Subject description
This subject aims to provide students with the necessary knowledge and skills to understand and apply the major concepts involved in health services planning and evaluation. Topics covered include the relationship between evaluation and planning; the importance of assessing need, and understanding data and data sources; and the perils of health care forecasting, whole of nation and beyond hospital walls planning, and the challenges ahead for futuristic planning. Workforce planning and service capability frameworks are addressed as well as planning capital infrastructure for health services. How to evaluate and implement a health services plan is also described. In order to highlight the complexities of health services planning and provide an opportunity for students to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of selected health services approaches, a range of case studies are utilised covering an existing health service, a new purpose-built facility, primary and community health service, disease type, age type, and service model type. An emphasis is placed on the importance of stakeholder consultation and engagement within the health services planning environment.

Intent:

Provides students with the opportunity to understand, collect, analyse and succinctly provide data and information relevant to health planning.

Objective(s): This assessment task addresses subject learning objective(s): B, C and D

B.Identify and assess community health status, demographics and social conditions that impact health.

C. Determine the issues impacting health planning and health plan evaluation, including enabling and impeding factors.

D. Create a variety of ways in which complex issues can be effectively communicated for a variety of target audiences.

This assessment task contributes to the development of graduate attribute(s): 1.0, 3.0 and 4.0

Reflective, critical thinker who influences practice, policy and research to achieve clinical excellence and transform healthcare services. (1.0)

Socially, culturally and ethically accountable when engaging with individuals, families, interdisciplinary teams, communities, organisations and jurisdictions. (3.0)

Communicates effectively and appropriately in challenging, complex and diverse situations. (4.0)

Task:
The purpose of this assignment is to build a health profile for a defined geographic community and/or population.

This assignment requires students to explore key community demographics, health risk factors, current rates of chronic disease and health service use, and compare the community data against the state/national average, to inform future health care need.

Students will be provided information to support the development of the profile during on-campus day 2.

Type: Report

Length: 2000 word report (including graphs/tables)

Weight: 50%

Referencing style The Faculty of Health uses the ?Harvard (UTS)? style for in text referencing and production of a reference list. Please refer to www.lib.uts.edu.au/help/referencing/harvard-uts-referencing-guide for guidance on this referencing style.