Global Health

Code:

PDSP12_15

Acronym:

PDSP12_15

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Public Health

Instance: 2023/2024 - 2S

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Public Health and Forensic Sciences, and Medical Education Department
Course/CS Responsible:	Doctoral Programme in Public Health

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
PDSP	6	Current Studies Plan	1	-	3	14	81

Teaching language

English
Obs.: Se apenas existirem estudantes que falem português, a UC será leccionada em português.

Objectives

This course aims to foster Public Health students’ knowledge of International and Global Health, namely on the key public health challenges and their geographic, demographic, and socioeconomic patterns, the most relevant risk factors, and their interaction. A focus on the key actors and the successful international strategies and programs for the promotion of global health, will be given, together with a discussion on the role of participation, co-production, and governance.

This course will not only cover key concepts but the theoretical content will be oriented to its practical application, and complemented with field visits and discussions with persons from different geographic and socioeconomic contexts.

 

Learning outcomes and competences

By the end of this course, students must be able to:

- Discuss the key concepts related to global health and international health, and the differences and similarities between these concepts and public health;

- Recognize the major global health challenges and their geographic, demographic, and socioeconomic patterning;

- Discuss the role of the risk factors in these health issues, namely the interaction between demographic, socioeconomic, and geographic factors, as well as the commercial and political determinants of health.

- Recognize best practices in the promotion of global health, regarding aid and health promotion programs and projects, health policies, and social interventions;

- Identify some of the key actors in international and global health;

- Understand the role of participation, co-production, and governance in the promotion of global health;

- Discuss the key health challenges that are likely to arise in the coming decades.

Working method

Presencial

Program

This course is composed of 3 ECTS, corresponding to 81 hours (total). From these, 27 are contact hours. These hours will be divided in lectures, seminars, field visits, and group and individual assignments. We will promote your contact with a broad range of guests, from local migrant associations, NGOs, and health professionals who were deployed in humanitarian aid. You will be challenged to express your critical thinking during lectures, during discussions after field visits, and at a round table with the guest lecturers. In order to support your critical perspectives, materials such as articles and guiding questions will be provided on Moodle. These must be prepared before each class.

These topics will be considered: 

- Global Health: what are our concerns? Concepts and frameworks applied to global and international health. We will explore the geographical distribution of health (or absence of health) and the progression of the main global health indicators in the last years.

- Globalizing the risk. Determinants of health, from individual to structural determinants, including the ongoing and future challenges, as austerity, conflicts, migration, and climate change.

- Acting for global health promotion. Strategies, policies, and programmes that have been implemented, in terms of effectiveness, feasibility, sustainability, and equity, and its applicability in other contexts. Actors and organizations, and their financing, scopes of action, and strategies for health promotion and protection.

Mandatory literature

Brian Nicholson, Judy McKimm, Ann K Allen; Global Health
Anne-Emanuelle Birn, Yogan Pillay, Timothy H. Holtz; Textbook of Global Health

Teaching methods and learning activities

Theoretical exposure to themes will be complemented with in class discussion, field visits and interactions with persons from different georgraphic and socioeconomic contexts, seminars with professionals deployed in humanitarian aid, and discussions around documentaries or books.

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation with final exam

Assessment Components

Designation	Weight (%)
Participação presencial	20,00
Apresentação/discussão de um trabalho científico	60,00
Exame	20,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

Designation	Time (hours)
Estudo autónomo	48,00
Frequência das aulas	12,00
Trabalho de campo	12,00
Apresentação/discussão de um trabalho científico	9,00
Total:	81,00

Eligibility for exams

75% mandatory attendance and final grade with, at least, 10 points (out of 20).

Calculation formula of final grade

Final grade = 0.2*participation + 0.6*group works + 0.2*exam

Special assessment (TE, DA, ...)

Student workers who do not participate in 75% of the sessions must present an essay about a theme that integrates the different contents od the course (to be defined with the responsible of the course).

Classification improvement

Appeal evaluation will be done through the discussion of the three group works, with theoretical questions about the theme and of relevance for the course.