MBA C725 Managing Communications in Health Care Winter 2014 Course Outline

Transcription

1 C725 Winter of 9 COURSE OBJECTIVE MBA C725 Managing Communications in Health Care Winter 2014 Course Outline Health Policy and Management Area DeGroote School of Business McMaster University This course is designed to provide students with the knowledge and skills to understand strategic communication management and principles, theoretical perspectives and practices, and to apply them in the health care industry. The ability to communicate complex information and ideas effectively to diverse audiences is increasingly recognized as critical for successful healthcare organizations.. INSTRUCTOR AND CONTACT INFORMATION Heather Pullen, MCM, APR Instructor hjpullen@gmail.com Rebecca Edgar, MCM Instructor edgarr@mcmaster.ca Office Hours: By Appointment Office Hours: By Appointment Tel: ( x Tel: (416) Class Location: Online Class Location: Online Course Website: COURSE ELEMENTS Avenue: Yes Leadership: Yes IT skills: Yes Global view: Yes Participation: Yes Ethics: Yes Numeracy: Yes Written skills: Yes Evidence-based: Yes Innovation: Yes Group work: Yes Oral skills: No Experiential: Yes Guest speaker(s): Yes Final Exam: No

2 C725 Winter of 9 COURSE DESCRIPTION This course explores concepts, research, and theories relating to healthcare communications ranging from organizational and community perspectives, to global issues and the role of media in shaping public opinion. The use of technology and social media will be explored as will issues of transparency and confidentiality. Students will gain an understanding of the importance of best practices associated with various approaches to effective communication, including strategic communication planning. This multi-disciplinary course has been designed for students with an interest in strategic management, marketing and crisis management, health services delivery, public health, and global health. The course will be delivered in an on-line format in which students participate in weekly discussions and/or assignments that require them to analyze readings and/or case studies.. LEARNING OUTCOMES Upon completion of this course, students will be able to complete the following key tasks: Define and explain health communication Understand and apply theoretical frameworks related to health communication Understand the goals of health communication and effective strategy development to achieve these goals. Explore the concept of health literacy, from a communication perspective. Demonstrate awareness of cultural issues in the creation of health communication plans. Understand the role of new and traditional media in health communication. Describe and apply the basic principles of risk and crisis communication. Develop an understanding of communication role in ethical decision making.

3 C725 Winter of 9 REQUIRED COURSE MATERIALS AND READINGS Avenue registration for course content, readings and case materials Hicks, N.J, and Nicols, C.M. (2012). Health Industry Communication: New Media, New Methods, New Message. purchase a copy at the bookstore or order online from A digital format is also available for rent (180 days) $ FREE About $ US About $41.95 US Links posted on Course A2L site. The course A2L site contains links to websites of interest, research articles and articles in the news that are pertinent to the course, documents and other information. You should check these areas each week to see what s new. $ FREE EVALUATION Learning in this course comes from readings, reflection and analysis, participation in online class discussion, and preparation of assignments. All work will be evaluated on an individual basis except where group work is expected. In these cases group members will share the same grade, unless all group members agree to an adjustment. Your final grade will be calculated as follows: Components and Weights Participation Online Contribution 30% Mid-Term Case Exam 25% Assignment 1 Communication Plan A: Proposal 5% Assignment 2 Communication Plan B: Elements % Assignment 3 Communication Plan C: Final Plan 25% Total 100% NOTE: The use of a McMaster standard calculator is allowed during examinations in this course. See McMaster calculator policy at the following URL:

4 C725 Winter of 9 Grade Conversion At the end of the course your overall percentage grade will be converted to your letter grade in accordance with the following conversion scheme. LETTER GRADE PERCENT A A A B B B F Communication and Feedback Students that are uncomfortable in directly approaching an instructor regarding a course concern may send a confidential and anonymous to the respective Area Chair or Associate Dean: Students who wish to correspond with instructors or TAs directly via must send messages that originate from their official McMaster University account. This protects the confidentiality and sensitivity of information as well as confirms the identity of the student. s regarding course issues should NOT be sent to the Administrative Assistant. Instructors are encouraged to conduct an informal course review with students by Week #4 to allow time for modifications in curriculum delivery. Instructors should provide evaluation feedback for at least 10% of the final grade to students prior to Week #8 in the term. Participation: Online Contribution (30%) Tasks will be posted online for each of the weeks in which tasks are required to be completed. These tasks may range from reading course materials and participating in an online discussion to posting answers to specific questions. Students are expected to post at least one response to the weekly question(s). In addition, you are expected to participate in the overall on- line discussion by commenting on other students posts (at least 1-2 times per week). Students will have access to view the weekly questions/tasks as of 8:00 pm on Sunday. Students will have access to discussion boards/be able to post a response from 8:00 pm each Wednesday night until 8:00pm on Sunday. The main student posting should be made by 10:00 pm on Friday but you may continue to comment on other postings until 8:00pm on Sunday.

