SP22127: Health, governance, and the market
[Page last updated: 01 August 2025]
| Academic Year: | 2025/26 |
| Owning Department/School: | Department of Social & Policy Sciences |
| Credits: | 5 [equivalent to 10 CATS credits] |
| Notional Study Hours: | 100 |
| Level: | Intermediate (FHEQ level 5) |
| Period: |
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| Assessment Summary: | EXCB 100% |
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| Supplementary Assessment: |
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| Requisites: | |
| Learning Outcomes: |
By the end of this unit, students will be able to:
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| Aims: | Unit aims and objectives:
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| Skills: | By the end of this unit, students will be able to:
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| Content: | INDICATIVE LECTURE PROGRAMME
Key themes: Lectures 1 to 3 provide students with a solid understanding of the two conceptual tenets of the unit as well as key background information: (1) the biomedical sciences as a specific way to understand and treat human health issues, (2) the State's responsibility and vested interests to promote the health of populations by governing market and civil society actors. Lectures 4 to 10 apply one or more of the above-mentioned conceptual tenets to a specific area of health and healthcare policy nationally and globally. Key binding themes: inequality, health problems Lectures 4, 5 and 6 illustrate the unit's key concepts, theories and analytical approaches by following the typical trajectory of patients in the UK healthcare system Lectures 7 and 8 open up to the perspective of global health by focusing on women's health and the opioid crisis Lectures 9 and 10 bind the unit material by linking health with environmental governance and the governance of key market actors in the healthcare sector. Detailed lecture breakdown: Lecture 1: Sick societies? An introduction to the unit. Introduction to the assessment: What is a case study? What is it useful for? (Diana Teggi) Lecture 2: Health promotion and the health of society: medicine, biopower and the State [Critical theories of health and medicine] (Monica Greco) Lecture 3: Pharmaceuticalisation of society: origins, drivers, and consequences (Piotr Ozieranski) Reading week: Customarily, SPS has a reading week across all courses and modules. We will set students revision and consolidation tasks for this week. Lecture 4: The state of UK's health. Can the NHS be improved? (Alex Ziemann) Lecture 5: Governing Dementia: drug discovery research, technofix and the crisis of care. First assessment preparation session: What is a case study repport? What are we expecting from your case study reports? (Diana Teggi) Lecture 6: Funeral care as a public health infrastructure (Kate Woodthorpe) Lecture 7: Global health policy: Sexual and reproductive health and rights (Mel Channon) Lecture 8: The opioid crisis and the role of legal and illicit drug markets (Jack Spicer) Lecture 9: Planetary health and human behaviour (Aurelie Charles) Lecture 10: Industry self-regulation, accountability, and corporate crime in the pharmaceutical sector. Second assessment preparation session: Drafting an outline of your case study report followed by formative and peer feedback (Piotr Ozieranski) PROPOSED ASSESSMENT OVERVIEW Students will write a 2000 words case study report to complete their assessment (100% summative). The case study report is designed to engage students with the relationships between health and social structures, reflecting the core themes and concepts covered in the unit. The purpose of this task will be to evaluate a real-world scenario of a health problem and formulate viable recommendations for improvement of health governance arrangements. The scenario (see example below) and lecture materials will provide students with clues and pointers to start their evaluation of the health problem and associated governance arrangements and provide sensible recommendations for improvement. Evaluation of the health problem (1000-1200 words approx.) consists in: a)identifying the drivers, determining factors, and scope of the health problem, and b)identifying how and how effectively the State, the market, and civil society address the health problem (i.e. examining current policies/infrastructures/interventions and their impacts on the health problem). Formulation of viable recommendations (800-1000 words approx.) consists in: c)proposing improvements of or alternatives to the solution strategies identified by point "b", and d)defining their expected impacts on the health problem. The recommendations would need to be coherent with the definition of the health problem provided by point "a". By engaging with this assessment task, students will be able to demonstrate a practical understanding of the interplay between socioeconomic forces, cultural, scientific, and environmental factors. As the case study report may be a new assessment format for many students, they will be provided with detailed written guidelines, including a clear structure of the case study report. Assessment will be discussed comprehensively at three critical points during the semester. In the first lecture, they will be introduced to the rationale of writing a case study report. Then, Lecture 5, approximately halfway through the unit students will receive guidance on the nature of the case study report as a research and policy tool as well as expectations regarding the case study reports they will write for this unit. Finally, in Lecture 10, students will be invited to draft outlines of their case study reports, which will be followed by feedback from one of the unit lecturer and peers. This assessment would be classed as a B class assessment in the context of generative AI use. PROPOSED SCENARIO OF A HEALTH PROBLEM: Dementia Driven by population ageing, dementia poses a growing public health challenge in the UK and internationally. Current estimates suggest that nearly 50 million people globally live with dementia, and this number is expected to triple by 2050 as life expectancy increases (Frankish and Horton, 2017). The UK government has made significant investments in drug discovery to tackle this crisis, aiming to develop disease-modifying therapies by 2025, catalyzed by initiatives like the G8 Dementia Summit. Charities, including Alzheimer's Research UK, have also committed substantial funding to accelerate drug development and identify genetic and biological mechanisms of dementia. Despite these efforts, no cure currently exists for dementia, and while drugs like donepezil can offer symptomatic relief, they do not halt disease progression. The dementia care gap remains significant in the UK, with much of the burden falling on unpaid family caregivers. Unlike healthcare, social care is means-tested in the UK, requiring individuals to contribute to the cost of care. This places enormous financial and emotional pressure on informal carers who provide 24/7 supervision and care, often without adequate resources and support systems. The UK government has invested relatively little in developing a dementia-ready healthcare infrastructure in care home and private home settings and providing adequate financial support for informal carers. This leaves a systemic deficit that is expected to widen as cases rise. With no disease-modifying treatments available for dementia, the British welfare system risk being overwhelmed by the future costs of providing care and support to those affected by dementia and their informal carers. By 2030, the cost of dementia is expected to reach US $2 trillion globally, underscoring the urgent need for comprehensive solutions (Tay et al., 2024). References Frankish, H. and Horton, R., 2017. Prevention and management of dementia: a priority for public health. The Lancet [Online], 390(10113), pp.2614-2615. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(17)31756-7. Tay, L.X., Ong, S.C., Tay, L.J., Ng, T. and Parumasivam, T., 2024. Economic Burden of Alzheimer's Disease: A Systematic Review. Value in Health Regional Issues [Online], 40, pp.1-12. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vhri.2023.09.008. |
| Synopsis: | Develop the knowledge needed to assess contemporary public health challenges and propose viable solutions to address them.
You'll analyse key public health problems in both national and global contexts. By looking at the systems, policies, and practices, involved, you'll explore the interplay between the socioeconomic, cultural, and environmental factors that contribute to regulating and organising health governance in modern society.
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| Course availability: |
SP22127 is Optional on the following courses:Department of Social & Policy Sciences
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Notes:
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