MSc/PGDip/PGCert Health Informatics (UCL/UoM Joint Award) / Course details

Year of entry: 2024

Course unit details:
Personal Health Informatics (UCL)

Course unit fact file
Unit code IIDS62401
Credit rating 15
Unit level FHEQ level 7 – master's degree or fourth year of an integrated master's degree
Teaching period(s) Semester 1
Offered by Division of Informatics, Imaging and Data Sciences
Available as a free choice unit? No

Overview

This module is taught at UCL.

The users of healthcare are increasingly expected to take responsibility for their health and wellbeing, supported through a growing range of online sources of information and connected devices providing data on citizens’ physiological states.  This module will allow trainees to reflect on current thinking on citizen-driven informatics and the involvement of citizens as co-producers of health. It will provide an opportunity to reflect on long-term trends in healthcare and their possible impact on how organisations work with their communities to design services adapted to a changing world. This module will make best use of large scale demonstrator projects such as CityVerve, the first city to demonstrate the Internet of Things at scale. 

Aims

The module aims to:

  • foster an appreciation of the cross-disciplinary scope of data-intensive Citizen Health and what it means to be a digitally engaged citizen and patient
  • provide opportunities to critically examine initiatives aimed at improving the connectedness of health, self and care
  • explore socio-technical factors influencing citizens engagement with their health and social care
  • critically examine the effect of data-driven, co-produced healthcare on citizens/patients

Learning outcomes

 Students will be able to:

· Subject-Specific Knowledge

  1. Demonstrate an understanding of citizen engagement and barriers and facilitators to engagement
  2. Demonstrate an understanding of different ways in which health, self and care interact to co-produce health
  3. Demonstrate an understand clinical risk management and its relation to co-produced healthcare
  4. Demonstrate an understand of the socio-technical aspects of informatics focused on the consumer and the public
  5. Demonstrate an understanding of the theories of behavioural change
  6. Demonstrate an understanding of the organisational and human factor challenges to effective use of health information technologies.

 · Intellectual, Academic and Research Skills

  1. Demonstrate an ability to systematically search for and critically appraise relevant publications in the health informatics, medical and scientific literature, relating ideas to current thinking, knowledge and research.
  2. Demonstrate an ability to synthesise and critically evaluate cross-disciplinary knowledge
  3. Critically analyse the needs of specific citizen-focused health situations in relation to the opportunities afforded by the use of digital health technologies.

 ·Practical and Transferrable Skills

  1. Prepare written reports
  2. Give formal oral presentations

Teaching and learning methods

The module is delivered over nine weeks using Moodle as the Virtual Learning Environment. Students attend at UCL for an intensive block of three days of face to face teaching, usually in week four or five. Students on campus may attend two additional seminars, these are also live-streamed and recorded for other students. Formative and summative assignments are submitted via Moodle. 

Employability skills

Analytical skills
Research
Written communication

Assessment methods

Method Weight
Written assignment (inc essay) 100%

Feedback methods

Students are set tasks for each topic, with formative feedback supplied at group level. Depending on students numbers, there may additionally be some peer-feedback.

Study hours

Independent study hours
Independent study 150

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