PUBH312 - Applied Health Promotion

Year

Credit points

Campus offering

Prerequisites

PUBH102 Foundations of Health Promotion

Teaching organisation

Unit rationale, description and aim

Professionals in health promotion practice require a practical understanding and appropriate skills for the design, implementation and evaluation of health promotion programs. Commencing with the identification of issues through a needs assessment, students will gain an understanding of the frameworks used to design programs to improve health at the population, rather than the individual level. Drawing on research as well as practical case studies, this unit aims to develop in students the ability to distinguish and apply a range of approaches necessary for successful programs in varied settings including sporting clubs, schools, community groups, and local government.

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 - Define the key stages of a needs assessment in synthesizing material from a range of sources and formats (GA1, GA3, GA5, GA7, GA8, GA9). 

LO2 - Understand the importance of health issue analysis to identify causal factors informing the design of an intervention (GA1, GA2, GA4, GA5, GA8). 

LO3 - Demonstrate a conceptual and practical understanding of health promotion program planning models and strategies (GA1, GA4, GA5, GA6, GA7, GA8). 

LO4 - Apply theoretical and practical knowledge and skills for evaluating a program (GA1, GA4, GA5, GA8, GA9). 

Graduate attributes

GA1 - demonstrate respect for the dignity of each individual and for human diversity 

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

GA3 - apply ethical perspectives in informed decision making

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 of the unit include:

• Needs Assessment
• Program Planning
• Data Collection
• Program Evaluation – process, impact, and outcome evaluation
• Ethics
• Health Promotion Interventions
• Partnerships
• Community Development
• Media and Social Marketing
• Advocacy and Policy
• Capacity Building
• Funding
• Project Management

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

Learning and teaching strategies include active learning, case-based learning, individual and group activities, cooperative learning, web-based learning, and reflective/critical thinking activities, delivered over 12 weeks. This range of strategies will provide students with appropriate access to required knowledge and understanding of unit content, and opportunities for development of skills relevant to health promotion program evaluation. These strategies will allow students to meet the aim, learning outcomes and graduate attributes of the unit. Learning and teaching strategies will reflect respect for the individual as an independent learner. Students will be expected to take responsibility for their learning and to participate actively within group activities.

Assessment strategy and rationale

In order to best enable students to achieve unit learning outcomes and develop graduate attributes, standards-based assessment is utilised, consistent with University assessment requirements. A range of assessment strategies are used including: 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 of 50% or greater.

Assessment in this unit will comprise two assessment tasks and an end of semester written examination. The assessment strategy allows students to progressively develop their knowledge and skills to the level of sophistication where they can apply key health promotion theory and principles to the critical analysis and development of health promotion strategies. The assessment strategy commences with a task that requires students to undertake a needs assessment of chosen demographic and/or geographical region. They will extend and synthesise their critical understanding through development of an evidence-based health promotion project. Assessment for this unit will conclude with an end of semester written examination that will assess understanding and application of knowledge gained in this unit

Overview of assessments

Representative texts and references

Bayarsaikhan, D., & Muiser, J. (2007). Financing health promotion: discussion paper number 4, Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/health_financing/documents/dp_e_07_4-health_promotion.pdf

Corcoran, N. (2013). Communicating health: strategies for Health Promotion (2nd ed.). Los Angeles, United States of America: Sage.

Fleming, M., & Parker, E. (2006). Health promotion: principles and practice in the Australian context (3rd ed.). Sydney, Australia: Allen & Unwin.

Hawe, P., Degeling, D., & Hall, J. (1990). Evaluating health promotion: a health worker’s guide. Sydney, Australia. McLennan & Petty.

Keleher, H., & MacDougall, C. (2015). Understanding health (3rd ed.). Melbourne, Australia: Oxford University Press.

Moodie, R. & Hulme, A. (2004). Hands on Health Promotion. Melbourne, Australia: IP Communications.

Naidoo, J., & Wills, J. (2016). Foundations for Health Promotion. Edinburgh, United Kingdom: Bailliere Tindall/Elsevier.

Nyman, S. R., Barker, A., Haines, T., Horton, K., Musselwhite, C., Peeters, G., … Wolff, J.K. (2018). Palgrave Handbook of Ageing and Physical Activity Promotion. Cham, Switzerland: Springer Nature.

Scriven, A. (2010). Promoting health: a practical guide (6th ed.). Edinburgh, United Kingdom: Bailliere Tindall/Elsevier.

Talbot, L., & Verrinder, G. (2017). Promoting health: the primary health care approach (6th ed.). Sydney, Australia: Churchill Livingstone/Elsevier.

Thorogood, M., & Coombes, Y. (2010). Evaluating health promotion (3rd ed.). Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press.