SEMESTER AT SEA COURSE SYLLABUS Voyage: Short-term 2013
Discipline: Public Health
SEMS 2500: Public Health in Scandinavia: Successful Outcomes Lower Division
Faculty Name: Andrea Parrot
Pre-requisites: A social science course or public health course
COURSE DESCRIPTION
The Human Development Index (HDI) is a composite statistic used to rank countries by level of human development and separate "very high human development", "high human development", "medium human development", and "low human development" countries. The Human Development Index (HDI) is a comparative measure of life expectancy, literacy, education and standards of living for countries worldwide. It is a standard means of measuring well-being, especially child welfare. It is used to distinguish whether the country is a developed, a developing, or an under- developed country, and also to measure the impact of economic policies on quality of life. All Scandinavian countries have HDIs in the 'Very High' range. In addition to their positive quality of life aspects measured by the HDI, their views on sexuality are generally very liberal, with relaxed attitudes towards their own and others' sexuality. These attitudes are reflected in their public policies. We will examine these public policies and their positive outcomes, and compare those policies to varying approaches to policies throughout the world that result in low HDI rankings. Public policies that relate to Scandinavian attitudes regarding sexuality: Universal health care; Legalized Abortion; Paid parental leave; Condoms widely available; Generous child care benefits; Legalized prostitution, controlled to promote sexual health; Legalized gay marriage; Compulsory comprehensive sex education at all levels. Public health outcomes resulting from the public policies identified above: Maternal and infant mortality rates are among the lowest in the world; Premarital sex is acceptable in Scandinavia; Very high level of sexual health; Extremely low STD rates; Extremely low teenage pregnancy rates; Very low abortion rates; Divorce rate is much lower than in the US.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
Identify the measures that are included in the Human Development Index rankings, and why each of those measures is critical.
Evaluate the Scandinavian countries, Poland and Germany by measuring public health outcomes.
Gain an understanding of Global Public Health problems and priorities for change and their impact on Millennium Development Goals (MDG)
Examine the differences as well as similarities between the public approaches in Scandinavian countries, selected other countries, and the United States.
Understand how the MDG might be amended in the future to address mental health needs throughout the world
Further develop oral communication and group presentation skills.
Evaluate policies in selected countries that impact the health, education, and welfare of that country
REQUIRED TEXTBOOKS
Mellinium Development Goals (MDG) report 2012 (US Government Document available online) - forthcoming
Human Development (HDI) Report 2012 (US Government Document available online) - forthcoming
Kristof, N, and WuDunn, S. (2010). Half the Sky Turning oppression into opportunity for women worldwide. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
TOPICAL OUTLINE OF COURSE Day 1 (readings: MDG, HDI, Fox)
Course introduction Human Development Index Millennium Development Goals
Gross National Happiness, a new way of thinking- Butan Overview of individual countries
Day 2 (readings: And it’s going to get better; Larsen; Norweigan country progress report: Kristof and WuDunn, Signild Vallgarda 2007, Eide)
The best and worst Public Health Outcomes worldwide…How does Scandinavia do it? General policy issues:
o AIDS education and policies – needle exchange o Condom availability
o STI rates
Discuss policies and public health issues in Norway Day 3 (readings: Signild Vallgarda, 2011)
Analyze Norway General policy issues:
o Health Care
o Physician Assisted Suicide
o Maternal and Infant Mortality/Health o Parental Leave Policies
General policy issues: o Education
o School based sex education o Teenage pregnancy
o Abortion access
Discuss policies and public health issues in Sweden
Day 5 – (readings: Ekberg; Parrot and Cummings; Ministry of Health and Public Affairs) FDP presentations on Sweden
Analyze Sweden
Discuss policies and public health issues in Finland Day 6- (reading: Andersen)
Analyze Finland
Discuss policies and public health issues in Poland
midterm
Day 7 (readings: Danielle da Costa & Leite Borges) Analyze Poland
General policy issues: o Laws
o Prostitution
o Same sex Marriage o Divorce
Day 8 (readings: OECD Economic Survey Germany) Project presentations and discussion
Discuss policies and public health issues in Germany
Day 9 (readings: Claire Shewbridge, Moonhee Kim, Gregory Wurzburg and Gaby Hostens) Analyze Germany
Project presentations and discussion
Discuss policies and public health issues in Holland
Day 10 (readings: rda 2010)
Analyze Holland
Project presentations and discussion course evaluation
course closure Day 11 – final exam
METHODS OF EVALUATION / GRADING RUBRIC Field component – 20%
Individual Project – 25% Class participation – 15% Exams- 40 %
INDIVIDUAL PROJECTS: Each student will critically evaluate and analyze one policy in one country we are visiting in depth that has resulted in a positive public health outcome. None of the topics covered in the Swedish FL or those presented extensively in class for a given country will be approved for this assignment. The policy must be discussed thoroughly and the resultant public health outcome must be clearly tied to the policy. Scholarly and reputable sources must be
referenced in the presentation. Students will be assigned policies on a first come-first serve basis. These presentations will take place in class on days 8, 9, and 10.
