PUN620 Concepts of Environmental Health
To view more information for this unit, select Unit Outline from the list below. Please note the teaching period for which the Unit Outline is relevant.
| Unit code: | PUN620 |
|---|---|
| Credit points: | 12 |
| Timetable | Details in HiQ, if available |
| Availabilities |
|
| CSP student contribution | $1,118 |
| Domestic tuition unit fee | $2,976 |
| International unit fee | $4,236 |
Unit Outline: Semester 1 2024, Kelvin Grove, Internal
| Unit code: | PUN620 |
|---|---|
| Credit points: | 12 |
| Coordinator: | Javier Cortes Ramirez | javier.cortesramirez@qut.edu.au |
Overview
There is increasing evidence that the integrity of the environments in which we live are under substantial pressure, particularly from the way we live. The end result of such pressure is that the basic and fundamental prerequisites for human health are threatened. The science of environmental health has always been concerned with the study of the human–environment interface, and now, even more than ever, practitioners are needed who understand not only this link, but also the strategies available to control and minimise risks associated with environmental health challenges, especially in our rapidly warming world.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:
- Apply advanced knowledge and critically analyse contemporary environmental health challenges and solutions;
- Apply assessment and management strategies for environmental health hazards and developments with potential environmental health impacts;
- Apply the principles of sustainable development to environmental health issues;
- Critically analyse the need for leadership and interdisciplinary approaches to addressing the current environmental health issues faced by society;
- Communicate technical information and collaborate with peers to develop teamwork skills.
Content
Topics examined in this unit include: definitions and scope of environmental, ecological and planetary health, health impact assessment, risk assessment, ecosystems, sustainability in relation to health, climate change, air pollution, water and sanitation, waste and contaminated land, communicable diseases and food safety, physical agents, Indigenous environmental health, the built environment, disasters and mass gathering management and global and emerging environmental health issues.
Learning Approaches
To maximise your engagement with the learning materials in this unit, a combination of face to face (for internal students) lectures and live online sessions will be used. On-campus lectures and online sessions will be recorded to enable flexibility in the location, time and mode of study, with respect to work and life commitments. This Unit is available in both online and internal modes and all taught sessions are recorded for asynchronous access.
You are expected to undertake self-directed learning and should pace their studies in line with the schedule provided on the online platform. Links to a range of readings/resources that expand on the material in the study modules will be provided.
Active participation and discussion in the taught sessions is strongly encouraged to allow for the exchange of ideas between peers and staff and to expand upon the theory and knowledge undertaken within the study modules.
You have access to various resources, including the Student Success Group and Library. Class and individual consultations with the unit coordinator and formative and summative feedback during the course and on the assessments are offered to support learning.
The unit embeds opportunities to demonstrate and improve industry relevant digital capabilities, including locating relevant literature and navigating data bases; sourcing, collating and critically analysing scholarly research related to EH; communicating with peers, colleagues, community members and senior managers through digital platforms; negotiating with internal systems to access, upload and download materials, etc.
You will be expected to attend a one-day on-campus workshop designed to support your development of practical skills and knowledge regarding disaster management and mass gatherings by analysing and working through scenarios.
The unit hosts guest lecturers from academia and government that promote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives and diverse perspectives regarding a range of public health topics.
Feedback on Learning and Assessment
The application of feedback on each assessment item is intended to support improved performance in subsequent assessment.
Assessment
Overview
Your assessment items are designed to measure your attainment of the learning outcomes stated above. The assessment items are designed to encourage group learning and enable you to apply concepts and principles to real world settings.
This unit may use text matching software that assists students to develop the academic skills required to correctly use and cite reference material as well as to check citations to determine and avoid possible instances of plagiarism.
Unit Grading Scheme
7- point scale
Assessment Tasks
Assessment: Environmental Health Case Study - Report & Presentation
This is a complex assessment of a real-world scenario that has been designed in consultation with Industry professionals. The report will require students to analyse the environmental health aspects (risk factors and determinants, potential impacts) of a real-world case study. This is similar to what would be required in an Environmental Health officer professional setting. The group work is designed to have a multidisciplinary approach to identify the main environmental health issues of the case study and should be submitted as a presentation. The individual work is designed to provide a critical analysis of the environmental health principles, management strategies, and regulatory framework applied to the case study (to be submitted as a report).
This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.
Assessment: Final exam
Your knowledge of the principles of environmental health and sustainable development, the management strategies for environmental health hazards and the roles of various agencies involved in managing environmental health issues will be examined in a written theory examination.
Academic Integrity
Students are expected to engage in learning and assessment at QUT with honesty, transparency and fairness. Maintaining academic integrity means upholding these principles and demonstrating valuable professional capabilities based on ethical foundations.
Failure to maintain academic integrity can take many forms. It includes cheating in examinations, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, and submitting an assessment item completed by another person (e.g. contract cheating). It can also include providing your assessment to another entity, such as to a person or website.
You are encouraged to make use of QUT’s learning support services, resources and tools to assure the academic integrity of your assessment. This includes the use of text matching software that may be available to assist with self-assessing your academic integrity as part of the assessment submission process.
Further details of QUT’s approach to academic integrity are outlined in the Academic integrity policy and the Student Code of Conduct. Breaching QUT’s Academic integrity policy is regarded as student misconduct and can lead to the imposition of penalties ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.
Resources
Resource Materials
Prescribed text(s)
Friis, R. (2019). Essentials of Environmental Health, 3rd edn, Jones and Bartlett Publishers, Inc: Sudbury, United States.
Other
You will be required to access relevant information online. Therefore internet access is essential.
Risk Assessment Statement
There are no out of the ordinary risks in this unit except for those associated with substantial computer-based work. You should ensure that you take regular rest breaks when engaging in prolonged computer-based work. Student should adopt principles of good work station set up to assure good posture.
Course Learning Outcomes
This unit is designed to support your development of the following course/study area learning outcomes.PU67 Graduate Diploma in Environmental Health
- Apply advanced knowledge of environmental health science, public health principles and policies, recent developments in global political and economic events to the management of the health of the environment.
Relates to: Environmental Health Case Study - Report & Presentation, Final exam - Apply independent critical and creative thinking, problem solving, reflective decision-making and technical skills to evaluate and generate solutions to complex problems in the field.
Relates to: Environmental Health Case Study - Report & Presentation, Final exam - Interpret and enact culturally safe communication styles and strategies to inform diverse audiences about complex knowledge and ideas.
Relates to: Environmental Health Case Study - Report & Presentation, Final exam - Work independently and within teams with integrity, ethically, objectivity and impartiality in the planning and management of research and other projects and in dissemination of knowledge
Relates to: Final exam
PU80 Master of Health, Safety and Environment
- Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of an advanced body of theoretical and practical knowledge and emerging challenges within the fields of occupational and environmental health/management
Relates to: Environmental Health Case Study - Report & Presentation, Final exam - Demonstrate advanced skills and abilities to describe, appraise and apply the major tools and systems of OHS and EH practice and research to identify and manage complex problems
Relates to: Environmental Health Case Study - Report & Presentation, Final exam - Integrate and synthesise complex knowledge and apply critical and reflective thinking to advance the discipline’s body of research.
Relates to: Environmental Health Case Study - Report & Presentation, Final exam - Work independently and in teams to interpret and communicate complex scientific, legal and psychosocial data and present it in a format that is easy to understand
Relates to: Environmental Health Case Study - Report & Presentation - Enact and apply ethical, culturally safe, socially inclusive principles with self, people, and organisations in diverse contexts.
Relates to: Environmental Health Case Study - Report & Presentation
PU86 Master of Public Health
- Apply advanced knowledge of public health principles to complex, current public health issues in diverse local and international contexts
Relates to: Environmental Health Case Study - Report & Presentation, Final exam - Critically analyse, synthesise and apply the specialised knowledge,theories and frameworks of public health practice
Relates to: Environmental Health Case Study - Report & Presentation, Final exam - Engage professionally to advance efficient and equitable gains in population health through leadership and culturally-safe, evidence-based practice.
Relates to: Environmental Health Case Study - Report & Presentation
Unit Outline: Semester 1 2024, Online
| Unit code: | PUN620 |
|---|---|
| Credit points: | 12 |
Overview
There is increasing evidence that the integrity of the environments in which we live are under substantial pressure, particularly from the way we live. The end result of such pressure is that the basic and fundamental prerequisites for human health are threatened. The science of environmental health has always been concerned with the study of the human–environment interface, and now, even more than ever, practitioners are needed who understand not only this link, but also the strategies available to control and minimise risks associated with environmental health challenges, especially in our rapidly warming world.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:
- Apply advanced knowledge and critically analyse contemporary environmental health challenges and solutions;
- Apply assessment and management strategies for environmental health hazards and developments with potential environmental health impacts;
- Apply the principles of sustainable development to environmental health issues;
- Critically analyse the need for leadership and interdisciplinary approaches to addressing the current environmental health issues faced by society;
- Communicate technical information and collaborate with peers to develop teamwork skills.
Content
Topics examined in this unit include: definitions and scope of environmental, ecological and planetary health, health impact assessment, risk assessment, ecosystems, sustainability in relation to health, climate change, air pollution, water and sanitation, waste and contaminated land, communicable diseases and food safety, physical agents, Indigenous environmental health, the built environment, disasters and mass gathering management and global and emerging environmental health issues.
Learning Approaches
To maximise your engagement with the learning materials in this unit, a combination of face to face (for internal students) lectures and live online sessions will be used. On-campus lectures and online sessions will be recorded to enable flexibility in the location, time and mode of study, with respect to work and life commitments. This Unit is available in both online and internal modes and all taught sessions are recorded for asynchronous access.
You are expected to undertake self-directed learning and should pace their studies in line with the schedule provided on the online platform. Links to a range of readings/resources that expand on the material in the study modules will be provided.
Active participation and discussion in the taught sessions is strongly encouraged to allow for the exchange of ideas between peers and staff and to expand upon the theory and knowledge undertaken within the study modules.
You have access to various resources, including the Student Success Group and Library. Class and individual consultations with the unit coordinator and formative and summative feedback during the course and on the assessments are offered to support learning.
The unit embeds opportunities to demonstrate and improve industry relevant digital capabilities, including locating relevant literature and navigating data bases; sourcing, collating and critically analysing scholarly research related to EH; communicating with peers, colleagues, community members and senior managers through digital platforms; negotiating with internal systems to access, upload and download materials, etc.
You will be expected to attend a one-day on-campus workshop designed to support your development of practical skills and knowledge regarding disaster management and mass gatherings by analysing and working through scenarios.
The unit hosts guest lecturers from academia and government that promote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives and diverse perspectives regarding a range of public health topics.
Feedback on Learning and Assessment
The application of feedback on each assessment item is intended to support improved performance in subsequent assessment.
Assessment
Overview
Your assessment items are designed to measure your attainment of the learning outcomes stated above. The assessment items are designed to encourage group learning and enable you to apply concepts and principles to real world settings.
This unit may use text matching software that assists students to develop the academic skills required to correctly use and cite reference material as well as to check citations to determine and avoid possible instances of plagiarism.
Unit Grading Scheme
7- point scale
Assessment Tasks
Assessment: Environmental Health Case Study - Report & Presentation
This is a complex assessment of a real-world scenario that has been designed in consultation with Industry professionals. The report will require students to analyse the environmental health aspects (risk factors and determinants, potential impacts) of a real-world case study. This is similar to what would be required in an Environmental Health officer professional setting. The group work is designed to have a multidisciplinary approach to identify the main environmental health issues of the case study and should be submitted as a presentation. The individual work is designed to provide a critical analysis of the environmental health principles, management strategies, and regulatory framework applied to the case study (to be submitted as a report).
