Health Sciences

This course introduces and critically discusses an area of special interest to applied psychologists, namely, psychology as applied to health behavior. The course covers the central models and evidence bases concerning the relationship between psychological processes and health and illness. Topics include health promotion and public health; health behavior models; illness maintenance and treatment adherence; chronic illness; and health through the lifespan.

This course provides an interdisciplinary approach to ethical and legal issues stemming from recent advances in biomedical practices. Topics discussed include: fundamental principles of bioethics; the environment, animal welfare; birth, reproduction, and end of life; informed consent, organ transplants, and clinical trials; bioethics and gender, children, the elderly, and disability; genetic advancements and intervention.

In this course, students take a step back and explore what it means to perceive particular situations in terms of “crisis.” Students focus on emergency interventions and examine how sustainable these interventions are. The course investigates to what extent these interventions have changed the very meaning of “health.” A particular focus in our discussions is on the category of crisis itself. How is the category operating today in particular contexts? How is it mobilized and what are its effects? To what extent might the category of crisis enable or disable distinctive forms of intervention? What accounts for the productivity of crisis in contemporary debates about the health and well-being of populations, both in the global North and the global South? What are the analytical and political limits of “crisis” as a category of thought and action in contemporary global health and social medicine?  

Health economics encompasses both economic analyses of health and health care. This course provides knowledge of how economic theory and methodology can help us understand the underlying conditions and characteristics of health care. The different areas of health economics, such as the demand for health, health care, and health insurance, providers in health care, the physician-patient relationship, the organization and financing of health care, economic evaluation, and equity issues are discussed. Illustrations are frequently taken from the problems and reforms in Swedish health care. Gender-related aspects are taken into consideration. The course includes guest lectures by health economists working outside academia. Economic evaluation is a particular focus of the course.

In the past two decades, social media has drastically shaped our understanding and practice of health. This course provides an overview of theories and methods intersecting with social media and health. Following the historical development of social media, the course covers health citizen engagement (information behaviors), contents (user-generated messages), platform governance (digital surveillance and resistance), and other aspects of social media related to health and healthcare. The course materials draw on interdisciplinary perspectives from public health, communication studies, and science and technology studies. Students will learn how the use and design of social media might reinforce health inequality while critically evaluating different stakeholders’ standpoints. Students will also have a chance to analyze health campaigns and select communication strategies for different audiences and sectors. Overall, the course aims to provide students with theoretical lenses and practical tools to engage in meaningful health intervention. The course design also seeks to enhance students’ digital health literacy.   

This course provides an introduction into epidemiological and public health perspectives on mental health and wellbeing. The course focuses on theoretical and empirical accounts of how wellbeing and common mental health problems (including symptoms of anxiety and depression, weight/eating problems, conduct problems, alcohol and other drug use) are understood in an epidemiological and public health perspective. Cultural, individual differences, and lifespan approaches to mental health and wellbeing are an integrated part of the course.

This course introduces students to core knowledge about child health and development, provides descriptions of common health problems of childhood and adolescence, and evidence-based responses to them, helps students understand the health policy context, including how health care provision aims to meet the health needs of children and young people, helps students understand how our physical and social environment shapes child health, and allows students to apply their knowledge and understanding to a range of topics and contexts.

This course introduces students to global health by exploring the history of global health, the global disease burden, topical issues in health and development, and key interventions to improve health worldwide. At the same time, this course helps students understand how different disciplines - such as economics, political science, and anthropology - relate to global health.

This is an individual study project. Students must have a well thought-through idea of the theme of the study. A faculty teacher is appointed as supervisor, and an agreement is signed between the student and the teacher describing the title, contents, and ECTS credits of the study. A supervisor normally meets with the student between two and four times to discuss the progress of the individual study, or any problems encountered. Most supervisors also choose to read and comment on parts of the study. Students applying to do an individual study must submit a detailed project description with their application. Exams for Individual Study Projects may be oral, written or a combination of the two. This version of the course is worth 12 quarter units and corresponds to a workload of 412 hours. 

This course teaches the importance of strategic management in today’s health care organizations. Effective strategic thinking, planning, and managing strategic momentum are essential for health care leaders in coping with the dynamics of the industry. The course content is structured around the nature, functions, and major concepts of strategic management.