A History of Public Health in Post-War Britain (FutureLearn)

A History of Public Health in Post-War Britain (FutureLearn)

Understand where public health has come from, why it looks the way it does today and where it might go next. History can offer us a unique insight into the public health problems, policies, and practices of the past, and is of critical importance to our understanding of healthcare in the contemporary world. This online course will offer you an opportunity to bring the past into conversation with the present, enabling you to set the changing nature of public health in post-war Britain in context with changes seen today.

Class Deals by MOOC List - Click here and see FutureLearn's Active Discounts, Deals, and Promo Codes.

What topics will you cover?

  • How the meaning and scope of public health has changed in Britain over the last 70 years
  • The nature of public health services and their shifting relationship to local government and the National Health Service
  • Individual responsibility for public health
  • How chronic disease became a key challenge for public health
  • The persistence of infectious disease and the appearance of new conditions like HIV/AIDS
  • Socioeconomic status and its impact on public health
  • Health education techniques, tactics and effectiveness
  • Attempts to use regulations to improve public health
  • The limits of public health, its successes and failures over time.

What will you achieve?
By the end of the course, you'll be able to...

  • Explore the different definitions of public health and describe how these developed over the post-war period
  • Identify the structures, organisations and individuals that put public health into practice
  • Reflect on the challenges faced by public health in post-war Britain
  • Evaluate the different solutions put forward to address public health problems in post-war Britain
  • Interpret contemporary public health structures, challenges and solutions alongside their historical context
Go to Class
MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

Why Do We Age? The Molecular Mechanisms of Ageing (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
University of Groningen,University Medical Center Groningen - UMCG

Why Do We Age? The Molecular Mechanisms of Ageing (FutureLearn)

Why do we age? Is there a limit to human lifespan? Can we prolong our lives? Find out with this free online course. Discover the science behind the ageing process. The “why” and “how” of ageing has puzzled mankind ever since it questioned its place in the universe.

Self Paced
5-12 Weeks
Using Infection Control to Combat Antimicrobial Resistance (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
University of East Anglia

Using Infection Control to Combat Antimicrobial Resistance (FutureLearn)

Find out how effective infection control in health and social care can tackle the global risk of antimicrobial resistance. Get practical guidance on infection control in health and social care settings. This online course will explore the growing problem of antimicrobial-resistant infections in health and social care settings. You’ll find out how infectious diseases are acquired and spread, and how this contributes to the global risk of antimicrobial resistance.

Self Paced
3 Weeks
Improving Healthcare Through Clinical Research (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
University of Leeds

Improving Healthcare Through Clinical Research (FutureLearn)

On this free online course, find out how medical treatments are discovered, tested and evaluated to improve healthcare for all. Everything we do in healthcare has to be discovered and thoroughly tested before it can be put into practice. In this course you will explore clinical research – its challenges and its huge benefits to modern healthcare.

Self Paced
4 Weeks
Digital Health for Cancer Management: Smart Health Technologies in Complex Diseases (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
Taipei Medical University

Digital Health for Cancer Management: Smart Health Technologies in Complex Diseases (FutureLearn)

Learn how new digital health technologies are transforming cancer management with this course for healthcare professionals. Recent advances in cancer treatment and management have lead to people with cancer living longer than ever before, now healthcare must begin to consider how to help people with cancer live healthily. On this course you will explore and discuss how new digital health technologies, like wearables, social media and home sensors, are starting to transform the management of cancer.

Self Paced
4 Weeks
Liver Disease: Looking After Your Liver (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
University of Birmingham

Liver Disease: Looking After Your Liver (FutureLearn)

Learn about how your liver works, ways to look after it and how liver damage is caused, studied and treated around the world. We are currently experiencing an international explosion of liver disease that continues to have enormous impact upon healthcare systems and global health. In the UK we have seen a 20% increase in deaths related to liver disease since 2000 and this pattern reflects the global situation.

Self Paced
3 Weeks
Introduction to Emergency Contraception (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
University of East Anglia

Introduction to Emergency Contraception (FutureLearn)

Understand emergency contraception and the choices available with this course for people working in healthcare and related fields. Emergency contraception can be confusing, with different types available and public understanding sometimes limited. On this course you will master the basics of emergency contraception: learning about the different types of post-coital contraception, exploring clinical guideliness; and working out which type of contraception is appropriate in different situations.

Self Paced
3 Weeks
Protecting Health Data in the Modern Age: Getting to Grips with the GDPR (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
University of Groningen

Protecting Health Data in the Modern Age: Getting to Grips with the GDPR (FutureLearn)

Learn how the GDPR helps to protect health data and get familiar with rights, obligations, risks and safeguards. Join this course to understand how health data is protected. People use technologies to track their fitness and health. Medical and health professionals use technologies to treat patients. These technologies generate a lot of health data. With technological developments in the health sector come questions of privacy.

Self Paced
2 Weeks
Understanding Insulin (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
University of Southampton

Understanding Insulin (FutureLearn)

Learn more about all things insulin: from how it works, to insulin types, to side effects and guidance on how to prescribe safely. The current spend on diabetes care by the NHS is estimated to be £1.6 million pounds per hour. 80% of this is spent on managing diabetes complications, the risk of which can be significantly reduced through effective blood glucose control using insulin.

Self Paced
4 Weeks
Perioperative Medicine in Action (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
University College London

Perioperative Medicine in Action (FutureLearn)

Explore perioperative medicine and how you can improve care for the high risk surgical patient. Join this RCoA endorsed course. Too many patients die or suffer prolonged complications following surgery. Perioperative medicine is an emerging, multi-disciplinary approach, which tackles this issue, by optimising the care of high-risk surgical patients. It encompasses disciplines including anaesthetics, surgery, nursing, care of the elderly, physiotherapy and healthcare management.

Self Paced
4 Weeks