5 C725 Winter of 9 Please note that the evaluation of your online participation will be based on the quality of your overall contribution. Postings should be concise, reflective and respectful. Students are expected to share ideas and experiences related to the topics presented during online discussions. Make sure you are adding value and not simply repeating what others have already said. At the discretion of individual instructors, students may also be assigned one week during which they will be responsible for facilitating discussion (getting things started early in the discussion period and intervening when necessary) and/or for summarizing the main discussion points at the end of the week (keeping the summary brief and posting it prior to the closing of the discussion time window). The course instructor(s) and/or TAs will limit their participation so as not to overly influence the direction of the discussion. To further facilitate discussion, students in each course section may be further divided into groups. If groups are formed, information about which group a student has been assigned to will be posted on the A2L course site. You will only have access to your assigned discussion group. There is also a General Discussion area on the course A2L site where students may interact with each other. Instructor(s) will not be monitoring this area routinely so if you have an important question, please phone or the instructor(s) directly using McMaster (do not from the A2L site). Mid-Term Exam (25%) There is one take home case examination in this course that accounts for 25% of your grade. You will be responsible for reading, analyzing and typing up answers to a case. Each solution must be completed individually. The case will be posted on Avenue Sunday, February 10 th at 8:00 pm. There will be no discussion questions that week. Students will have one week to complete their case answers. Students are expected to submit their mid-term on Avenue by Sunday February 17 th at 8:00 pm. Assignments: (Total of 45%) These three Assignments are integrated to result in the development and submission of a final Communication Plan. Instructors will provide a detailed description of the requirements of each Assignment for each Module. Individual assignments should be submitted using the appropriate Drop Box on the course A2L site by midnight (EST) of the due date. Assignments are to be submitted as Word documents. Assignment 1: Communication Plan Proposal (5%). Due date: Monday February 3, 2014 Assignment 2: Elements 1-5 (15%). Monday March 3, 2014 Assignment 3: Final Communication Plan (25%). Monday April 7, 2014

6 C725 Winter of 9 ACADEMIC DISHONESTY It is the student s responsibility to understand what constitutes academic dishonesty. Please refer to the University Senate Academic Integrity Policy at the following URL: This policy describes the responsibilities, procedures, and guidelines for students and faculty should a case of academic dishonesty arise. Academic dishonesty is defined as to knowingly act or fail to act in a way that results or could result in unearned academic credit or advantage. Please refer to the policy for a list of examples. The policy also provides faculty with procedures to follow in cases of academic dishonesty as well as general guidelines for penalties. For further information related to the policy, please refer to the Office of Academic Integrity at: MISSED ACADEMIC WORK Missed Mid-Term Examinations / Tests / Class Participation Where students miss a regularly scheduled mid-term or class participation for legitimate reasons as determined by the MBA Academic Services Office, the weight for that test/participation will be distributed across other evaluative components of the course at the discretion of the instructor. Documentation explaining such an absence must be provided to the MBA Academic Services Office within five (5) working days upon returning to school. To document absences for health related reasons, please provide the Petition for Relief for MBA Missed Term Work and the McMaster University Student Health Certificate which can be found on the DeGroote website at Please do not use the online McMaster Student Absence Form as this is for Undergraduate students only. University policy states that a student may submit a maximum of three (3) medical certificates per year after which the student must meet with the Director of the program. To document absences for reasons other than health related, please provide the Petition for Relief for MBA Missed Term Work and documentation supporting the reason for the absence. Students unable to write a mid-term at the posted exam time due to the following reasons: religious; work-related (for part-time students only); representing university at an academic or varsity athletic event; conflicts between two overlapping scheduled mid-term exams; or other extenuating circumstances, have the option of applying for special exam arrangements. Such requests must be made to the MBA Academic Services Office at least ten (10) working days before the scheduled exam along with acceptable documentation. Instructors cannot themselves allow students to unofficially write make-up exams/tests. Adjudication of the request must be handled by the MBA Academic Services Office. If a mid-term exam is missed without a valid reason, students will receive a grade of zero (0) for that component.

7 C725 Winter of 9 STUDENT ACCESSIBILITY SERVICES Student Accessibility Services (SAS) offers various support services for students with disabilities. Students are required to inform SAS of accommodation needs for course work at the outset of term. Students must forward a copy of such SAS accommodation to the instructor normally, within the first three (3) weeks of classes by setting up an appointment with the instructor. If a student with a disability chooses NOT to take advantage of an SAS accommodation and chooses to sit for a regular exam, a petition for relief may not be filed after the examination is complete. The SAS website is: POTENTIAL MODIFICATIONS TO THE COURSE The instructor and university reserve the right to modify elements of the course during the term. The university may change the dates and deadlines for any or all courses in extreme circumstances. If either type of modification becomes necessary, reasonable notice and communication with the students will be given with explanation and the opportunity to comment on changes. It is the responsibility of the student to check their McMaster and course websites weekly during the term and to note any changes. COURSE SCHEDULE C725 Managing Communications in Health Care Winter 2013 Course Schedule NOTE: The schedule may change during the term A schedule providing detailed descriptions of course will be provided to students on the A2L site. Course content is organized into the following learning modules: WEEK DATE ASSIGNMENT 1 Mon. Jan 6 Module 1: Introduction to Health Communication Overview of Health Communication

8 C725 Winter of 9 2 Mon. Jan 13 Communication Theory 3 Mon. Jan 20 Strategic Communication Planning 4 Mon. Jan 27 Module 2: Organizational, Social & Cultural Contexts Communication within Healthcare Organizations 5 Mon. Feb 3 Health Literacy Assignment 1 Due 6 Mon Feb 10 Culture and Diversity (no discussion questions this week) Mid-Term posted Sunday February 9 th at 8:00 pm Mid-Term due Sunday February 16 th at 8:00 pm 7 Mon. Feb 17 Mid-Term Break 8 Mon. Feb 24 Module 3: Media and Healthcare Organizations Traditional Media 9 Mon. Mar 3 New Media, New Technologies Assignment 2 Due

9 C725 Winter of 9 10 Mon. Mar 10 Role of Advertising and Marketing in Health Care 11 Mon. Mar.17 Module 4: Issues and Crisis Global and Large-scale Threats 12 Mon. Mar 24 Community Issues/Citizen Engagement 13 Mon. March 31 Role of Communications in Ethical Decision Making 14 Mon. Apr. 8 Wrap-Up Assignment 3 Due