Overview

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

A comparative analysis of the Canadian health care financing and delivery systems and policies. History, organizational principles, health care resources, costs, access to care, quality, and equity. Societal and political issues, threats and values that affect Canada's health care system and others around the world.

COURSE DETAILS:

Prerequisites: 60 units including 9 HSCI credits or instructor’s permission.

This course is a comparative analysis of the Canadian health care financing and delivery system and policies. It includes history, organizational principles, health care resources, costs, access to care, quality, and equity. It also explores societal and political issues, threats, and values that affect Canada’s health care system.

We will examine events that have shaped the development of health care systems in Canada. We will discuss arrangements for financing and delivery of health care and management of the health workforce. Throughout the course, we will explore current policy debates, including coverage for pharmaceuticals, primary care reform, privatization, and management of wait lists. Given that health services research and government policies are constantly changing, I may add other topics to reflect recent developments.

A note about sensitive material: This course deals with the history, structure, strengths and limitations of Canada’s health system. It includes discussions of racism, colonization, and abuse, particularly towards Indigenous peoples. I will do my best to provide warnings before lectures that contain content that might be triggering or upsetting. Please take the time and space you need and connect with me if you have concerns.

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

1. Describe the history, structure, financing and future directions of the Canadian healthcare system as outlined in weekly lecture materials, interviews with content experts, and accompanied readings.
2. Demonstrate knowledge of current health system challenges and how these have been shaped by historical policy legacies through policy case studies.
3. Apply policy frameworks to critically evaluate healthcare policies through the development of a group policy brief on a health care challenge of choice.

The core competencies addressed in this course include:

• Health care services and health policy (primary)
• Systems and critical thinking (primary)
• Core concepts in population health (reinforcing)

This is not a formal writing course, but written communication will be emphasized in assignments.

COURSE RESOURCES AND DESIGN

Attendance: This course is online and asynchronous. All course materials including lectures, readings, assignments etc. will be posted on Canvas.

Organization of Canvas: There are several resources to support your learning on this course:

• Lecture videos
• Interviews with subject matter experts
• Required and supplemental readings
• Study questions

All of these resources are nested within their respective modules on Canvas.

The course is organized into 12 modules. Each module contains the following:

• Overview: Introductory comment for each module
• Learning objectives: A list of objectives that you should be able to achieve at the end of each study module.
• Readings: Links to required and supplemental readings. Readings provide background material for lectures and expand on topics not covered in detail in class. Please complete these before watching the lecture content and participating in discussions.
• Module lecture presentations: Lecture presentations are given by course author Dr. Lindsay Hedden and vary between 15- and 30-minutes in length. Modules have between 3 and 5 videos each. Some modules include interviews with subject matter experts in video or audio form, or other video content from publicly accessible sources.
• Knowledge check: Drag and drop, matching, and other exercises to help understand the core content in each module.
• Activities and assessments: Links to small group discussions and quizzes that will happen a few times throughout the course and links to required assignments.

Questions about the lecture content should be posted on the weekly discussion boards (rather than submitted by email). The TAs and I will review them as often as possible and post responses. 

Grading

Materials

MATERIALS + SUPPLIES:

REQUIRED RESOURCES

1. Deber, R. Treating Health Care: How the Canadian System Works and How It Could Work Better. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2017. There are several ways to access this textbook:

1) Simon Fraser University: Free access to online copies (note, there may be limits on how many people can use these at a time) via https://sfu-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/usv8m3/01SFUL_ALMA51357743460003611

2) SFU Bookstore: Can be purchased at https://shop.sfu.ca/

3) Amazon: Next day delivery of paper copy with Prime account

2. Picard A. 2013. Path to Health Care Reform: Policy and Politics. Ottawa: The Conference Board of Canada, 2013. Available for free:
https://www.conferenceboard.ca/wp-content/uploads/woocommerce_uploads/reports/SIRP_Book_2012.pdf

3. All additional readings are available through Canvas or URL links. To access for free, some readings will require you to access through the SFU library.

 

REQUIRED READING NOTES: