HCR6001D

Global Health and Sustainability

Briefing Paper

Date for Submission: Please refer to the timetable on ilearn

(The submission portal on ilearn will close at 14:00 UK time on the

date of submission)

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Assignment Brief

As part of the formal assessment for the programme you are required to submit a
Global Health and Sustainability briefing paper. Please refer to your Student
Handbook for full details of the programme assessment scheme and general
information on preparing and submitting assignments.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Appraise the theoretical concepts and ideologies which inform Health Care and
their translation into policy and practice.

2. Identify key elements in Health Care policy and evaluate their application in
practice and the constraints on implementation.

3. Deconstruct the social, political, economic and environmental contexts of

disease.

4. Present a coherent and informed case for a Healthcare intervention.

Graduate attributes

Responsible Global Citizenship:

Understand global issues and their place in a globalised economy, ethical decision-
making and accountability. Adopt self-awareness, openness and sensitivity to diversity
in culture.

Maximum word count: 4000 words

Please note that exceeding the word count by over 10% will result in a reduction in
grade by the same percentage that the word count is exceeded.

You must not include your name in your submission because Arden University
operates anonymous marking, which means that markers should not be aware of the
identity of the student. However, please do not forget to include your STU number.

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Assignment Task - Briefing Paper

This paper is worth 100% of the total marks on offer

Write a Briefing paper to a local or national government critically appraising relevant

theories, concepts and ideologies underpinning healthcare practice in a chosen country’s
setting. The topic selected for the Briefing paper must also include a critical discussion
of key concepts such as ‘Global health’, ‘Sustainability’ and ‘Resilience’.

Note: Your BN’s focus and objective(s) must be clearly stated from the onset and concepts
such as Global health, Sustainability and Resilience must be critically appraised in
your discussion.

Why a Briefing paper?

Decision-makers have limited resources and time constraints. They have to make hard
choices about many different topics every day, and they do not have time to research each
one in-depth. A briefing paper helps bring a single issue to someone's attention and fills in
key details they need to know.

It then proposes solutions and recommends improvements. Knowing how to write a briefing
paper is a useful skill for students, therefore. A persuasive briefing paper is concise, research-
based, and evidence-informed, well-organised and covers the most important theories,
models, technical issues supported by relevant data, trends and potential solutions.

The most important point to remember about the structure of briefing notes is that they have
three main parts; that is:

• The purpose (usually stated as the issue, topic or purpose).

• A summary of the facts (what this section contains and the headings used will be
determined by the purpose of the briefing note).

• The conclusion (this may be a conclusion, a recommendation or other advice, or

both).

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These three main parts are presented under some or all of the following section
headings. Remember, any Briefing Note you write will only have the sections that are
relevant to your purpose and audience.

• Issue (also Topic, Purpose): A concise statement of the issue, proposal or problem.
This section should explain in one or two lines why the briefing paper matters to the
reader. It sets out in the form of a question or a statement what the rest of the note is
about.

• Background: The details the reader needs in order to understand what follows (how
a situation arose, previous decisions/problems, actions leading up to the current
situation). Typically, this section gives a brief summary of the history of the topic and
other background information. What led up to this problem or issue? How has it
evolved? etc.

• Current Status: Describes only the current situation, who is involved? What is
happening now? The current state of the matter, issue, situation, etc.

• Key Considerations: A summary of important trends, data, facts, considerations,

developments - everything that needs to be considered now. While you will have to
decide what to include and what to leave out, this section should be as unbiased as
possible. Your aim is to present all the details required for the reader to be informed
or to make an informed decision. Keep the reader's needs uppermost in your mind
when selecting and presenting the facts. Remember to substantiate any statements
with evidence and to double check your facts. Additional details may be attached as
appendices.

• Options (also Next Steps, Comments): Basically, observations about the key
considerations and what they mean; a concise description either of the options and
sometimes their pros and cons or of what will happen next.

• Conclusion and/or Recommendations: Conclusions summarise what you want your

reader to infer from the Briefing Note. Many readers jump immediately to this section,
so be sure it covers the points you most want your reader to be clear about. Do not
introduce anything new in the Conclusion. If you are including a recommendations
section, it should offer the best and most sound advice you can offer. Make sure the
recommendation is clear, direct and substantiated by the facts you have put forward.

(100 marks)
(4000 words)
(LOs 1-4 & Graduate Attribute)

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Useful resources for understanding and designing briefing papers:

From Canada
Association of Local Public Health Agencies, 2017. Healthy Food for Low income Ontarians.
Available at: http://www.wellesleyinstitute.com/wp-
content/uploads/2011/11/CNFB_2009_Information_Package.pdf [Accessed 04.10.19].

From NHS Cumbria

Healthcare for the Future, 2017. Briefing notes. Available at:
http://www.wnecumbria.nhs.uk/briefing-notes/ [Accessed 17.03.19].

Additional resource on structuring Briefing notes:

Pennsylvania State University, 2015. Classic Format for Briefing Notes. Available at:
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.694.6634&rep=rep1&type=pdf
[Accessed 11.01.2020].

Note: these are only examples and should not be used for student’s own work

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Formative Feedback

You have the opportunity to submit a draft assignment to receive formative feedback.
The feedback is designed to help you develop areas of your work and it helps you develop your
skills as an independent learner.

