Columbia University School of Social Work
 
T6910 Health, Mental Health, and Disabilities: Issues, Policies, Research, and Programs

Overview and Rationale

The overall goal of this course is to provide social work students with knowledge about the policies, programs, and service delivery systems relevant to the U.S. healthcare field and to its client systems. The course also aims to facilitate understanding of the ever-changing organizational structure of today’s healthcare field and of the roles of social workers in healthcare settings. This will help social work students understand the connection between practice and policy.

Attention will be given to the social policies that authorize, support, and sanction U.S. health services and institutional delivery systems that sponsor and provide these services. Throughout the course, an emphasis will be placed on understanding differential patterns of healthcare delivery and utilization based on demographic characteristics. In addition the course will evaluate issues of accessibility, acceptability, accountability, research, ethics, and multidisciplinary care.

Learning Outcomes

In this course, students will learn to . . .

  1. Analyze the relationship between social policy and a broad range of organizational structures and stakeholders (federal, state, and local) as they affect the planning and implementation of health and social work services.
  2. Identify major current health policy issues.
  3. Identify social, economic, and political and related determinants of health.
  4. Identify factors such as ethnicity, race, gender, socio-cultural variables, economic, and geographic characteristics that affect health service delivery and/or utilization, and apply this knowledge to developing policies and programs.
  5. Identify and assess different conceptual frameworks and models for the improvement of health, mental health, and disability policies and programs.
  6. Analyze health, mental health, and disability policies and programs.
  7. Articulate the underpinnings of how policy is made, how program innovation takes place, and the role of advocacy in shaping policies and programs.
  8. Use research findings to inform the development of evidence-based policies and programs in health, mental health, and disability.

Council on Social Work Education Core Competencies

This course contributes toward mastery of the following core areas of social work competency identified by the Council on Social Work Education.

Social workers . . .

  • Apply critical thinking to inform and communicate professional judgments.
  • Engage diversity and difference in practice.
  • Advance human rights and social and economic justice.
  • Engage in research-informed practice and practice-informed research.
  • Apply knowledge of human behavior and the social environment.
  • Engage in policy practice to advance social and economic well-being, and to deliver effective social work services.
  • Respond to contexts that shape practice.
  • Assess individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.
  • Intervene with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.
  • Evaluate individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.

Core Content Themes

  • Structure of the Health System
  • Contemporary Health Policies
  • Public and Private Health Finance (e.g. Medicare, Medicaid, employer-based insurance)
  • Mental Health Policy
  • Developmental Needs and Health Care Structure
  • Methods of Health Policy Development
  • Use of Data in Policy Development
  • Health Disparities
  • Values and Ethics in Health Practice and Policy