Health and Social Care Management and Policy Program

Task: Students are asked to discuss a policy tackling a health, social care or social issue, focusing on the PROCESS of policy development. Students can choose to focus on ONE of the following:

a. Policy objectives, how the issue got on the agenda, evidence base, policy formulation process and theories underpinning the development of the policy.
OR
a. Policy objectives, instruments, implementation and evaluation, supported by a theoretical discussion.

*Students in Health and Social Care Management and Policy Programme will need to focus on a health and social policy

You can tackle this task in various ways. Here are some guiding points:
A. If you focus on the first part of the policy cycle:
• choose a policy addressing a social issue – give details: name of the policy, when it was launched, by who etc
• What issue is this policy addressing? and explore how did it get on the government’s agenda?
• Discuss the general framing of the issue and the socio-economic and political context
• Outline main policy objectives – what is it trying to achieve?
• Discuss aspects relevant to the formulation process (who was involved, what evidence underpinned the debates in the formulation stage etc)
• Offer a theoretical reflection on the process of framing and formulating the policy.

B. If you focus on the second part of the policy cycle:
• choose a policy addressing a social issue – give details: name of the policy, when it was launched, by who etc
• What are the policy’s more specific instruments?
• Discuss aspects relevant to implementation: who are the implementation agencies, what structures and processes have been put in place to implement the policy
• Are there any variations locally in terms of implementation?
• Discuss potential local barriers to implementation
• has the policy been evaluated – discuss.
• Offer a theoretical reflection on the implementation process.
In preparation for this assignment
On week 11:
• Submit a report plan outlining:
• the policy chosen and issue addressed by the policy
• a tentative structure of the report
• evidence base (repertoire) you will be drawing on when writing the report (tentative bibliography if you want)
Your tutors will provide guidance and feedback on this.

Marking criteria used.

It is always good to consult the general and specific marking criteria used to assess your work. It is even a better idea to discuss these marking criteria with your tutors or Academic Mentor in the process of developing your work.

The General marking criteria for Postgraduate Studies is stored on WebLearn already.

The more specific criteria you need to pay attention to in relation to this assignment includes:

Criteria
Weight
Understanding of the policy context in which policies are developed and implemented 25%

Quality and depth of engagement with recent and relevant policy documents 25%
Policy specific knowledge and understanding 25%
Theoretical discussion 25%