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PUBH100 Foundations of Public Health

10 cp
Prerequisites
Nil
Teaching Organisation 150 hours of focused learning.

This course will introduce students to the foundations of public health including its changing role in society, major achievements internationally and in Australia and its core contributing disciplines. After exploring the parameters of public health theory and practice, this unit examines the core functions of public health and introduces high-profile organisations, statutory roles and responsibilities in public health and the importance of a population-based approach to planning health services, promoting health and preventing disease. Students will be introduced to the major public health challenges in Australia with a focus on current National Health Priorities such as mental health, chronic disease risk factors and cancer screening for example. In this introductory unit, students will acquire an inter-disciplinary orientation to public health practice. This unit illustrates concepts including health status of populations, inequities in health such as the ‘postcode lottery’, historical interventions related to communicable and non-communicable diseases, the role of the health system and public health leadership. Through this unit, students will understand the characteristics of organised, population-based approaches to health and how these differentiate public health practice from clinical practice.

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Units 2012