Durham University
Programme and Module Handbook

Postgraduate Programme and Module Handbook 2011-2012 (archived)

Module HEAS40515: LEADERSHIP, CHANGE MANAGEMENT AND DECISION MAKING IN THE HEALTH SYSTEM

Department: Health [Queen's Campus, Stockton]

HEAS40515: LEADERSHIP, CHANGE MANAGEMENT AND DECISION MAKING IN THE HEALTH SYSTEM

Type Open Level 4 Credits 15 Availability Available in 2011/12 Module Cap None.

Prerequisites

  • None

Corequisites

  • None

Excluded Combination of Modules

  • none

Aims

  • The module, firstly, examines the changing environments of the health system and, secondly, seeks to equip students to responsibly implement research findings to the benefit of patient/client outcomes and to manage well the frequent organisational changes in UK health-related sub-systems.

Content

  • Introduction to the Module
  • Change Management: Self
  • Change Management: Others
  • Leadership
  • Leadership for health improvement
  • People Management
  • Decision Making
  • Economic Appraisal
  • Project Management
  • Managing Uncertainty
  • Project Presentations and Planning implementation

Learning Outcomes

Subject-specific Knowledge:
  • By the end of module students will have developed:
  • An advanced knowledge and critical understanding of change management approaches and strategies in the public sector
  • The various bases for decision making and their similarities and differences
  • How leadership and management relate.
Subject-specific Skills:
  • Students will have gained skills in:
  • Appraising change management projects
  • Designing change management projects
  • Working interprofessionally.
Key Skills:
  • The ability to think critically and creatively and to argue coherently;
  • The capacity for sustained independent work and learning at an advanced level and the ability to learn through reflection on practice and experience;
  • The capacity for sustained interprofessional learning and work at an advanced level and the ability to learn through reflection on practice and experience
  • The ability to think independently, including problem-solving ability and the ability to discriminate and use judgement;
  • The ability to communicate effectively across specialised subject and professional areas;
  • Enhanced personal effectiveness: advanced skills of self-awareness, time management including working to deadlines, sensitivity to diversity in people and different situations and the ability to sustain learning;
  • The ability to work effectively in inter-professional and inter agency contexts and to critically assess the relevance and validity of others’ views, contributions to care planning and service delivery.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

  • Lecturing - Explains current theories regarding change management , leadership, and decision making approaches - Examines how these are inter-related in healthcare and how decisions in one sector are affected by decision making styles and priorities in another - How the various decision making techniques emphasise/elevate certain values and downplay others
  • Tutorials and seminars - Allow students to work through concepts in more detail, providing both teacher and peer led input, promoting discussion and developing the interprofessional communication and working skills
  • Structured reading - Allows students to pursue topics in greater detail enabling both familiarity with key texts and a deeper understanding of the subject knowledge generally
  • Case studies/role plays/simulation games - Provide real life examples that are discussed, analysed and sometimes role-played to assist students to arrive at new insights into the practical and emotional dimensions of leadership and change
  • Independent Study - Focuses student knowledge more deeply by pursuing aspects of the module that are of special interest to themselves and exploring specific applications in their field of study
  • Written assessment allows assessment of students' understanding of key aspects of change management in an interprofessional context and their to marshal arguments and present them in a written format in a sound and convincing fashion.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Activity Number Frequency Duration Total/Hours
Lecture 10 weekly 1 hr 10
Tutorial/seminar (including case studies/role plays/simulation games as appropriate) 10 weekly 1 hr 30 mins 15
Structured Reading 10sets weekly 3 hrs 30
Library researching & Independent study Student initiated Student determined 95
Total 150

Summative Assessment

Component: assessment Component Weighting: 100%
Element Length / duration Element Weighting Resit Opportunity
essay 3000 100% essay

Formative Assessment:

A structured assignment (up to 2000 words max) focusing on a change management project of choice relating the learning in the module to the work setting and acting as preparatory work for the summative assessment.


Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University