Methods and Analysis of Global Health Trends and Differentials

Learning Outcomes

Learning Outcomes

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Be able to apply the key measurement tools for assessing levels of health and making meaningful comparisons of differentials in health between and within populations
• Be aware of the contribution of 'objective' measures of health, including anthropometry and biomarker measures, to understanding patterns of health
• Have gained knowledge about the international efforts to measure population health outcomes through analysis of routine and survey data and to be able to describe some of the main strengths and limitations associated with such assessments
• Have learnt about some of the data available in population-based cross-sectional and longitudinal studies that can be used to examine the demographic and social determinants and differentials in health across the life course
• Appreciate the perspectives and emphases that different academic and professional disciplines place on global health in research, programmes and policies
• Have gained knowledge relevant to disciplinary training about the biological, behavioural, genetic, and socio-economic influences on the burden of disease and ill-health in populations; and, on inequalities in health status across and between populations
• Understand the construction of aggregate indices of health from survey data in low and high income countries
• Appreciate how demographic processes and changes have an impact on population and reproductive health in different regions of the world

The topics covered in this module will focus on quantitative approaches to measuring health and risk factors to ill health including:

• What is health? Definitions and domains.
• Sources and measures of disease incidence and prevalence.
• Asking questions about health and well-being.
• Measurement scales for health.
• The attributable burden of disease: DALYs and other summary measures.
• Risks, rates and ratios: comparative risk analysis - smoking.
• Measuring underlying health risks e.g. health behaviours such as diet, sexual behaviours etc.

Teaching and learning methods

If full face-to-face teaching has not been resumed, teaching will include a mixture of synchronous and asynchronous online methods which will include lectures, short exercises, discussion boards, workshop activities and videos. A range of resources will also be provided for further self-directed study. Face-to-face teaching opportunities will be explored depending on circumstances and feasibility. Assessment 100% coursework.

Resources & Reading list

Internet Resources

The Future of the Public's Health in the 21st Century.

Further useful literature can be found by consulting.

Journal Articles

Ratzan SC, Filerman GL, LeSar JW. (2000). Attaining global health: Challenges and opportunities. Population Bulletin, 55(1), pp. pp.52.

Murray CJL and others (2012). Disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) for 291 diseases and injuries in21 regions, 1990-2010: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010. The Lancet, 380(9859), pp. 2197-223.

Koplan JP, Bond TC, Merson MH, Reddy KS, Rodriguez MH, Sewankambo NK, Wasserheit JN; Consortium of Universities for Global Health Executive Board (2009). Towards a common definition of global health.. Lancet, 373(9679), pp. 1993-1995.

Evans R, Stoddart GC. (1990). Producing Health, Consuming Health Care. Social Science & Medicine, 33, pp. 347-1363.

Kindig DA. (2007). Understanding Population Health Terminology. Milbank Quarterly, 85(1), pp. 139-161.

Lopez, Alan D., et al. (2006). Global and regional burden of disease and risk factors, 2001: systematic analysis of population health data.. The Lancet, 367(9524), pp. 1747-1757.

Kindig, DA, Stoddart G. (2003). What is population health?. American Journal of Public Health, 93, pp. 366-369.

McDonald JT & Kennedy S (2004). Insights into the 'healthy immigrant effect': health status and health service use of immigrants to Canada.. Social Science & Medicine, 59(8), pp. 1613-1627.

Szreter S (2003). The Population Health Approach in Historical Perspective. American Journal of Public Health., 93(3), pp. 421-431.

Crimmins E, Kim JK, Vasunilashorn S (2010). Biodemography: New approaches to understanding trendsand differences in population health and mortality. Demography, 47(1), pp. S41-S64.

Montgomery M. (2009). Urban poverty and health in developing countries. Population Bulletin, 64(2), pp. pp.20.

Rockett IRH. (1999). Population and health: An introduction to epidemiology. Population Bulletin, 54(4), pp. pp.48.

Lim SS and others (2012). A comparative risk assessment of burden of disease and injury attributableto 67 risk factors and risk factor clusters in 21 regions, 1990-2010: a systematic analysis for theGlobal Burden of Disease Study 2010.. The Lancet, 380(9859), pp. 2224-60.

Wilkinson RG & Pickett KE (2006). Income inequality and population health: A review and explanation of the evidence. Social Science & Medicine., 62(7), pp. 1768-1784.

Textbooks

Crisp N. (2010). Turning the world upside down: The search for global health in the 21st Century. London: Royal Society of Medicine Press Ltd.

Marmot M & Wilkinson RG (Eds.) (2009). Social Determinants of Health. Oxford: OUP.

Barry B Hughes, Randall Kuhn, Cecilia M. Peterson, Dale S. Rothman & Jose R. Solorzano (2011). Improving Global Health: Patterns of potential human progress Volume 3.. Oxford University Press.

Kathryn H. Jackobsen (2008). Introduction to Global Health. Jones & Bartlett Publishers.

Ewles, L. (2005). Key topics in public health: essential briefings on prevention and health promotions.. Elsevier,: Churchill Livingstone.

Skolnik R. (2008). Essentials of global health. Massachusetts: Jones & Bartlett Publishers Inc..

Murray CJL and others (2002). Summary Measures of Population Health: Concepts, Ethics, Measurement and Applications. Pub: Geneva: World Health Organisation.

Lindstrand A et al. (2006). Global health: an introductory text book. Lund: Studentlitteratur.

Assessment strategy

There will be opportunities to evaluate your progress through formative assessments throughout followed by a final summative assessment based on three online assignments.

Summative

This is how we¡¯ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Referral

This is how we¡¯ll assess you if you don¡¯t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Repeat Information

Repeat type: Internal & External