79565553340Planning & Evaluating Public Health Interventions
79565553340Planning & Evaluating Public Health Interventions
MEDS4013 | October 2023
Assessment Guidance
00Planning & Evaluating Public Health Interventions
MEDS4013 | October 2023
Assessment Guidance
-914400-92075000058070750-914400-914400
Assessment summary
Assessment Type Weight (%) Requirements Deadline
Coursework 100 Individual coursework, max 2000 words 3pm on Wednesday 10th January 2024.
Note: Optional formative assessment deadline 3pm on Monday 27th November 2023.
Summative assessment
Overview of the summative assessment
Identify a local or national public health problem in a setting of your choice and an intervention that you think should be implemented to help to address it. Write a proposal (max. 2000 words) for relevant public health decision makers (e.g. Director of Public Health, commissioners etc.) explaining why the intervention is needed (that is, the public health problem), why you have selected this particular intervention (as opposed to a different intervention, taking into account the evidence base for the intervention), how the intervention will be delivered and how you intend to evaluate it after it has been implemented. You can write about a public health problem of your choice it could be one that you have worked/are working on, or an issue of particular interest to you.
This document provides some guidance about the content and structure that should be used and gives details of the marking criteria that will be applied. You may discuss your intervention ideas with the module convenors prior to submission, and there is a formative assessment to help you to refine your ideas (described below).
The deadline for submission of the coursework (via Moodle) is 3pm on Wednesday 10th January 2024.
Structure
Background Provide a brief background to the problem: Explain what the problem is, describe the current scale of the problem and what is currently being done to resolve it. This should be made specific to your context.
Overview of the intervention and delivery strategyIdentify the intervention that you are recommending and explain why you are proposing this intervention, as opposed to one of the other interventions that could be used to address this problem. Describe the evidence which demonstrates that this is an effective intervention and suitable for your setting. Provide some detail about how the intervention will be delivered in your setting. Explain why this is likely to be the most effective and feasible way to deliver the intervention to your target population.
Logic modelPresent a logic model for the intervention (not included in the word count).
Evaluation Describe the methods for a summative evaluation of your intervention comprising and outcome and a process evaluation. Summarise the purpose of the evaluation, the evaluation questions, your proposed outcomes, study design, and which data will be used. If you are proposing primary data collection, give an overview of how the data will be collected. Remember to justify your choice of methods and discuss the strengths and limitations.
TimelineSummarise the timescales for the intervention, including the evaluation, in a GANTT chart (not included in the word count).
Recommendation Make a recommendation that is clear and substantiated by the evidence you have put forward.
ReferencesA maximum of 20 references (not included in the word count).
Some tips
Dont assume that your target audience has extensive knowledge about the public health problem or the intervention.
Select a single intervention, rather than a programme of interventions. While in public health practice you may be required to recommend a package of interventions, for your assessment you should focus on a single intervention, which will demonstrate your ability to prioritise the most appropriate intervention for your context and justify your choice in some detail.
Avoid picking an intervention which is still at the stage of requiring extensive research (e.g. an RCT) to justify its implementation. While your intervention can include aspects which are novel, you should be able to give clear justification as to why this intervention should be implemented if the evidence base is lacking, this will be very difficult to do.
Use an informative yet concise title which describes i) The intervention ii) the target population iii) the health problem/intended outcome.
Remember to consider context in your justification for choosing an intervention an intervention may have been demonstrated to be very effective in other settings, but may not be feasible in your context.
Consider the delivery strategy for the intervention as well as the intervention itself.
Focus on why it matters. i.e. why this public health problem? Why this population? Why this intervention?
Do not introduce any new information or evidence in the Conclusion / Recommendations section.
Additional notes
A detailed/systematic literature review and details on the financial resources needed to deliver and evaluate the intervention are not required for your assessment. However, you should demonstrate that you have read the key literature on the topic (max. 20 references) and use this to support your arguments.
The word limit is 2000 words. This excludes the logic model (which is limited to 100 words), timeline and references, but includes all other tables and figures. Please include a word count for each section and the whole assignment on the front page of your assignment. There is no formal limit for the timeline (GANTT chart), but keep in mind that this should give a concise overview of the timescales.
Please submit your coursework as a MS Word document.
Marking schedule
Background (~ 300 words) 10
Overview the intervention and delivery strategy (~ 850 words) 35
Logic model (not included in the overall word limit, but limited to 100 words) 10
Evaluation (~ 800 words) 30
Timeline - GANTT chart (not included in the word limit) 5
Final recommendation (~ 50 words) 5
Discretionary marks (presentation, adherence to assessment guidance,referencing) 5
Formative assessment
The formative assessment is optional but highly recommended. Complete the form below to give a brief summary of the public health problem, setting, proposed intervention and evaluation plans.
Please submit the form in Moodle by 3pm on Monday 27th November 2023. One of the module convenors or tutors (TL or KC or JO) will provide brief written feedback by 11th December 2023.
Formative assessment form
Student name
What is the public health problem to be addressed, and what is the target population? (max 50 words)
Proposed intervention (max 100 words)
Evaluation questions (max 100 words)
Outcome evaluation questions
Process evaluation questions
Feedback (to be completed by module convenor)
Formative assessment form
Student name
What is the public health problem to be addressed, and what is the target population? (max 50 words)
Proposed intervention (max 100 words)
Evaluation questions (max 100 words)
Outcome evaluation questions
Process evaluation questions
Feedback (to be completed by module convenor)
