e­‐Learning in Public Health Management

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e-learning in Public Health Management (ePHM) course is the flagship course of e-learning at IPH. Started with the primary aim of capacity building of district and block programme managers in NRHM who largely come from management or non-public health background, this course was envisioned to introduce the target group to basic concepts of Indian public health system and also to train them in effectively managing the day to day activities of a district/ block health setup. This course was simultaneously also introduced to professionals who were not a part of the government health set up yet worked in close association with it.

Following two batches and several suggestions and inputs later, the consensus was that the level of the course though appropriate for a novice in the field of public health, is too basic for those who have prior experience. To remedy this (keeping in mind the entry level public health professionals) we have redesigned the ePHM course with retention of the basic components along with addition of advanced topics such as health systems, health management concepts etc for those who want to do understand public health care more in depth. This document presents a detailed description of the structure of the course with brief description of the topics that will be covered.

Structure of the Course: The new version of ePHM course has been designed to cater to the needs of both the entry level as well as mid-career public health professionals. The design of the course is such that it gives the option of incremental learning to the student so that he/she can choose till what level he would like to learn and will be awarded a certificate accordingly.

The course consists of two levels –
Level 1: Introductory concepts of Indian Public Health System and
Level 2: Advanced concepts of Public Health Systems including public health management.

The entire course is divided into 8 modules. Each module consists of four units. Each student has the option of attending a small test before starting each module. This is a test of diagnostic nature consists of questions covering the important topics to be taught in Unit 1 and 2.

If the student is able to answer more than 80% of the questions correctly then he can directly proceed to the advance units of 3 & 4 and can skip the first two units.

This process is aimed at helping students identify the topics that they already are familiar with and giving them an opportunity to directly learn the advanced topics without redoing the basics.

Module 1: Orientation to Health Systems and Health System Analysis

1. Describe health systems with respect to its building blocks

2. Analysing & applying framework for health systems strengthening

3. Compare & Contrast the country level health systems

Module 2: Health Systems in India-­‐ Structure and Functioning

1. History of public health and reforms in India

2. Health services organisation of the government & District Health systems

3. Key problems of HS in India - Regulation, Urban health , Governance, HR and

Information systems

4. Health seeking behavior

Module 3: Health Systems Gaps in India; Disease Control; Social Determinants of Health

1. RCH to NRHM to NHM

2. Overview of disease control programmes and surveillance in India

3. Addressing social determinants of Health

4. Critical evaluation of Health programmes and initiatives ( Vertical programmes interface

with health systems)

Module 4: Managing a Local Health System

1. Local health systems & Characteristics

2. Analysing and improving quality of health care

3. Health care organisation characteristics and systems thinking concepts

4. Analysing & improving the performance of health care organisation

Module 5 -­‐ Community Participation

1. Understanding what is community and how it could differ from one another.

2. To appreciate need for involving community in planning and management of health services

3. Identifying and describing various platforms for involving communities in existing health services

4. Appreciation of the concept of different degree/levels of community engagement

5. Assessing the extent of community engagement in a selected community engagement platform

6. Articulate your role, as a health manager at Taluka/Block level, in community participation

7. Monitor community participation activities within the health services in your area of work

Module-­‐6: Health Financing and Health Management

1. Overview of health financing

2. Bookkeeping & accounting

3. Health insurance, assurance and other mechanisms of health financing

4. Achieving universal health coverage in India (Source: Operational manual of IPH)

Module-­‐7: Concepts and Practices of Health Planning

1. Basic concepts of health planning & the planning cycle

2. Making a situation analysis, identifying problems and solutions

3. Preparing plans, implementation & monitoring

4. Practicals /assignment on planning: Make a plan and analyse it using SWOT

Module 8-­‐ Monitoring and Evaluation

1. Monitoring

2. Overview of program evaluation (WHO alliance , IRP manual, HPSR reader) Evaluation practises and methods

3. Framing evaluation questions & Evaluation methods

4. Designing, Implementing health program evaluation & Implementation evaluation.

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Happy Blogging...!!!

Regards,

Deepak Kumar Bandari,

Pharm.D Intern,

Vaagdevi College of Pharmacy - India

Elsevier Student Ambassador - South Asia