PUBH102 - Foundations of Health Promotion

Year

Credit points

Campus offering

Prerequisites

Teaching organisation

150 hours of focused learning

Unit rationale, description and aim

Health promotion creates supportive conditions for health, enabling people to have control over, and improve their health and wellbeing. Health promotion officers need to have a good understanding of health promotion approaches and behaviour change models in order to engage community and enable people to address their own health needs and issues. This unit helps students to obtain fundamental knowledge and understanding of health promotion concepts and issues. It provides an introduction to the principles and practices of health promotion, with an emphasis on the factors that determine health and health inequities, including economic, social and environmental influences. Key health issues and strategies for addressing health risk behaviours and optimising the health of populations are explored. Where appropriate students will develop an awareness of the impact of colonisation on Indigenous health and the implications for health promotion planning and practice. The aim of this unit is to support students to be able to plan, carry out and assess health promotion activities in different settings and will apply this knowledge in developing health promotion campaign.

Learning outcomes

To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.

Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.

Explore the graduate capabilities.

On successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:

LO1 - Explain health promotion principles and practices (GA: 5) 

LO2 - Analyse the range of factors that influence the health of populations, including social determinants of health (GA: 2, 4, 5)

LO3 - Advocate for approaches to prevent disease and promote health (GA: 5, 8, 9) 

LO4 - Design a health promotion strategy that applies key principles and theoretical models of health promotion (GA: 6, 7, 8, 9) 

Graduate attributes

GA2 - recognise their responsibility to the common good, the environment and society 

GA4 - think critically and reflectively 

GA5 - demonstrate values, knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the discipline and/or profession 

GA6 - solve problems in a variety of settings taking local and international perspectives into account 

GA7 - work both autonomously and collaboratively 

GA8 - locate, organise, analyse, synthesise and evaluate information 

GA9 - demonstrate effective communication in oral and written English language and visual media 

Content

Topics will include: 

• Health promotion from historical perspective 
• Determinants of health 
• Inequity and disparities in health 
• Emerging issues in health promotion 
• Theoretical models in health promotion: the Ottawa Charter in Action 
• Health education and behaviour change 
• Settings for health promotion 
• Community engagement for effective health promotion 
• Health promotion with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities 
• The environment and health promotion 
• Globalisation in relation to health promotion 

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

This unit is offered in multi- mode to ensure high quality interactive and constructive peer learning. This unit comprises weekly tutorial preparation activities, followed by interactive tutorials using student-centred teaching and active learning approach to support students in the exploration of health promotion principles and practices. The unit uses recorded material, readings and interactive activities to teach essential theory and concepts via ACU'S Learning Environment Online (LEO). This learning is then reinforced through facilitated tutorial activities that support students to synthesise knowledge and develop a deep understanding of how to identify health determinants and plan, implement and evaluate health promotion initiatives.

Assessment strategy and rationale

A range of assessment procedures will be used to meet the unit learning outcomes and develop graduate attributes consistent with University assessment requirements. In order to successfully complete this unit, students need to obtain an aggregate mark equal to or greater than 50%. 

Assessment in this unit will comprise a quiz and two written assessments. The assessment strategy allows students to progressively develop their knowledge and skills to the level of sophistication where they can apply key health promotion principles to the analysis and development of health promotion strategies. The assessment strategy commences with a quiz to test knowledge and application of key health promotion principles and concepts. A second task requires students to advocate for the need to address particular determinants of health. They will extend and synthesize their understanding through development of an evidence-based health promotion plan.

Overview of assessments

Representative texts and references

Baum, F. (2015). The New Public Health. An Australian Perspective. (4th ed.). South Melbourne: Oxford University Press. 

Naidoo, J. & Wills, J. (2016). Foundations for Health Promotion. (4th Ed.). Elsevier.

Keleher, H. & MacDougall, C. (Eds) (2016). Understanding Health: a determinants approach (4th ed.). Melbourne: Oxford University Press. 

Marmot, M., Wilkinson, R. G. (2006). Social Determinants of Health. (2nd ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.