MSc in Health Service Improvement and Evaluation modules

The module covers topics related to research methodologies and methods used in health services implementation and evaluation, introductory epidemiology and statistics, study designs used in health services research and evaluation, evidence synthesis, and critical appraisal of existing evidence and literature.

By the end of this module students will be able to:   

• Interpret and critically appraise evidence that uses various research methodologies including quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods evidence.
• Describe and justify the use of different methods (and combinations of methods) to address various HSIE questions and evaluate complex interventions.
• Develop a research question and apply methods and tools to design a research plan appropriate for HSIE.

This module focuses on the aims of health services, as well as how to investigate health service delivery and “diagnose” system challenges. Typically, health services are expected to deliver high quality, safe healthcare that then results in good outcomes. Taking these different health system, population, and user perspectives – that complement thinking at the macro, meso, and micro levels – you will be able to appraise the different dimensions of quality and safety and how important outcomes may vary depending on one’s perspective.

By the end of this module students will be able to:  

• Compare the different ways of conceptualising and assessing quality, safety, and outcomes of health care / provision of health services.
• Describe the range of health system factors influencing quality, safety, and outcomes of health services at the macro-, meso- and micro-levels of the health system.
• Analyse how services are delivered and what influences frontline care delivery, including organisational and human factors, and teamwork and the roles and experiences of health service users / patients.
• Apply a range of techniques and tools for ‘system diagnosis’ to analyse quality and safety outcomes and their determinants that enable articulation of the possible causal pathways leading to these outcomes, with an understanding that can provide the foundation for purposeful (theory informed) intervention (that feeds directly into work in Module 4 and 5).

This module focuses on equipping students to design robust, theory-driven, and context-appropriate interventions, services, and programmes in response to the “system diagnoses” developed in Module 3. You will learn how interventions and programmes contribute to improving quality, safety, and health outcomes, and will use theory to unpack the mechanisms through which these improvements work.

By the end of this module students will be able to:  

• Articulate the underlying assumptions and mechanisms of action of interventions and improvements, and link them to the desired outcomes and indicators of success.
• Design a context-appropriate, theory-driven intervention or improvement to respond to a specific health challenge by integrating evidence, stakeholder perspectives, and design principles.
• Compare and contrast a range of relevant frameworks, theories, and models, and apply them to develop a strategy for implementing an intervention, prioritising approaches suited to real-world health system constraints.

The aim of Module 5 is to apply the knowledge on different methods gained in Module 2 (Methods toolbox) to the evaluation of health services interventions. Students will develop an understanding of how these methods are used and combined in a range of types of evaluations for different purposes. The module will progress through examples of different types of evaluations, from assessing intervention outcomes to determining intervention cost to understanding how and why interventions work and explore how each is best suited to answer specific research questions and evaluation aims.

By the end of this module students will be able to:  

• Demonstrate the appropriate use and interpretation of different types of evaluation and measurement tools and methods, aligned with the intended goals of the evaluation and adapted to evolving contexts and needs.
• Critically appraise diverse evaluation plans with respect to their intended endpoints and analyse the key components and stages of the health programme evaluation process.
• Design data collection tools and techniques that align with the specific objectives of evaluating a health programme intervention.
• Evaluate the influence of contextual, resource, and other factors on the effectiveness and implementation of evaluations.

The Core Skills module runs across all three terms (MT, HT and TT) and is focused on topics and practical skills that are cross-cutting and essential for understanding and undertaking health service diagnosis, intervention design, implementation, and evaluation, as well as the subsequent dissemination of the findings from the work to support tangible impact in the real world. Skills developed through this module will empower students in their future work as individuals, team members, and future health systems leaders in research and practice across health services and health systems.

By the end of this module students will be able to:  

• Critically appraise ethical issues in global health research and practice and apply ethical consideration to understanding and intervening in complex health systems.
• Apply key management and leadership principles, while implementing an understanding of team dynamics and the role of individuals to effectively work within a team.
• Demonstrate analytical writing and spoken communication and presentation skills in health services research and practice, while engaging with an array of different audiences including academic audiences, patients, publics and policymakers.
• Thoughtfully and meaningfully engage with policy processes and a variety of stakeholders, including patients and publics, while developing, implementing and evaluating complex health interventions.