PUQ106 Population 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: | PUQ106 |
|---|---|
| Equivalent(s): | PUN106 |
| Credit points: | 12 |
| Timetable | Details in HiQ, if available |
| Availabilities |
|
| Domestic tuition unit fee | $3,216 |
Unit Outline: Session 2 2025, QUT Online, Online
| Unit code: | PUQ106 |
|---|---|
| Credit points: | 12 |
| Equivalent: | PUN106 |
| Coordinator: | Susan Wilson | sk.wilson@qut.edu.au |
Overview
Health professionals face a complex and changing health profile locally, nationally, and internationally. A biomedical model for understanding health problems does not adequately explain these complexities or sufficiently help health professionals successfully intervene to improve the population's health. It is therefore critical for health professionals to reflect upon the social, economic and behavioural factors that influence health and work in partnership to influence these factors.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:
- Identify the global health priorities and how historical and contemporary public health developments will influence the future of population health.
- Apply a public health framework to the critical evaluation of the impact of social, cultural, economic, and political factors on a specific population and development of strategies to address these factors.
- Professionally communicate with health professionals to persuade and inform them of the importance of social and public health phenomena.
- Collaborate with team members to create and produce educational and promotional materials on health and wellbeing for marginalised social and ethnic groups.
- Examine patterns of health inequalities through an epidemiological lens with reference to social and economic structures.
Content
The unit will cover the following:
- the foundations of public health
- an introduction to population health principles
- historical perspectives on population health
- burden of disease concepts
- population health data sources
- the social and cultural determinants of health behaviours and outcomes
- frameworks for responding to population health issues
- contemporary and future challenges and responses to them
- collaborating with other professionals to inform public health
- using new media and digital communication tools to communicate with health professionals and the community
Learning Approaches
In this unit, you will learn by engaging in an active learning environment, undertaking regular online activities, guided through the learning process by expert teaching staff who provide regular feedback. On average, you will need to dedicate 12-15 hours each week for your learning that includes readings, discussions with peers and assignments.
Feedback on Learning and Assessment
You will receive feedback on your learning in a variety of ways, including:
- Informal formative feedback will be provided via quizzes, self-assessment tools, peer feedback and through individual or whole of class feedback, the debriefing of learning activities or via comments in online communities.
- Formal written or recorded feedback will be received on both formative and summative assessment tasks, in addition to the grade on the Criterion Reference Assessment sheet.
Feedback on your formative assessment task will be received prior to the submission of your summative assessment task.
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. Podcast - 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 and social theory accessible and understandable to a lay audience.
3. Report - This will develop your research and academic writing skills to deeply investigate a public health and social phenomena occurring within a vulnerable population to produce a report. Sharing your report with your peers will provide the opportunity to reflect on your research and critical analysis.
Unit Grading Scheme
7- point scale
Assessment Tasks
Assessment: Quiz
There are 20 questions in the quiz. You will be presented with all questions at the start of the quiz. The online quiz will include multiple-choice questions. This is an open-book quiz.
This quiz will be based on the content covered from Modules 1–3. The questions in this quiz draw upon topics covered in both the learning materials and the essential readings.
Assessment: Podcast
You will take on the role of health professionals to create a podcast for other health professionals on the social determinants of health for a vulnerable population. The podcast will be designed to promote the health and wellbeing of marginalised social and ethnic groups in relation to key health issues faced by that group.
This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.
Assessment: Report
You will produce a research essay on the social determinants of health for a vulnerable population. 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 have the opportunity to share your report with your peers and reflect critically on your research and analysis.
This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.
Academic Integrity
Academic integrity is a commitment to undertaking academic work and assessment in a manner that is ethical, fair, honest, respectful and accountable.
The Academic Integrity Policy sets out the range of conduct that can be a failure to maintain the standards of academic integrity. This includes, cheating in exams, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion and contract cheating. It also includes providing fraudulent or altered documentation in support of an academic concession application, for example an assignment extension or a deferred exam.
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.
Breaching QUT’s Academic Integrity Policy or engaging in conduct that may defeat or compromise the purpose of assessment can lead to a finding of student misconduct (Code of Conduct – Student) and result in the imposition of penalties under the Management of Student Misconduct Policy, ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.
Risk Assessment Statement
Workplace Health and Safety protocols associated with computer use will apply.
You are expected to communicate in ways that are professional and respectful of others in all interactions. Please refer to QUT guidelines on communication.
Course Learning Outcomes
This unit is designed to support your development of the following course/study area learning outcomes.PQ77 Graduate Diploma in Health Management and Leadership
- Design innovative and strategic responses to health leadership and management challenges to improve consumer, community, organisational and system level outcomes.
Relates to: Podcast - Critically analyse research to inform ethical, evidence-based health management and policy decisions.
Relates to: ULO1, Quiz, Podcast, Report - Formulate strategies for culturally safe and inclusive approaches that optimise health system design and service delivery.
Relates to: ULO1, Quiz, Podcast, Report - Plan ways to communicate, collaborate and negotiate with stakeholders from diverse backgrounds to co-design equitable outcomes and sustainable performance in healthcare.
Relates to: Podcast, Report - Critically analyse the benefits and risks of contemporary and emerging health technologies.
Relates to: ULO3 - Apply reflective practice to professionally develop self and others.
Relates to: Report
PQ87 Master of Health Management and Leadership
- Critique and engage in research to inform ethical, evidence-based health management and policy decisions.
Relates to: ULO1, Quiz, Podcast, Report - Formulate strategies for culturally safe and inclusive approaches to optimise health system design and service delivery.
Relates to: ULO1, Quiz, Podcast, Report - Communicate, collaborate and negotiate with stakeholders from diverse backgrounds to co-design equitable and sustainable healthcare.
Relates to: Podcast, Report - Critically analyse and manage the implementation, benefits and risks of contemporary and emerging health technologies.
Relates to: ULO3, Podcast - Apply reflective practice to professionally develop self and others.
Relates to: Podcast, Report
Unit Outline: Session 4 2025, QUT Online, Online
| Unit code: | PUQ106 |
|---|---|
| Credit points: | 12 |
| Equivalent: | PUN106 |
| Coordinator: | Susan Wilson | sk.wilson@qut.edu.au |
Overview
Health professionals face a complex and changing health profile locally, nationally, and internationally. A biomedical model for understanding health problems does not adequately explain these complexities or sufficiently help health professionals successfully intervene to improve the population's health. It is therefore critical for health professionals to reflect upon the social, economic and behavioural factors that influence health and work in partnership to influence these factors.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:
- Identify the global health priorities and how historical and contemporary public health developments will influence the future of population health.
- Apply a public health framework to the critical evaluation of the impact of social, cultural, economic, and political factors on a specific population and development of strategies to address these factors.
- Professionally communicate with health professionals to persuade and inform them of the importance of social and public health phenomena.
- Collaborate with team members to create and produce educational and promotional materials on health and wellbeing for marginalised social and ethnic groups.
- Examine patterns of health inequalities through an epidemiological lens with reference to social and economic structures.
Content
The unit will cover the following:
- the foundations of public health
- an introduction to population health principles
- historical perspectives on population health
- burden of disease concepts
- population health data sources
- the social and cultural determinants of health behaviours and outcomes
- frameworks for responding to population health issues
- contemporary and future challenges and responses to them
- collaborating with other professionals to inform public health
- using new media and digital communication tools to communicate with health professionals and the community
Learning Approaches
In this unit, you will learn by engaging in an active learning environment, undertaking regular online activities, guided through the learning process by expert teaching staff who provide regular feedback. On average, you will need to dedicate 12-15 hours each week for your learning that includes readings, discussions with peers and assignments.
Feedback on Learning and Assessment
You will receive feedback on your learning in a variety of ways, including:
- Informal formative feedback will be provided via quizzes, self-assessment tools, peer feedback and through individual or whole of class feedback, the debriefing of learning activities or via comments in online communities.
- Formal written or recorded feedback will be received on both formative and summative assessment tasks, in addition to the grade on the Criterion Reference Assessment sheet.
Feedback on your formative assessment task will be received prior to the submission of your summative assessment task.
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. Podcast - 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 and social theory accessible and understandable to a lay audience.
3. Report - This will develop your research and academic writing skills to deeply investigate a public health and social phenomena occurring within a vulnerable population to produce a report. Sharing your report with your peers will provide the opportunity to reflect on your research and critical analysis.
Unit Grading Scheme
7- point scale
Assessment Tasks
Assessment: Quiz
There are 20 questions in the quiz. You will be presented with all questions at the start of the quiz. The online quiz will include multiple-choice questions. This is an open-book quiz.
This quiz will be based on the content covered from Modules 1–3. The questions in this quiz draw upon topics covered in both the learning materials and the essential readings.
Assessment: Podcast
You will take on the role of health professionals to create a podcast for other health professionals on the social determinants of health for a vulnerable population. The podcast will be designed to promote the health and wellbeing of marginalised social and ethnic groups in relation to key health issues faced by that group.
This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.
Assessment: Report
You will produce a research essay on the social determinants of health for a vulnerable population. 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 have the opportunity to share your report with your peers and reflect critically on your research and analysis.
This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.
Academic Integrity
Academic integrity is a commitment to undertaking academic work and assessment in a manner that is ethical, fair, honest, respectful and accountable.
The Academic Integrity Policy sets out the range of conduct that can be a failure to maintain the standards of academic integrity. This includes, cheating in exams, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion and contract cheating. It also includes providing fraudulent or altered documentation in support of an academic concession application, for example an assignment extension or a deferred exam.
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.
Breaching QUT’s Academic Integrity Policy or engaging in conduct that may defeat or compromise the purpose of assessment can lead to a finding of student misconduct (Code of Conduct – Student) and result in the imposition of penalties under the Management of Student Misconduct Policy, ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.
Risk Assessment Statement
Workplace Health and Safety protocols associated with computer use will apply.
You are expected to communicate in ways that are professional and respectful of others in all interactions. Please refer to QUT guidelines on communication.
Course Learning Outcomes
This unit is designed to support your development of the following course/study area learning outcomes.PQ77 Graduate Diploma in Health Management and Leadership
- Design innovative and strategic responses to health leadership and management challenges to improve consumer, community, organisational and system level outcomes.
Relates to: Podcast - Critically analyse research to inform ethical, evidence-based health management and policy decisions.
Relates to: ULO1, Quiz, Podcast, Report - Formulate strategies for culturally safe and inclusive approaches that optimise health system design and service delivery.
Relates to: ULO1, Quiz, Podcast, Report - Plan ways to communicate, collaborate and negotiate with stakeholders from diverse backgrounds to co-design equitable outcomes and sustainable performance in healthcare.
Relates to: Podcast, Report - Critically analyse the benefits and risks of contemporary and emerging health technologies.
Relates to: ULO3 - Apply reflective practice to professionally develop self and others.
Relates to: Report
PQ87 Master of Health Management and Leadership
- Critique and engage in research to inform ethical, evidence-based health management and policy decisions.
Relates to: ULO1, Quiz, Podcast, Report - Formulate strategies for culturally safe and inclusive approaches to optimise health system design and service delivery.
Relates to: ULO1, Quiz, Podcast, Report - Communicate, collaborate and negotiate with stakeholders from diverse backgrounds to co-design equitable and sustainable healthcare.
Relates to: Podcast, Report - Critically analyse and manage the implementation, benefits and risks of contemporary and emerging health technologies.
Relates to: ULO3, Podcast - Apply reflective practice to professionally develop self and others.
Relates to: Podcast, Report