Gezondheid en Samenleving

 In this course, students will learn how our health and healthcare systems are shaped by broader sociotechnical structures, and how this complexity can be analysed to improve the design of effective interventions. This includes examining the nexus between non-health systems that affect our health (e.g. the energy, transportation, food, and education systems), with an emphasis on the health challenges, risks and threats these systems pose to society, but also the opportunities that arise due to the interrelatedness between other systems and health. We draw on concepts such as the social determinants of health (SDH), systems safety, and public health. The challenges encompass the geopolitical complexities at the intersection of healthcare and other critical systems, influencing the manufacturing of medicines, global vaccine distribution, allocation of hospital resources, and the mobility of skilled professionals. At the same time, we highlight how these interconnected systems—such as food, transportation, economic, and educational policies—also present opportunities to advance public health. This course emphasizes the importance of understanding how health systems are shaped by—and interact with—a wide range of societal, economic, environmental, and infrastructural forces. We appraise the role of national and international governments, assess their decision-making processes and enhance the design of solutions, interventions and/or policies to improve health for all.  

Topics covered include: 

• The meaning of Global Health, One Health and Planetary Health and what governance strategies are in place to enable good health for all.

• Values and disparities, discussing health inequities and inequalities, health literacy, and the distribution of care and resources globally

• Application of epidemiological analysis to analyse environmental, social and economic determinants of health.

• Application of systems analyses to analyse interdependencies between systems, and analysing potential solutions using simulation modelling techniques (depending on students’ backgrounds)