Sustainable Development in Healthcare, 7.5 credits

At least 120 credits within health care or medicine. Language skills equivalent to Swedish B and English A at Swedish upper secondary school are also required.

After the course, the student should be able to:

• Describe the concept of sustainable development (its development and contents)
• Explain relationships between health, disease and different aspects of sustainable development (ecological, economical and social)
• Account for expected health effects of climate changes and discuss how these can be prevented and met
• Analyse methods and strategies – national as well as international – to decrease environmental impacts of and upon humans and health care systems
• Analyse and reflect on how collaboration between different professional groups and the health care organisation can promote increased security and improved health from the perspective of sustainable development (from cooperation between professions to international partnership agreements)
• Explain relationship between health, disease and different aspects of sustainable development and be able to conduct a dialogue about these concepts considering the viewpoints of different health care professions

The course is based on the concept of sustainable development and its three aspects: the economical, the social and the ecological. Ecosystems and "planetary boundaries", economical growth and development theories such as social aspects (e.g. Human rights, local adaptions) will be discussed with regards to how they interact. The framework for the course discussions is thus systems theory: different aspects of sustainable development are processed with regards to how these relate to one another; different time periods; different levels of society (from the individual, local, regional to global level).

The other part of the course deals with the significance of sustainable development for the organisation of health care, such as how the work for sustainable health care systems can be organised and formulated from and interprofessional perspective. In the final part, the concept is made concrete through discussions in a number of case studies, which concretely demonstrate how work for sustainable development can be operationalised within Swedish and international health care, from and interprofessional perspective. Examples of such case studies can be "Health effects of climate changes - risks and measures", "Health equity", "Prevention vis-à-vis healthcare", "the significance of the health care organisation for a sustainable public health", "Prerequisites for an ecologically, economically and socially sustainable workplace". The case studies can vary depending on the lecturers and aim to illustrate, how the promotion of sustainable development can be concretised within the scope of different health care professions.

The teaching consists of interactive lectures, workshops, case studies, seminars where the students work together in interprofessional groups, and independent project work, which incorporates an interprofessional perspective.

The course is examined through participation in discussions at seminars and through an individual written assignment, which incorporates an interprofessional perspective of sustainable development.

Compulsory participation
Seminars are compulsory. Absence from compulsory seminars is compensated by a written assignment, the form of which is specified by the course director at the beginning of the course.

Examination will be provided during a time of two years after a possible cancellation of the course. Examination can take place according to an earlier literature list during a time of one year after the date when a major renewal of the literature list has been made.
 

Course evaluation will be carried out in accordance with the guidelines established by the Board of Higher Education.