SH5012 - Understanding Public Health (2026/27)
| Module specification | Module approved to run in 2026/27, but may be subject to modification | ||||||||
| Module title | Understanding Public Health | ||||||||
| Module level | Intermediate (05) | ||||||||
| Credit rating for module | 30 | ||||||||
| School | School of Social Sciences and Professions | ||||||||
| Assessment components |
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| Running in 2026/27(Please note that module timeslots are subject to change) | No instances running in the year |
Module summary
Module description This module is designed to help students develop their knowledge on key theoretical and practical perspectives in public health. The module focuses on a social sciences understanding of public health, centering around the social determinants of health as a guiding lense for understanding health outcomes, inequalities and injustice.
The module also focuses on development of evidence-based public health skills such as using population health datasets, literature review and analysis of key policy and strategy to improve population health.
In this module, you will:
- Develop an understanding of the Public Health discipline
- Develop an understanding and knowledge of population health data and the skills to interpret this data
- Develop a social science based contextual and critical understanding of the impact of the social determinants of health on population health outcomes
- Develop an understanding and knowledge of population health issues and how to take an evidence-based approach to tackle these issues
There are two individual, summative assessments. In the first assessment, you will develop an educational poster presenting a public health issue facing the student population and its risk factors. You will print a physical copy and present your poster in our classroom. The second assessment is report on a public health issue and its potential policy solutions.
Learning outcomes
1. Understand and discuss the foundations of public health practice and the subdomains health protection, healthcare public health and health promotion
2. Understand and discuss the public health impacts of the wider social determinants of health
3. Develop skills to access and use population health datasets
4. Develop skills for evidence-based public health practice
5. Understand and discuss critically the contemporary issues in public health and relevant policy response