Social Policy and Public Health

Overview

Study Social Policy Related To Public Health And Wellbeing

Do you ever wonder how societal changes and individual lifestyles affect health? Or how social policies related to (for example) sustainability, work, and care influence people’s wellbeing? Maybe you’ve considered how public health is changing as a result of increasing cultural diversity and social inequality. Or thought about possible ways to improve public health. Perhaps you’ve read about unexpected effects of existing social policies on people’s lives and wellbeing.

If you are interested in studying such issues, the Social Policy and Public Health  programme offered by  Utrecht University  is for you. You will develop knowledge about interdisciplinary theoretical perspectives on social policy and interventions, which will help you gain in-depth insight into the methodology and skills needed to research social policy and intervention issues in the domain of health and wellbeing, in particular related to work, care and participation. More specifically, you will look into problems such as:

• Combining work and care

• (Youth) unemployment

• Social and cultural diversity

• Social inequality and exclusion

• Social care and participation

You will also study people's strategies for dealing with social risks, including:

• Labour market mobility
• Social entrepreneurship
• Innovative care networks
• Multicultural collaborative efforts
• Cultural diversity and integration
• Neighborhood initiatives

This will be done by combining knowledge from the behavioural and social sciences.

Research-led teaching

The academic staff in our faculty participate in a wide variety of research projects into the problems that are central to this Master's programme, including themes as diverse as:

• Social justice and social wellbeing

• Capabilities for combining work and care

• Youth and parenting in risk societies

• Social innovation in social care

• Social influence in health behaviours

• Social diversity, health and wellbeing

• Interethnic relations, cultural diversity and integration

• Health communication and health promotion

Careers

Various social scientific positions are open to you as a graduate of our Master's programme. About 10% of our graduates pursue a career in academic research, and almost 90% opt for a career elsewhere.

Positions

• Policymaker at the municipal, provincial or national level

• Researcher (e.g., evaluation researcher, applied researcher)

• Quality assurance expert

• Consultant

Where will you work?

• Governmental authority (national, provincial or municipal)

• Companies

• Social welfare institutions, NGOs

• Private or not-for-profit organisations in the social sector

• Care organisations

• Institutes for research, knowledge development, or the application and implementation of scientific knowledge of issues with regard to labour, care, and participation