The module “The Politics of Public Policy” provides a comprehensive overview of the key players and institutions that shape the policy-making process. You will study theories and evidence surrounding the creation of policies and explore the impact of political actors, institutions, and strategies on the formation and implementation of public policy. Through the examination of advocacy coalitions, policy networks, and the influence of ideas, beliefs, and interests, you will gain a deeper understanding of the relationships between state and private actors and the role of interest intermediation and lobbying in shaping public policy. The course also focuses on the interactions between legislative and executive branches of government, as well as the influence of international institutions and policy diffusion beyond the nation state. By the end of the course, you will have a well-rounded knowledge of the complex and dynamic politics of public policy and will be able to analyse specific policy processes using the tools and approaches covered in the module.

Advocacy is a central tenet of the philosophies and practices of healthcare provisioning and central to the critical study and engagement with global public health. Drawing on the principles of social justice, this module encourages you to critically consider what it means to be an advocate for the right to health of people who are seeking to access and use health services, and to explore strategies to constructively and actively resist those practices and policies that have detrimental consequences for groups of people. You will be able to choose between this module and HS958 - Public Mental Health

The central purpose of this module is to provide an environment where students can explore issues and concerns of legislation, policy-making, and ethics in practice. The module will also focus on building the foundations of legislation relating to children and young people, adult social care, mental health, and mental capacity. Through this module, social work students will have the opportunity to explore the process of ethical decision-making alongside students and tutors from the Law Clinic. Law and social work staff will be making use of the giving voice to values approach which focuses on empowering decision making for transformational leadership. The module will include an exploration of the notions of social justice, moral judgment, equality, and the impact of legislation and guidance on people and people's rights- in short, social work what one writer has termed social works "rights and wrongs" (Doel, 2016).

This Module examines the theories underlying unfair and avoidable differences in distribution of social determinants of health, and offers a critical understanding of the theory, research, and public policy applications of intersectionality. It helps students to move beyond mainstream research and analysis of health inequalities, which typically focuses on individual factors determinant (e.g. in the UK analysis of socio-economic position dominates, in the US a race focus predominates and for South Asia caste and indigeneity predominate) and engage with intersectionality and the importance of engaging with multiple risk factors. The module is unique in bringing together multi-sectoral and international perspectives on Intersectionality to the classroom and exploring policy interventions and civil society actions to reducing health inequalities, nationally and globally. The module will also provide you with the opportunity to develop your research and presentation skills through engaging in an innovative research assignment. You will choose between this module and HS959 - Innovating for Policy and Systems

This module is ideal if you have no previous experience of quantitative methods. It introduces you to basic and intermediate statistical concepts and procedures, emphasising practical applications rather than mathematics; although a small amount of elementary mathematics is inevitably required.

This Module provides you with the knowledge and tools to understand and assess the impact of the dominance of the biomedical paradigm, power asymmetries and the use of evidence on public mental health policy and services in diverse contexts. The module introduces you to contestation around the theories guiding public mental health and situates public mental health challenges within the wider determinants of health. It also introduces and explores key concepts and frameworks for appraising contemporary mental health policy and interventions including intersectionality. Finally, it engages with how to employ these analytical concepts and frameworks to critically examine cross cutting themes and issues including the role of culture and faith in framing issues of mental health and driving mental health policy. You will have the choice between this module, and HS186 - Advocacy, Activism and Resistance.

This Module aims to provide you with the opportunity to develop and apply a range of research, analysis and advocacy tools necessary for critically engaging with and address multiple crises in population health. It combines both theory and practice, with an emphasis on developing the necessary tools for unpacking and analysing a particular population health crisis. Through problem-based group work, you will learn to critically unpack and co-develop innovative solutions to a population health crisis with fellow students and guidance from experts. You will develop presentation and advocacy skills through critical interaction with an expert panel. You will have the choice between this module, and HS856 - Intersectional Health Inequalities.

Address key challenges for human rights across the developed and developing worlds. So-called identity politicking has emerged in the past 40 years as a prominent and deeply controversial phenomenon within most societies. It is undeniably true that many human rights violations specifically target groups perceived and ascribed identities. We inhabit societies where intolerance of difference and diversity have become key challenges for the defence of human rights and the pursuit of social justice. The response to this has often involved targeted communities seeking protection from rights-based mechanisms. There exist many instruments within international human rights law that seek to protect and promote distinct communities of people. However, the rights-based approach to identity politicking raises many, difficult to answer, questions concerning the compatibility of rights-based approaches and identity-based politics.