BHSL041p Social Medicine and Public Health - lecture

Faculty of Medicine
spring 2025
Extent and Intensity
2/0/0. 2 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Pavlína Kaňová, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. Pavlína Kaňová, Ph.D.
Department of Public Health – Theoretical Departments – Faculty of Medicine
Contact Person: Mgr. Pavlína Kaňová, Ph.D.
Supplier department: Department of Public Health – Theoretical Departments – Faculty of Medicine
Prerequisites
BHPA021p Pathological Anatomy - lecture && BHPF021p Pathophysiology - lecture
Prerequisites according to the MU study and examination regulations.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The course Social Medicine and Public Health introduces the students to the analysis of health care systems, managerial and policy issues and techniques for decision-making in health care. The subjects covered include health services research, health policy, health economics, and law. By the end of this course student should be able to: describe the content, mission, basic theories and methods of social medicine; describe the term Public Health, describe theoretical framework and practice of Public Health; use epidemiologic methods for assessing the health status of defined population; apply theoretical and methodological knowledge in health situation analysis; demonstrate knowledge and understanding of a diverse range of global and national health policies, including current and emerging trends; apply his knowledge and skills using a multidisciplinary approach to formulate and evaluate health policies and plans.
Learning outcomes
By the end of this course student should be able to:
- describe the content, mission, basic theories and methods of social medicine;
- describe the term Public Health, describe theoretical framework and practice of Public Health;
- use epidemiologic methods for assessing the health status of defined population;
- apply theoretical and methodological knowledge in health situation analysis;
- demonstrate knowledge and understanding of a diverse range of global and national health policies, including current and emerging trends;
- apply his knowledge and skills using a multidisciplinary approach to formulate and evaluate health policies and plans.
Syllabus
  • Community medicine in a historical perspective.
  • Public Health as the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society.
  • What is meant by "disease"? Difference between objective and subjective explanations of disease. What is meant by "a disease"? How do disease categories arise? Why do such categories change over time? History of medicine: bedside, hospital and laboratory medicine. Clinical approaches to the study of health and disease: case study and case series.
  • Measures of disease frequency. Mortality statistics. Comparing disease occurrence, population impact.
  • What is meant by "health care"? Lay care: ranges and extent of activities, lay carers, attitudes of formal carers. Inputs to formal health care: staff, facilities, finance. Variations in inputs. Problems of definition. Historical framework for public health and health policy. Cultural conceptions and health beliefs, health as a value.
  • What is health policy? Theoretical approaches to policy making. Political system and public participation. Exogenous factors affecting policy. How far does research influence policy? Implementation of public health policy. United Nations health related organisations. European Health for All strategy. Reforms of health systems. Issues in the Czech Public Health Medicine.
  • The role of evaluation in therapeutic and prophylactic decision making. Critical assessment and interpretation of scientific data. Evidence based medicine. Meta-analysis. The advantages and limitations of epidemiology in assessing health needs, determining priorities, establishing and evaluating interventions. The value of epidemiological evidence in health policy decision-making. Health information provision for decision making. Information systems in public health.
  • Primary, secondary and tertiary prevention in the context of the natural history of the disease. Epidemiological uncertainties and their consequences for policy. Tension between strategies for populations and high risk groups for preventive interventions. The advantages and disadvantages of primary care as a setting for health promotion. Behavioural aspects of health promotion interventions at both the individual and community level. Is prevention better than cure?
  • Conceptual model of inputs and processes: felt need, demand, normative need, met need, unmet need, overmet need, illness behaviour, professional judgement and rationing. Clinical iceberg. Measures of utilisation of health care: service-based, population-based. Need and use: effect of age and social class, use/need ratios, inverse care law. Use as a measure of met and unmet need.
  • Patterns in the organisation of health services. Health systems in industrialised countries. Why compare health systems? Frameworks for comparison. Primary health care.
  • Public sources of finance. Private sources of finance. Health insurance. Problems of data collection, problems of coordination. Expenditure per capita and as proportion of GDP: problems of definition of expenditure, problems of international comparisons, effect of adjustment on social sector spending. Technology assessment. What financial strategies and methods are available to improve the management of health services?
  • Outcome measures. Efficacy, efficiency, effectiveness. Cost-effectiveness analysis. Cost-utility analysis. Cost-benefit analysis. Humanity of care. Defining equity. Measuring equity. Setting priorities for health services: why set priorities for health services?, stages of priority setting, how to involve the public, consensus development methods.
  • Current state of health services. Problems in health services management: lack of knowledge about outcome, lack of use of knowledge about outcome, powerful professions, organisational complexity, environmental changes. Outcome research. Quality assurance: methods for changing behaviour or practice, education, feedback of information, incentives, administrative processes, regulation. Organisational and financial management, modelling.
  • Current issues in health policy.
Literature
    required literature
  • HOLČÍK, Jan, Adolf ŽÁČEK a Ilona KOUPILOVÁ. Sociální lékařství. 3. nezměn. vyd., dotisk. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, 2007. 137 s. ISBN 978-80-210-3954-4.
    recommended literature
  • HOLČÍK, Jan. Systém péče o zdraví a zdravotní gramotnost : k teoretickým základům cesty ke zdraví. 1. vydání. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, 2010, 293 stran. ISBN 9788073921293. info
    not specified
  • Čeledová, L., Holčík, J. Nové kapitoly ze sociálního lékařství a veřejného zdravotnictví. Praha, 2017. info
Teaching methods
lectures
Assessment methods
Oral exam - students choose one question to respond.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course is taught annually.
The course is taught: every week.
Information on the extent and intensity of the course: 30.
Listed among pre-requisites of other courses
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2014, Spring 2015, Spring 2016, Spring 2017, Spring 2018, spring 2019, spring 2020, spring 2021, spring 2022, spring 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (spring 2025, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/med/spring2025/BHSL041p