This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.
Assessment: Final exam
Your knowledge of the principles of environmental health and sustainable development, the management strategies for environmental health hazards and the roles of various agencies involved in managing environmental health issues will be examined in a written theory examination.
Academic Integrity
Students are expected to engage in learning and assessment at QUT with honesty, transparency and fairness. Maintaining academic integrity means upholding these principles and demonstrating valuable professional capabilities based on ethical foundations.
Failure to maintain academic integrity can take many forms. It includes cheating in examinations, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, and submitting an assessment item completed by another person (e.g. contract cheating). It can also include providing your assessment to another entity, such as to a person or website.
You are encouraged to make use of QUT’s learning support services, resources and tools to assure the academic integrity of your assessment. This includes the use of text matching software that may be available to assist with self-assessing your academic integrity as part of the assessment submission process.
Further details of QUT’s approach to academic integrity are outlined in the Academic integrity policy and the Student Code of Conduct. Breaching QUT’s Academic integrity policy is regarded as student misconduct and can lead to the imposition of penalties ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.
Resources
Resource Materials
Prescribed text(s)
Friis, R. (2019). Essentials of Environmental Health, 3rd edn, Jones and Bartlett Publishers, Inc: Sudbury, United States.
Other
You will be required to access relevant information online. Therefore internet access is essential.
Risk Assessment Statement
There are no out of the ordinary risks in this unit except for those associated with substantial computer-based work. You should ensure that you take regular rest breaks when engaging in prolonged computer-based work. Student should adopt principles of good work station set up to assure good posture.
Course Learning Outcomes
This unit is designed to support your development of the following course/study area learning outcomes.PU67 Graduate Diploma in Environmental Health
- Apply advanced knowledge of environmental health science, public health principles and policies, recent developments in global political and economic events to the management of the health of the environment.
Relates to: Environmental Health Case Study - Report & Presentation, Final exam - Apply independent critical and creative thinking, problem solving, reflective decision-making and technical skills to evaluate and generate solutions to complex problems in the field.
Relates to: Environmental Health Case Study - Report & Presentation, Final exam - Interpret and enact culturally safe communication styles and strategies to inform diverse audiences about complex knowledge and ideas.
Relates to: Environmental Health Case Study - Report & Presentation, Final exam - Work independently and within teams with integrity, ethically, objectivity and impartiality in the planning and management of research and other projects and in dissemination of knowledge
Relates to: Final exam
PU80 Master of Health, Safety and Environment
- Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of an advanced body of theoretical and practical knowledge and emerging challenges within the fields of occupational and environmental health/management
Relates to: Environmental Health Case Study - Report & Presentation, Final exam - Demonstrate advanced skills and abilities to describe, appraise and apply the major tools and systems of OHS and EH practice and research to identify and manage complex problems
Relates to: Environmental Health Case Study - Report & Presentation, Final exam - Integrate and synthesise complex knowledge and apply critical and reflective thinking to advance the discipline’s body of research.
Relates to: Environmental Health Case Study - Report & Presentation, Final exam - Work independently and in teams to interpret and communicate complex scientific, legal and psychosocial data and present it in a format that is easy to understand
Relates to: Environmental Health Case Study - Report & Presentation - Enact and apply ethical, culturally safe, socially inclusive principles with self, people, and organisations in diverse contexts.
Relates to: Environmental Health Case Study - Report & Presentation
PU86 Master of Public Health
- Apply advanced knowledge of public health principles to complex, current public health issues in diverse local and international contexts
Relates to: Environmental Health Case Study - Report & Presentation, Final exam - Critically analyse, synthesise and apply the specialised knowledge,theories and frameworks of public health practice
Relates to: Environmental Health Case Study - Report & Presentation, Final exam - Engage professionally to advance efficient and equitable gains in population health through leadership and culturally-safe, evidence-based practice.
Relates to: Environmental Health Case Study - Report & Presentation