If you are a distance learning student, you should submit your work, by email, to your tutor, no
later than 2 weeks before the actual submission deadline. If you are a blended learning student,
your tutor will give you a deadline for formative feedback and further details.

Formative feedback will not be given to work submitted after the above date or the date specified
by your tutor - if a blended learning student.

Student Guidelines

Development of academic skills:

You MUST underpin your analysis and evaluation of the key issues with appropriate and
wide-ranging academic research and ensure this is referenced using the AU Harvard
system. The My Study Skills Area contains the following useful resources:

Guide to Harvard Referencing

http://moodle.bl.rdi.co.uk/guides/HarvardRef/AU_Harvard_Quick_Ref_Guide.pdf

Guide to Harvard Citation

http://moodle.bl.rdi.co.uk/guides/HarvardRef/AU_Guide_to_Harvard_Citation.pdf

You must use the AU Harvard Referencing method in your assignment.

Additional notes:

Students are required to indicate the exact word count on the title page of the assessment.

The word count excludes the title page, tables, figures, diagrams, footnotes, reference
list and appendices. Where assessment questions have been reprinted from the
assessment brief these will also be excluded from the word count. ALL other printed
words ARE included in the word count. See ‘Word Count Policy’ on the homepage of this
module for more information.

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Submission Guidance

Assignments submitted late will not be accepted and will be marked as a 0% fail.

Your assessment should be submitted as a single Word (MS Word) or PDF file. For more
information please see the “Guide to Submitting an Assignment” document available on the
module page on iLearn.

You must ensure that the submitted assignment is all your own work and that all sources
used are correctly attributed. Penalties apply to assignments which show evidence of
academic unfair practice. (See the Student Handbook which is on the homepage of your
module and also in the Induction Area)

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 Assessment Criteria (Learning objectives covered - all)
Level 6 study represents the student’s increasing autonomy and independence in relation to their knowledge, understanding and skills. At Level 6, students are expected to
demonstrate problem solving skills in both practical and theoretical contexts. This should be supported by an understanding of appropriate theory, creativity in expression and
thought based on independent but informed judgments. Students should demonstrate the ability to seek out, invoke, analyse and evaluate competing theories and claims to
knowledge and work in a critically constructive manner. Work at this level is articulate, coherent and skilled.
Mark Generic Assessment Criteria
Grade
Bands
First 80%+ An exceptional knowledge base exploring and analysing the discipline, its theory and any associated ethical considerations. The work demonstrates extraordinary
(1) independence of thought and originality. There is exceptional management of learning resources and a high degree of autonomy is demonstrated which goes above and
beyond the brief. The work demonstrates intellectual originality and creativity. Writing is exceptionally well structured and accurately referenced throughout. Where
appropriate, outstanding professional skills are demonstrated. The work is original and with some additional effort could be considered for internal publication.
70- An excellent information base within which the discipline is explored and analysed. There is considerable originality in the approach and the work demonstrates confidence
79% and autonomy and extends to consider ethical issues. Learning resources have been managed with exceptional confidence and the work exceeds the assessment brief.
Writing is exceptionally well structured and accurately referenced throughout. Where appropriate, an excellent level of professional skills are demonstrated and the work
demonstrates a high level of intellectual and academic skills.
Upper 60- A very good knowledge base which explores and analyses the discipline, its theory and any associated ethical issues. There is evidence of some originality and
second 69% independence of thought. A very good range of learning resources underpin the work and there is clear evidence of self-directed research. The work demonstrates the
(2:1) ability to analyse the subject and apply theory with good academic and intellectual skills. Academic writing skills are good, expression is accurate overall and the work is
consistently referenced throughout.
Lower 50- A satisfactory understanding of the discipline which supports some analysis, evaluation and problem-solving within the discipline. There may be reference to some of the
second 59% ethical considerations. The work shows a sound level of competence in managing basic sources and materials. Academic writing skills are good and accurate overall and
(2:2) the work is planned and structured with some thought. Professional skills are satisfactory (where appropriate). The work may lack originality but academic and intellectual
skills are moving into the critical domain. The work is referenced throughout.
Third 40- Basic level of performance in which there are some omissions in the understanding of the subject, its underpinning theory and ethical considerations. There is little
(3) 49% evidence of independent thought and the work shows a basic use of sources and materials. Academic and intellectual skills are limited. The work may lack structure
overall. There are some difficulties in developing professional skills (where appropriate). There is an attempt to reference the work.
Marginal 30- A limited piece of work in which there are clear gaps in understanding the subject, its underpinning theory and ethical considerations. The work shows a limited use of
Fail 39% sources and materials. Academic and intellectual skills are weak and there are errors in expression and the work may lack structure overall. There are difficulties in
developing professional skills (where appropriate). The work lacks original thought and is largely imitative.
29% A poor performance in which there are substantial gaps in knowledge and understanding, underpinning theory and ethical considerations. The work shows little evidence in
and the use of appropriate sources and materials. Academic writing skills are very weak and there are numerous errors in expression. The work lacks structure overall.
below Professional skills (where appropriate) are not developed. The work is imitative.

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