Possible policies for selection include, but are not limited to, the following: Laws
Prostitution Pornography Same sex marriage Divorce
Parental leave Education
School based sex education Teenage pregnancy
AIDS education and policies Health Issues
Physician Assisted Suicide
Maternal and Infant Mortality/Health Health Care access
Needle exchange policies Condom availability Abortion access STIs
FIELD COMPONENT
FIELD LAB (At least 20 percent of the contact hours for each course, to be led by the instructor.)
As a group we will visit a school, a sex education program; a police station to discuss laws on prostitution and pornography; a child care program/facility; and/or a health care facility in Sweden.
FIELD ASSIGNMENTS
Each student will participate in a small group to assess, evaluate and present one component of the field experience to the class. These should be power point presentations and students will be expected to access and cite the scholarly literature to support their findings.
Readings for the electronic course folder:
… AND IT’S GOING TO GET BETTER! National Strategy for Quality Improvement in Health and Social Services (2005-2015) Norway
Andersen, J. (December 12, 2011) From Finland, an Intriguing School-Reform Model. New York Times, Education Section, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/13/education/from-finland-an-intriguing-school-reform-model.html?pagewanted=all
da Costa. D., & Borges, L (2011) European Health Systems and the Internal Market: Reshaping Ideology? Health Care Annals 19:365–387 DOI 10.1007/s10728-010-0158-4
Eide, A. (2011) The Health of the World`s Poor - a Human Rights Challenge
Ekberg, G. (2004) The Swedish law that prohibits the purchase of sexual services. Violence Against Women, 10, (190) 1187-1218.
Fox, J. (2012). The Economics of Wellbeing. The Harvard Business Review. pp. 70-83. Larsen, Bjørn-Inge, (May 2008). Health creates welfare – the role of the health system in Norwegian society, Trends in the health sector, 2008
Ministry of Health and Social Affairs (2011) Public Performance Reports on Health Care and Social Services. A national strategy for quality improvement through public performance reports on health care and social services, Sweden, 2011
Nusche, D., Gregory Wurzburg and Breda Naughton (2010) OECD Reviews of Migrant Education, Denmark 2010
Norwegian Directorate of Health Department of Public Health (2009) Ungass country progress report Norway January 2008-December 2009
OECD Economic Surveys GERMANY (2012) www.oecd.org/germany
stlin, P., & Finn Diderichsen (2001) Equity-oriented national strategy for public health in Sweden A case study . WHO Europe.
http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/119916/E69911.pdf Shewbridge, C., Moonhee Kim, Gregory Wurzburg and Gaby Hostens (2010) OECD Reviews of Migrant Education, Netherlands 2010
rda, S., (2010) Is the focus on health-related behaviours a new phenomenon? Social Studies of Science 2010 40: 609 DOI: 10.1177/0306312710366067
Vallgarda, S. (2011) Appeals to Autonomy and Obedience: Continuity and Change in Governing Technologies in Danish and Swedish Health Promotion
Medical History, 55: 27–40
rda, S., (2007) Public health policies: A Scandinavian model? Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, 35: 205–211
HONOR CODE
Semester at Sea students enroll in an academic program administered by the University of Virginia, and thus bind themselves to the University’s honor code. The code prohibits all acts of lying, cheating, and stealing. Please consult the Voyager’s Handbook for further explanation of what constitutes an honor offense.
Each written assignment for this course must be pledged by the student as follows: “On my honor as a student, I pledge that I have neither given nor received aid on this assignment.” The pledge must be signed, or, in the case of an electronic file, signed “[signed].”
