European Public Health in a Globalising World
Full course description
Since the outbreak of COVID-19, public health became one of the most important topics discussed in the media around the world. Although, many public health issues are addressed on a daily basis, the public became suddenly aware what the impact is of a disease outbreak on large scale and how important it is to implement effective public health measures. This course provides an overview of the many modern health challenges in Europe and how they are embraced by a variety of stakeholders: policy makers, researchers, practitioners and the civil society.
The course focuses on three perspectives: Firstly, health in Europe, hence, what is the health status across the European countries, how do the health systems look like, what are major challenges for individual countries. Secondly, the perspective of European health which focuses on Europeanisation and European integration within the European Union (EU) and more widely according to the WHO European region. Lastly, European health in a globalised world is assessed. The course combines theory with practice through lectures, tutorials and a field visit.
This course consists of 32 class hours divided over 7-8 weeks. Students earn 6 ECTS credits when they obtain a passing grade. Students who need more credits can sign up for the extended course format, which includes an Independent Study Project (ISP) worth an additional 3 ECTS. The maximum number of credits that can be obtained is 9 ECTS.
Disclaimer: trips and visits related to the course are conditional. E.g. Dutch travel advice should be positive regarding the region that will be visited and institutions should be able to accept visitors. In case a proposed trip or visit cannot continue due to circumstances, alternatives may be organized.
Course objectives
After participating in the course students should be able to:
- Describe the main contemporary health challenges at national levels, European level and from a global perspective
- Describe the main characteristics of how different European health systems respond to certain health issues
- Know examples of EU related health policies, strategies, institutions and projects
- Describe examples of cross-border collaboration across Europe
- Identify examples of global trends that influence European health and how Europe influence global health
Prerequisites
To facilitate a fruitful learning environment a moderate level of health-related knowledge is required. Hence, the course is directed towards students attending bachelor or master courses in medicine, public health science, sociology, anthropology, political science, economics, European studies etc.
A minimum of 9 students is required for the course to take place.
Recommended reading
The literature is based on EU documentation, reports from the WHO and the European Observatory as well as general research papers concerning European public health. All literature is freely available on the internet.