Health Systems Development: A Focus on Health Service Delivery and Human Resources for Health
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Health Systems Development: A Focus on Health Service Delivery and Human Resources for Health
This course is part of Health Systems Development Specialization
Instructor: Dr Sondus Hassounah
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What you'll learn
Apply a root cause analysis approach in order to diagnose service delivery specific bottlenecks.
Critique strategies to mitigate global human-resources-for-health challenges to support evidence informed decision making for health system reform.
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There are 4 modules in this course
This specialization is intended for people interested in health systems and how they function. Participants will learn about the global health systems landscape and the challenges and opportunities to achieve better health outcomes.
This specialisation is divided into three courses which are offered as massive online open access courses (Courses 1-3), and a fourth course which is offered as part of the Online MPH degree (capstone). The Health Systems Development specialisation is geared toward learners who have no prior knowledge of health systems or those who are starting to explore this area of study. Overall, sessions in this specialisation span 16 week with approximately 96 hours of viewing learning materials per week. Formative assessments in the form of quizzes and activities are incorporated throughout the weeks to help learners gauge their level of depth of understanding and to prepare them for their summative assessments. Participants will have the opportunity to explore a range of areas within health systems. The first course will introduce the main building blocks of health systems and shed some light on key components of well-functioning health systems including how health system performance is assessed. In course two, students will learn how to conduct a health impact assessment and how to assess the impacts of policies, plans and projects, as well as how that support decision-makers make choices regarding alternatives and improvements to prevent disease or injury and to actively promote health. The third course explores human resources for health and service delivery. In this course, students will learn about and analyse country experiences in transforming health services delivery, and interventions and to address human resources for health challenges at a global level. By the end of this specialisation, learners should be able to identify key components of, and critically compare, different health systems; analyse country experiences in transforming services; and apply theoretical framework for assessing the health impacts of policies, plans and projects.
This week you will learn about health service delivery, explore how to deconstruct the relationships between health service delivery and other aspects of the health system, as well as distinguish between strengths and limitations for different approaches used to transform health services
What's included
5 videos7 readings2 assignments3 discussion prompts1 plugin
5 videos•Total 23 minutes
- Unpacking Health Service Delivery•4 minutes
- Health Service Delivery: Key Concepts and Conceptualistion•5 minutes
- Health Service Delivery: Drivers for Change•5 minutes
- Identifying Bottlenecks and Root Causes of Service Delivery Transformations•6 minutes
- Recap•4 minutes
7 readings•Total 130 minutes
- About Imperial College and the Team•10 minutes
- How to be successful in this course?•10 minutes
- Grading Policy•10 minutes
- Glossary and Reading List•10 minutes
- Definition of Key Concepts•10 minutes
- The Challenges of a Changing World •60 minutes
- Performance Outcomes for Measuring Health Services Delivery•20 minutes
2 assignments•Total 60 minutes
- Formative MCQs•30 minutes
- Week 1 quiz•30 minutes
3 discussion prompts•Total 90 minutes
- Nice to meet you!•10 minutes
- Improve Your Country's Health Service Delivery•40 minutes
- How can Health Service Delivery transformation be applied in your own country•40 minutes
1 plugin•Total 15 minutes
- Complete our short pre-course survey•15 minutes
This week you will learn about various approaches used globally to transform health service delivery to respond to population need as well as how to use root cause analysis techniques to identify and diagnose health service delivery bottlenecks and analyse country experiences in transforming health services delivery.
What's included
4 videos3 readings1 assignment1 discussion prompt
4 videos•Total 23 minutes
- Root cause Analysis: Principles and Tools•8 minutes
- Case Studies: Identifying Causal Factors for Suboptimal Health Service Performance•6 minutes
- Common Bottlenecks & Root Cause of Sub-optimal Health Service Performance•6 minutes
- Recap•3 minutes
3 readings•Total 160 minutes
- Lessons from Transforming Health Services Delivery - Compendium of Initiatives in the WHO European Region•55 minutes
- Catalogue of Resources to Support Health Services Delivery Transformations•60 minutes
- Case Study: Strengthening Nursing in Primary Care in Poland•45 minutes
1 assignment•Total 30 minutes
- Week 2 Quiz•30 minutes
1 discussion prompt•Total 40 minutes
- Apply a root-cause analysis tool to identify the root causes of a service delivery bottleneck in your country/context•40 minutes
This week you will learn about human-resources-for-health and familiarise yourselves with concepts such as supply, demand and need in the context of health workforce. You will also get a chance to explore the opportunities and challenges global human-resources-for-health face globally in the era of Sustainable Development Goals.
What's included
1 video5 readings1 assignment2 discussion prompts
1 video•Total 6 minutes
- The Status of Human-Resources-for-Health Globally•6 minutes
5 readings•Total 195 minutes
- Working for Health and Growth- Investing in the Health Workforce•40 minutes
- No Health Without Workforce - A Universal Truth•40 minutes
- Global Strategy on Human Resources for Health - Workforce 2030•45 minutes
- The Labour Market for Human-Resources-for-Health in Low and Middle Income Countries•40 minutes
- Health Labour Market Policies in Support of Universal Health Coverage•30 minutes
1 assignment•Total 30 minutes
- Human-Resources-For-Health•30 minutes
2 discussion prompts•Total 80 minutes
- What is the status of human-resources-for-health in your country?•40 minutes
- Which of the challenges identified for human-resources-for-health in your context?•40 minutes
This week you will explore various frameworks, tools and approaches to address human-resources-for-health challenges globally, and you will have the opportunity to critique strategies to mitigate global human-resources-for-health challenges in order to support evidence informed decision making for health system reform.
What's included
5 videos3 readings1 peer review
5 videos•Total 21 minutes
- Challenges and Opportunities for Human-Resources-for-Health Globally•4 minutes
- Interventions and Frameworks to Address Human-Resources-for-Health Globally•5 minutes
- Introduction to Peer Review•4 minutes
- Recap•5 minutes
- Course 3 Recap •2 minutes
3 readings•Total 90 minutes
- Addressing Health Workforce Challenges•25 minutes
- Global Health Workforce Labor Market Projections for 2030•40 minutes
- Forecasting Imbalances in the Global Health Labour Market and Devising Policy Responses•25 minutes
1 peer review•Total 210 minutes
- Critique a Strategic Recommendation to Mitigate a Human-Resources-for-Health Challenge•210 minutes
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Reviewed on Dec 20, 2020
Explain everything in all videos for health system development and resources for health.
Reviewed on Nov 15, 2020
This is a great course and I am happy I had the opportunity to study it. Thank you
Reviewed on Jun 29, 2025
This course benefits me in gaining the capacity to analyze the root cause of the bottleneck of the issue regarding the health workforce resources.
Frequently asked questions
To access the course materials, assignments and to earn a Certificate, you will need to purchase the Certificate experience when you enroll in a course. You can try a Free Trial instead, or apply for Financial Aid. The course may offer 'Full Course, No Certificate' instead. This option lets you see all course materials, submit required assessments, and get a final grade. This also means that you will not be able to purchase a Certificate experience.
When you enroll in the course, you get access to all of the courses in the Specialization, and you earn a certificate when you complete the work. Your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page - from there, you can print your Certificate or add it to your LinkedIn profile.
Yes. In select learning programs, you can apply for financial aid or a scholarship if you can’t afford the enrollment fee. If fin aid or scholarship is available for your learning program selection, you’ll find a link to apply on the description page.
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