London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

‘Health Policy: Process and Power’ is a Term 1 MSc module designed to introduce students to different ways of understanding how and why changes in health policy take place. It includes discussion and debate of real-world examples of health policy making in low, middle and high-income countries, and provides tools and theory to analyse and act in the health policy arena. Students gain skills in policy analysis necessary for engagement in policy change.

What you will learn

• Review different basic theoretical approaches and concepts used in policy analysis.
• Analyse the political systems within which policies are made and the contextual factors that influence policy change.
• Identify the key actors involved in policy-making and understand the mechanisms of power and influence over policy change.
• Identify key features of the processes of policy identification, formulation, and implementation.
• Learn how to use the policy analysis framework introduced during the module in research and/or decision-making.

Who should apply

This module is intended for students interested in the broad political dimensions of health. It assumes no social or political science experience, although it draws on concepts from the field of policy studies and political science more broadly.  It is relevant to those who have lived and worked in low, middle and high-income countries.