Intervention Development, Implementation and Evaluation, 15 credits

A Bachelor's degree or a professional degree equivalent to a Swedish Bachelor's degree of at least 180 credits. And proficiency in English equivalent to English B/English 6.

After the course, the student should be able to: 

• Apply methods for intervention development to address health and health related issues with appropriate involvement of the broader society. 
• Explain the role of theorical frameworks and behavior change models in the design and evaluation of interventions.  
• Compare different trial and quasi-experimental methods for the evaluation of interventions. 
• Explain the role of economic and process evaluations in the evaluation of interventions.  
• Align mixed-methods to different evaluation questions.  
• Analyse the different types of programmatic, secondary and primary data sources that are used for evaluation, and their relative strengths, weaknesses and applications.  
• Explain the role of implementation science in evaluating interventions in global health.  
• Reflect on ethical issues related to interventional studies on individual and societal levels, such as consent, equipoise, blinding and deception. 

In this course, students will learn how to develop, implement, and evaluate interventions in global health, with a focus on involving communities and stakeholders throughout the process. Students will learn participatory methods, such as co-design and patient and public involvement, which are key to ensuring interventions are relevant and effective. The course explores how behaviour change models and theoretical frameworks can be used to guide the design of interventions. 

Students will learn different evaluation methods, including randomised trials and quasi-experimental studies, to assess the impact of interventions. Mixed methods process evaluation and economic evaluations will also be covered, helping students understand how to evaluate interventions from both a practical perspective and financial perspective. Throughout the course, students will explore the role of implementation science in studying global health interventions and are introduced to how to adapt and scale interventions in different settings.  

Ethical considerations are integrated into the course, with discussions on topics such as consent, equipoise, and blinding, ensuring students can manage ethical challenges in interventional studies. By the end of the course, students will have the skills to develop and evaluate interventions using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods, building on their learnings from previous methods courses, while addressing ethical and practical challenges in global health. 

Teaching methods include lectures, seminars using case study examples, interactive learning activities and group exercises. 

The course will be examined in an individual assignment graded as fail, pass, or pass with distinction. The course will also include compulsory parts where active participation is required. The students must fulfil all the established criteria for the compulsory elements to pass the course. 

Compulsory participation
Participation in group and individual projects with written submissions, presentations, seminars and practical exercises is compulsory.

The examiner assesses if, and in that case how, absence from compulsory educational elements can be compensated for. Before the student has participated in the compulsory educational elements or compensated the absence in accordance with the examiner's instructions, the final course results will not be reported. Absence from a compulsory educational component may imply that the student cannot compensate for the missed compulsory educational element until the next time the course is given.

Limitation of number of occasions to write the exam
Students who have not passed the regular examination are entitled to participate in five more examinations. If the student has not passed the exam after four participations, he/she is encouraged to visit the study advisor. If the student has failed six examinations/tests, no additional examination or new admission is provided. The number of times that the student has participated in one and the same examination is regarded as an examination session. Submission of a blank examination is also regarded as an examination. An examination for which the student registered but did not participate in will not be counted as an examination.

If there are special grounds, or a need for adaptation for a student with a disability, the examiner may decide to deviate from the syllabus's regulations on the examination form, the number of examination opportunities, the possibility of supplementation or exemptions from the compulsory section/s of the course etc. Content and learning outcomes as well as the level of expected skills, knowledge and abilities may not be changed, removed or reduced.

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.

The course language is English.

Course evaluation is carried out according to the guidelines that are established by the Committee for Higher Education.