Overview

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Special topics in areas not currently covered within the graduate program offerings.

COURSE DETAILS:

The course will deal with the public policy process with an emphasis on how it shapes decision making on health and healthcare issues. It will be offered as a 3 hour seminar once a week. It will involve both individual and group work, as well as extensive class dicussions on a variety of policy issues. It will also draw upon the expertise of several guest speakers with knowledge and/or direct experience in specirfic policy areas. While the instructor will deliver some lectures, much of the course activity will be carried out by class members, primarily through their group assignments. A key element of the course will to examine various theories of the policy process drawing on resources from political science, policy theory and policy analysis. This will provide a basis for the examination of a variety of specific policy issues that influence health outcomes. Another component of the course will be to examine contextual factors that influence the policy process with the view to arrive at a deeper understanding of how governments decide to pursue - or not - specific policy choices, including factors that shape those choices. The course will incorporate a critical political economy approach in the way it analyzes policy making, focusing on the role of power and power relationships in shaping policy outcomes. By the end of the course, students will also have had the opportunity to explore and expand their knowledge of public policy theory and its relevance to analyzing major policy areas and issues.

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

Upon completion of the course, students will be able to:
1. Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of various public policy theories with a particular focus on their relevance to population health and health care decision making.
2. Describe and analyze the policy processes that shape health policy decision making with an emphasis on the political aspects of these processes, including power relationships
3. Analyze how governments include - or fail to include - health policy considerations in their decision making processes
4. Analyze the roles of policy actors, institutions, ideologies and other factors in shaping policy decisions
5. Carry out an analysis of the way the policy process shapes decisions in a number of specific health policy areas
6. Examine a number of specific policy issues of particular relevance to population health, including climate change, child care, primary health care and pharmaceutical regulation
7. Develop the capacity to work collaboratively in groups, organize and deliver class presentations and learn how to discuss and debate major policy issues in a large group
8. Acquire skills associated with participating in advocacy activities intended to shape policy outcomes

Grading

Materials

MATERIALS + SUPPLIES:

The course will primarily rely on a selection of peer reviewed journal articles available through SFU's library system an chosen by the instructor. In addition, it will include some government documents and non-peer reviewed articles from NGOs, policy think tanks and advocacy groups. There will also be a selection of A/V materials.

REQUIRED READING: