PUB209 Health, Culture and Society
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: | PUB209 |
|---|---|
| Equivalent(s): | NSB017 |
| Credit points: | 12 |
| Timetable | Details in HiQ, if available |
| Availabilities |
|
| CSP student contribution | $1,118 |
| Domestic tuition unit fee | $4,104 |
| International unit fee | $4,488 |
Unit Outline: Semester 2 2024, Kelvin Grove, Internal
| Unit code: | PUB209 |
|---|---|
| Credit points: | 12 |
| Equivalent: | NSB017 |
| Coordinator: | Julie-Anne Carroll | jm.carroll@qut.edu.au |
Overview
In this unit we study social and cultural dimensions of the human body, mind, and health. The unit focuses on public health from sociological and anthropological perspectives, with a core emphasis on the ways in which social, cultural, political, and economic systems shape human health behaviours and outcomes. We examine the practical relevance of key social theories in relation to understanding complex phenomena, such as cultural safety, risk-taking behaviours, life-expectancies, and death. We examine links between ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, geography, and health. The fundamental message is that identifying and addressing social and cultural factors that shape people's experiences of health, illness and health systems is integral to reducing health inequalities, delivering appropriate services and ultimately improving population health outcomes.
This is a multidisciplinary and interprofessional unit and welcomes students from a wide range of courses.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:
- Locate the relative contributions of sociology and anthropology to public health and epidemiology
- Draw on scholarly literature to analyse a public health issue from a social and cultural determinants perspective
- Identify patterns of health inequalities with reference to social and economic structures
- Apply knowledge of the socio-cultural contexts of disease risk and outcomes
- Professionally communicate with community audiences to persuade them of the importance of social and public health phenomena
Content
The unit will cover the following:
- foundations and origins of health sociology;
- sociological, anthropological and philosophical perspectives on public health;
- social and cultural determinants of health, including Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs);
- cultural safety and cultural confidence;
- food and nutrition;
- body modification;
- pain;
- death and dying in different cultural perspectives;
- social patterns of health inequalities and SDGs;
- oral communication and presentation skills;
- academic writing and literature research.
Learning Approaches
In this unit, you will learn by engaging in the following:
- lectures - delivered on-campus and offered synchronously online. Recordings are available.
- tutorials (separate online and on-campus offerings)
- online readings and learning materials
- real world examples of health inequality
- group learning and peer feedback
In order to maximise your learning experience in this unit, each tutorial will be supported by a set readings and a series of guided questions which you will be expected to consider prior to the tutorial.
Feedback on Learning and Assessment
You will gain peer and tutor feedback on the activities conducted in tutorials. Each week there will be a formative and summative learning activity in the form of a quiz that will assist you to keep-up with the material covered and gauge your progress. You will also receive written feedback on your second assessment, which will prepare you for your final assessment. In your final assessment you will receive peer feedback as part of the final submission.
Assessment
Overview
There are three assessments in this unit:
1. Online Quiz - This will draw on the unit content from the material delivered in lectures and discussed in tutorials and provide an opportunity for you to consolidate what you have learned.
2. Presentation and Q&A - This will develop your ability to orally communicate research in an engaging and persuasive format. It will connect to specific topics covered in lectures and in-depth in tutorials. You will need to make big data accessible and understandable to a lay audience.
3. The Padlet Project - This will develop your research and academic writing skills to deeply investigate a public health and social phenomena to produce an essay. Sharing your essay with your peers will provide the opportunity to reflect on your research and critical analysis informed by peer feedback.
Unit Grading Scheme
7- point scale
Assessment Tasks
Assessment: Online Quiz
You will complete an open-book online quiz every two weeks. The quiz will progressively cover unit content on the processes, interactions and practices linking health, culture and society, theory and evidence.
Assessment: Presentation and Q&A
You will take on the role of an expert panel member in a presentation and Q&A session to an educated audience with a specific interest in your group's social and health-related topic. The topic will be socially and culturally diverse in nature and connect to the SDGs. You will individually research your sub-topic and prepare a presentation to inform and persuade the audience of the importance of the topic.
As a group you will put together your individual presentations to form a coherent narrative for the Q&A session. There will be time after the presentation for the audience to ask questions.
Assessment: The Padlet Project
You will produce a research essay on the sub-topic for your presentation in Assessment Two. You will be provided with a template. In your essay you will use social theory and epidemiological evidence from the public health literature to critically analyse social phenomena. This will include the analysis of a cultural artefact that represents your specific public health issues, as well as the provision of epidemiological evidence and socio-cultural analysis of the determinants of the problem.
You will share your research essay and artefact with your peers through the QUT Padlet provided in the unit.
Two days after your submission on Padlet you will revisit the Padlet and provide feedback on the work of two of your peers. This feedback will be included in your assessment.
This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.
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
No resources needed
Risk Assessment Statement
There are no out of the ordinary risks associated with this unit.
Course Learning Outcomes
This unit is designed to support your development of the following course/study area learning outcomes.PU52 Bachelor of Public Health
- Apply public health principles and evidence to improve population health outcomes.
Relates to: ULO1, ULO3, Online Quiz, Presentation and Q&A, The Padlet Project - Critically analyse scholarly literature and effectively conduct research to inform evidence based public health practice.
Relates to: ULO2, The Padlet Project - Communicate with professional, non-professional and community audiences about public health using diverse technologies.
Relates to: ULO5, Presentation and Q&A - Apply culturally safe and inclusive approaches to work with diverse individuals, groups and communities, including Indigenous Australians.
Relates to: ULO3, ULO4, Online Quiz, Presentation and Q&A, The Padlet Project
Unit Outline: Semester 2 2024, Online
| Unit code: | PUB209 |
|---|---|
| Credit points: | 12 |
| Equivalent: | NSB017 |
Overview
In this unit we study social and cultural dimensions of the human body, mind, and health. The unit focuses on public health from sociological and anthropological perspectives, with a core emphasis on the ways in which social, cultural, political, and economic systems shape human health behaviours and outcomes. We examine the practical relevance of key social theories in relation to understanding complex phenomena, such as cultural safety, risk-taking behaviours, life-expectancies, and death. We examine links between ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, geography, and health. The fundamental message is that identifying and addressing social and cultural factors that shape people's experiences of health, illness and health systems is integral to reducing health inequalities, delivering appropriate services and ultimately improving population health outcomes.
This is a multidisciplinary and interprofessional unit and welcomes students from a wide range of courses.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:
- Locate the relative contributions of sociology and anthropology to public health and epidemiology
- Draw on scholarly literature to analyse a public health issue from a social and cultural determinants perspective
- Identify patterns of health inequalities with reference to social and economic structures
- Apply knowledge of the socio-cultural contexts of disease risk and outcomes
- Professionally communicate with community audiences to persuade them of the importance of social and public health phenomena
Content
The unit will cover the following:
- foundations and origins of health sociology;
- sociological, anthropological and philosophical perspectives on public health;
- social and cultural determinants of health, including Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs);
- cultural safety and cultural confidence;
- food and nutrition;
- body modification;
- pain;
- death and dying in different cultural perspectives;
- social patterns of health inequalities and SDGs;
- oral communication and presentation skills;
- academic writing and literature research.
Learning Approaches
In this unit, you will learn by engaging in the following:
- lectures - delivered on-campus and offered synchronously online. Recordings are available.
- tutorials (separate online and on-campus offerings)
- online readings and learning materials
- real world examples of health inequality
- group learning and peer feedback
In order to maximise your learning experience in this unit, each tutorial will be supported by a set readings and a series of guided questions which you will be expected to consider prior to the tutorial.
Feedback on Learning and Assessment
You will gain peer and tutor feedback on the activities conducted in tutorials. Each week there will be a formative and summative learning activity in the form of a quiz that will assist you to keep-up with the material covered and gauge your progress. You will also receive written feedback on your second assessment, which will prepare you for your final assessment. In your final assessment you will receive peer feedback as part of the final submission.
Assessment
Overview
There are three assessments in this unit:
1. Online Quiz - This will draw on the unit content from the material delivered in lectures and discussed in tutorials and provide an opportunity for you to consolidate what you have learned.
2. Presentation and Q&A - This will develop your ability to orally communicate research in an engaging and persuasive format. It will connect to specific topics covered in lectures and in-depth in tutorials. You will need to make big data accessible and understandable to a lay audience.
3. The Padlet Project - This will develop your research and academic writing skills to deeply investigate a public health and social phenomena to produce an essay. Sharing your essay with your peers will provide the opportunity to reflect on your research and critical analysis informed by peer feedback.
Unit Grading Scheme
7- point scale
Assessment Tasks
Assessment: Online Quiz
You will complete an open-book online quiz every two weeks. The quiz will progressively cover unit content on the processes, interactions and practices linking health, culture and society, theory and evidence.
Assessment: Presentation and Q&A
You will take on the role of an expert panel member in a presentation and Q&A session to an educated audience with a specific interest in your group's social and health-related topic. The topic will be socially and culturally diverse in nature and connect to the SDGs. You will individually research your sub-topic and prepare a presentation to inform and persuade the audience of the importance of the topic.
As a group you will put together your individual presentations to form a coherent narrative for the Q&A session. There will be time after the presentation for the audience to ask questions.
Assessment: The Padlet Project
You will produce a research essay on the sub-topic for your presentation in Assessment Two. You will be provided with a template. In your essay you will use social theory and epidemiological evidence from the public health literature to critically analyse social phenomena. This will include the analysis of a cultural artefact that represents your specific public health issues, as well as the provision of epidemiological evidence and socio-cultural analysis of the determinants of the problem.
You will share your research essay and artefact with your peers through the QUT Padlet provided in the unit.
Two days after your submission on Padlet you will revisit the Padlet and provide feedback on the work of two of your peers. This feedback will be included in your assessment.
This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.
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
No resources needed
Risk Assessment Statement
There are no out of the ordinary risks associated with this unit.
Course Learning Outcomes
This unit is designed to support your development of the following course/study area learning outcomes.PU52 Bachelor of Public Health
- Apply public health principles and evidence to improve population health outcomes.
Relates to: ULO1, ULO3, Online Quiz, Presentation and Q&A, The Padlet Project - Critically analyse scholarly literature and effectively conduct research to inform evidence based public health practice.
Relates to: ULO2, The Padlet Project - Communicate with professional, non-professional and community audiences about public health using diverse technologies.
Relates to: ULO5, Presentation and Q&A - Apply culturally safe and inclusive approaches to work with diverse individuals, groups and communities, including Indigenous Australians.
Relates to: ULO3, ULO4, Online Quiz, Presentation and Q&A, The Padlet Project