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Unit of study_
HPOL5008: Evidence into Health Policy and Planning
2025 unit information
Evidence plays a critical role in informing the direction of health policy and planning, yet the nature of this contribution is more complex than may often appear to be the case. This unit aims to facilitate a broader understanding of the multifaceted relations between evidence and health policy and planning. In doing do, it seeks to build students' skills in critically engaging with how evidence has been utilised within existing programs, and also their ability to deploy it more effectively to help implement future evidence-based changes in policy and planning. This entails rethinking how the links between health and practice have been conceptualised, considering how different forms of evidence may be more or less appropriate to a given policy or planning problem, reflecting on where evidence fits in relation to other political considerations informing policy and planning dynamics, and identifying how different groups can utilise and communicate their findings to advocate for policy reform. By the end of this unit, students will be able to: use evidence to identify areas that require policy change; search for and critically appraise evidence for policy design and implementation; understand key theories of the use of evidence in policy and practice; critically analyse the role of evidence in policy and political processes; understand citizen and community experience as evidence; use evidence effectively in a case for policy change. Attendance at two Saturday workshops is expected for students, whether face-to-face or online.
Unit details and rules
Managing faculty or University school:
Medicine and Health
| Study level | Postgraduate |
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| Academic unit | Public Health |
| Credit points | 6 |
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Prerequisites:
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None |
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Corequisites:
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None |
| Prohibitions:
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None |
| Assumed knowledge:
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None |
At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:
- LO1. use evidence to identify areas that require policy change
- LO2. search for, and critically appraise, evidence for policy design and implementation
- LO3. understand key theories of the use of evidence in policy and practice
- LO4. (critically) analyse the role of evidence in policy and political processes
- LO5. identify facilitators and barriers to the use of evidence in policy
- LO6. understand expanded conceptualisations of evidence for policy
- LO7. use evidence effectively in a case for policy change.
Unit availability
This section lists the session, attendance modes and locations the unit is available in. There is a unit outline for each of the unit availabilities, which gives you information about the unit including assessment details and a schedule of weekly activities.
The outline is published 2 weeks before the first day of teaching. You can look at previous outlines for a guide to the details of a unit.
| Session | MoA ? | Location | Outline ? |
|---|---|---|---|
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Semester 1 2025
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Block mode | Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney | |
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Semester 1 2025
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Online | Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney |
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Modes of attendance (MoA)
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