Innovation in Public Health | Master Health Sciences

Deepen your knowledge of the public health system and improve the quality of public healthcare services at a societal level.

The government plays an important role in maintaining and improving public health, but public healthcare is much more than a government task. It requires close collaboration between private and public organisations, and knowing how to use knowledge from other sectors for the benefit of medical care. So how can you ensure that different organisations, from governments to healthcare providers to public health institutions to businesses, work together in addressing health-related challenges? How do you engage citizens in health decision-making? And what does it take to innovate in today’s complex healthcare system? If you are interested in improving the quality of public healthcare services at a societal level, then the specialisation in Innovation in Public Health might be the right choice for you.

what is innovation in public health?

In essence, this specialisation is about finding out what is needed to future-proof the public health system. What does it take to manage change in such a complex, multi-stakeholder environment? Why is the health sector lagging behind when it comes to innovation – and how can you accelerate this? This specialisation will deepen your knowledge of the public health system and give you insights into the interplay between government, public health institutions, healthcare providers, as well as private organisations and NGOs. You will explore how policy, law, and regulation can improve the provision of public health, and how political, social, economic, and environmental factors can influence this. Moreover, you will gain a cross-border view on public health: what can we learn from healthcare systems in other countries?

Examples of courses you will follow during this specialisation:

How can you explain why certain innovations are successfully implemented in the public health sector and others are not? In the course Public Health Innovations, you will learn to analyse innovations in public healthcare and recognise and anticipate the barriers to this.
The course PH: Dynamics in Policy, Law and Regulation teaches you to analyse societal trends and development in the field of public health, and investigate how knowledge of policy, legislation and regulations can be integrated into our society’s healthcare.
In recent decades, healthcare evolved, moving from decisions made by professionals to active patient engagement. What are the benefits and barriers of such approaches of policy-making, where activities are done ‘with’ or ‘by’ citizens, not ‘to’ or ‘for’ them? You will discover this in the course Citizen Science and Public Involvement.

Studying innovation in public health, there is a great variety of challenges you can learn to deal with. What are the effects of market forces in healthcare and what kind of regulation does this require? What makes people hesitate or reluctant to be vaccinated and how can you use this knowledge to develop a more effective vaccination campaign? How can different organisations collaborate in tackling public health challenges and promoting a healthy lifestyle? And what about addressing the spread of health-related misinformation on social media? These are just some of the many questions you can deal with in this specialisation.

what will you learn?

As a graduate of this Master's and this specialisation, you have acquired specific, scientific knowledge, skills and values, which you can put to good use in your future job.

Knowledge
After completing this Master’s specialisation, you:
- have knowledge of state-of-the-art theories that can be used to understand why some public health innovations are implemented, while others are not;
- know which regulatory characteristics have a major impact on the functioning of public health;
- know the different approaches to facilitate public involvement in both research and practice, and you can explain the added value – as well as reflect upon possible challenges – of public involvement in public health innovation.
Skills
After successfully finishing this Master’s specialisation, you:
- are able to critically evaluate and reflect on how you can make a difference in public health care delivery by stimulating public health innovation;
- can analyse the links between (inter)national regulatory characteristics and care provision on the meso and micro level
- are able to translate complex scientific topics to a general audience in simple terms, and to co-design a research question together with citizens or non-scientific professionals.
Values
After completing this Master’s specialisation, you:
- value the role of relational aspects between different stakeholders for the quality of healthcare;
- value the role that patients and clients can play in healthcare (optimisation) and health prevention.

Other master's and specialisations

Is this specialisation not exactly what you are looking for? Maybe one of the other specialisations suits you better. Or find out more about related Master’s:

Master’s in Public Administration

Curriculum