Health Equality in All Policies

Bachelor students from year 2 and up, master students postgraduate students (PhDs, post-docs), researchers and practitioners in the public health domain; all disciplines are welcome!

It is expected that the participants have a sufficient command of the English language to actively participate in the discussions and to present their own work in English.

The general course schedule consists of interactive lectures in the morning and working on the challenge in groups in the afternoons. 

Monday
We will start the week with an introductory lecture about health inequalities: what are they; how did they come about and persist? We will then play a game to get to know each other, and introduce the challenge.

Tuesday
Everything is behaviour: Public health from the psychological perspective. Human behavior is (almost) always involved in interventions, therefore expertise on human behaviour is essential for designing solutions to complex challenges.

Wednesday
The third day focuses on the role the humanities can play in looking at a public health challenge like reducing health inequality. Students learn to critically question the seemingly non-controversial assumptions underlying discussions about health inequalities and to apply perspectives from the humanities to the challenge 

Thursday
Thursday is all about regional health inequalities and local political responses - providing you with a spatial science perspective. In the morning, students learn how the built environment (places) affect health over the life course. you will learn to reflect on the role of places and place-making in addressing health needs.

Friday
On Friday we will focus on the effect of law and policies on public health. Law is an important determinant of health. During the fifth day of this summer school we will reflect on the role of law to reduce health inequalities, relying on insights from the first four days of the course. In the afternoon, you will finalise your challenge, and present it to your peers and lecturers. We close the week with a celebratory moment where you will receive your certificate

During the course you will:

• Get to know different interdisciplinary perspectives to consider a complex public health challenge (reducing health inequalities in policies regarding the obesogenic environment in the city of Groningen)
• Combine these different perspectives in the design of contributions/solutions towards this complex challenge
• Experience the added value of combining various interdisciplinary perspectives in contributions towards the challenge
• Gain insight into how to reduce health inequalities 

Workload

Preparation: 6,5 hours
Lectures and workshops: 34,5 hours
Presentation: 1 hour

Upon successful completion of the programme, the Summer School offers a Certificate of Attendance that mentions the workload of 42 hours (28 hours corresponds to 1 ECTS). Students can apply for recognition of these credits to the relevant authorities in their home institutions, therefore the final decision on awarding credits is at the discretion of their home institutions. We will be happy to provide any necessary information that might be requested in addition to the certificate of attendance.

Erik Buskens is a professor in Health Technology Assessment at the Faculty of Medical Sciences/UMCG. His area of expertise is Medical Technology Assessment comprises economic evaluation in health care, ethical and legal issues as well as issues regarding implementation and reimbursement of innovative technologies.

Arie Dijkstra is a professor in psychology at the University of Groningen. His area of expertise is health psychology, behavioural change and behavioural influence, addictions and psychology of Covid19.

Rina Knoeff is a professor of history at the University of Groningen. Her area of expertise is early modern history, history of (anatomic) collections, cultural history of the body, Dutch medicine in the Age of Enlightenment, history of alchemy and chemistry, and medical humanities.

Tobias Vogt is a professor at the Faculty of Spatial Sciences. His area of expertise is demographics, interdisciplinary social sciences, social medicine, environmental health and occupational medicine.

Brigit Toebes is professor of health law in a global context at the Faculty of Law, and Scientific Director of the Aletta Jacobs School of Public Health. She has a background in human rights and has published extensively in the fields of global health law, and health and human rights

To apply, kindly fill out the online application form. Please note that you will be asked to upload the following documents:

• Curriculum Vitae (max. 2 pages)
• Motivation letter, clearly stating why you want to join this summer school, what you will bring to the school and what you hope to learn (max. 1 page)

The deadline for application is 1 May 2024. Selected applicants will be informed by 13 May 2024.