change” is perceived as one of the strengths of the course. Suggestions for improvement included a more structured guidance for group work processes.
Lessons learned: More clear guidance at the beginning of the group work process is needed.
tropEd accreditation: Accredited in Bordeaux 2007 and re-accredited in October 2011. Re-accredited in Uppsala, September 2012 with 2 ECTS and re-accredited in November 2017. This accreditation is valid until November 2022.
Email Address:	grys@uni-heidelberg.de
Date Of Record Creation:	2011-11-16 04:03:23 (W3C-DTF)
Date Of Record Release:	2011-11-16 05:12:37 (W3C-DTF)
Date Record Checked:	2018-06-10 (W3C-DTF)
Date Last Modified:	2021-11-21 19:09:07 (W3C-DTF)