LICQual Level 7 Postgraduate Diploma in Health Policy and Management

Module 1: Global Health Policy and Governance

On successful completion of this module, learners will be able to:

1. Critically analyse the architecture of global health governance, including the roles of WHO, World Bank, UN agencies, bilateral donors, and private-philanthropic actors.
2. Evaluate the influence of global political, economic, and social determinants on health policy formulation across different national contexts.
3. Synthesise key frameworks (e.g., global health security, universal health coverage, health diplomacy) to address transnational health challenges.
4. Critically appraise the tensions between national sovereignty and international legal instruments in managing pandemic preparedness, trade agreements, and health equity.
5. Formulate evidence-informed policy recommendations that account for power asymmetries and governance gaps in global health.

Module 2: Strategic Health Policy Development and Implementation

On successful completion of this module, learners will be able to:

1. Design a strategic health policy development process integrating stakeholder analysis, problem framing, and options appraisal.
2. Critically evaluate theories of policy implementation (e.g., top-down, bottom-up, adaptive implementation) in relation to health systems.
3. Apply tools for policy alignment with national health strategies, resource constraints, and political feasibility.
4. Lead the development of an implementation plan, including milestones, risk assessment, monitoring indicators, and accountability mechanisms.
5. Critically reflect on barriers to policy fidelity and adaptation in real-world health settings, proposing mitigation strategies.

Module 3: Healthcare Leadership and Management in Policy

On successful completion of this module, learners will be able to:

1. Critically analyse major leadership theories (transformational, distributed, adaptive, and ethical leadership) in the context of health policy change.
2. Evaluate the role of organisational culture, power dynamics, and change management in shaping policy outcomes within healthcare systems.
3. Demonstrate advanced decision-making skills in complex, multi-stakeholder policy environments, including conflict resolution and negotiation.
4. Develop a leadership strategy to drive policy implementation across clinical, managerial, and community levels.
5. Reflect systematically on personal leadership capabilities and their impact on advancing health policy agendas.

Module 4: Economics of Health Policy and Financing

On successful completion of this module, learners will be able to:

1. Critically evaluate key concepts in health economics (efficiency, equity, opportunity cost, marginal analysis) applied to policy design.
2. Apply economic evaluation techniques (cost-effectiveness, cost-benefit, cost-utility analysis) to inform resource allocation decisions.
3. Analyse alternative health financing mechanisms (tax-based, social health insurance, private insurance, out-of-pocket, donor funding) for their impact on access and sustainability.
4. Critically appraise strategies for purchasing, provider payment systems, and financial risk protection in achieving universal health coverage.
5. Formulate fiscally sustainable health policy options considering macroeconomic constraints, political economy, and equity goals.

Module 5: Research Methods in Health Policy and Management

On successful completion of this module, learners will be able to:

1. Critically appraise quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods research designs for investigating health policy and management problems.
2. Select and justify appropriate data collection methods (surveys, interviews, document analysis, secondary data) for a specified policy research question.
3. Apply basic to intermediate statistical and thematic analytical techniques to interpret health policy data.
4. Design a rigorous research proposal addressing ethics, validity, reliability, and stakeholder engagement in a health policy context.
5. Critically evaluate the strengths and limitations of evidence synthesis methods (systematic reviews, realist reviews, policy mapping) for decision-making.

Module 6: Ethical, Legal, and Social Dimensions of Health Policy

On successful completion of this module, learners will be able to:

1. Critically analyse major ethical frameworks (utilitarianism, deontology, principlism, capabilities approach) applied to health policy dilemmas.
2. Evaluate legal dimensions of health policy, including human rights law, data protection, duty of care, and public health legislation (e.g., quarantine, vaccination mandates).
3. Identify and address social justice and equity issues in policy design, including marginalisation, stigma, and structural determinants of health.
4. Apply an ethical decision-making model to real-world policy conflicts (resource rationing, priority setting, surveillance versus liberty).
5. Propose governance mechanisms to ensure accountability, transparency, and community participation in health policy processes.