This unit offers students an insight into the challenges and opportunities associated with population ageing and what is required to meet the needs of the increasing numbers of older people and those who will interact with them. It addresses the social and individual dimensions of ageing, health and well-being and the transitions that occur in later life. There will be an emphasis on the policy and practice implications of an ageing society and the role of various public and private providers (government, health care practitioners, family, voluntary) in providing services and care to older people. Students will be expected to develop a critical understanding of the issues related to ageing and the life course in three specific study areas: 1) Population and social issues; 2) Policies and services; 3) Health promotion and quality of life for older people, their families and carers.

This unit provides students with an overview of the ethical and political issues that underlie public health and public health research. The unit introduces key concepts in public health ethics including liberty, utility, justice, paternalism, solidarity and reciprocity, and introduces students to different ways of reasoning about the ethics of public health. A critical history of public health and an examination of public health law provide important context. Students also explore the ethical dimensions of central public health problems, including modifying lifestyles, managing communicable diseases, screening and overdiagnosis, researching communities, responding to global health challenges and using evidence. Throughout, the emphasis is on learning to make sound arguments about the ethical aspects of public health policy, practice and research. Most learning occurs in the context of five teaching intensives, which are highly interactive and focus on the development and application of reasoning skills.

Mental health and mental illness are unique in the field of health care and bioethics. The very nature of psychiatric disorder and its relationship with prevailing social and cultural factors, in addition to the unique status of the mental health patient, necessitate a specific discourse in biomedical ethics in the area of mental health. This course will provide participants with a broad perspective of issues in bioethics applied to mental health and mental illness. Students will examine the history of the psychiatric profession and consider the adequacy of current safeguards against the abuses of power seen in the history of psychiatry. Other areas considered in the course include the current ethical dilemmas in mental health care, the implications of technological advances in the neurosciences, the philosophical basis of the concept of mental disorder, the relationship between power and the psychiatric profession and the complex relationship between morality, mental health and the law. The course aspires to inform future decision makers in health, public policy, clinical settings and academia in the unique aspects of biomedical ethics in the field of mental health.
All assessments must be completed to pass this Unit.

This unit provides students with an introduction to the ethical and political issues that underlie public health and public health research. The unit introduces key concepts in public health ethics including liberty, utility, justice, solidarity and reciprocity, and introduces students to different ways of reasoning about the ethics of public health. Most learning occurs in the context of two teaching intensives, which are highly interactive and focus on the development and application of reasoning skills.
By the end of the Unit you will be able to identify the values and ideas upon which public health rests and ready to start thinking proactively about the ethical issues raised by public health interventions and health policy. This is a Core Unit for Graduate Diploma and Master in Public Health students.

The 'art of health' is more than an historic catchphrase; it is a literal phenomenon. Arts based approaches to health promotion, social determinants of health and to a range of health issues (including mental health, dementia and aging, disability, childhood development and cancer) can have stunningly powerful effects. In the past century the visual, literary and performing arts have emerged as vital components of a community based approach to human health and wellbeing. This unit gives students practical examples of how to incorporate the arts into public health and health care. The course offers a rich and detailed exploration of varying debates in the scholarly and practice-based fields of arts-and-health, which include but are not limited to: status and uses of art therapy; music and medicine; narrative, literature and the 'narrative medicine' movement; hospital art, design and architecture; and the role of art in health research and social marketing campaigns. Students will learn design thinking as a crucial skill in creative problem solving and social innovation, the new approaches taken up to meet the demands of difficult and rapidly shifting social circumstances. In addition to refining skills, this unit requires that students come to grips with the affective and experiential elements of health. This course will appeal to students of public health; literary, visual and performing arts; social work; psychology; and related disciplines, who want to understand more about the interconnectedness of the arts with human health.
All assessments must be completed to pass this Unit.

This unit of study introduces students to human research ethics in its wider context. It explores the ethical underpinnings of the research endeavour including the justifications for engaging in research and research integrity. The unit also reviews the history of research and the impact of research abuse on human participants.

Medicines and medical devices save lives but they can be costly and can have serious adverse effects. Value-laden decisions are continuously being made at individual, institutional, national and international levels regarding the medicines and devices we need, want and can afford. In this unit of study, we will explore and critique global and national policies and processes related to medicines and medical devices, examining how research and development agendas are set; how medicines and other health technologies are assessed and evaluated; and how new technologies are translated into practice. We will also explore broader trends such as globalisation, commercialisation and changing consumer expectations. By the end of the course, students will understand the forces shaping the development, regulation, funding and uptake of health technologies both nationally and internationally, and the political, ethical, legal and economic issues that are at stake. This course is designed to appeal to a wide range of student from ethics, law, public health, health care, policy, communications, economics, business, politics, administration, and biomedical science. Students will be encouraged to focus on issues of most relevance to their own area of study or work.

The unit has four major content areas delivered as modules covering:- An understanding Q&S in Healthcare; Professional and ethical practice; Understanding systems and the effect of complexity on patient care; Improving Healthcare. At the end of the unit students will: understand the background to quality and safety in health care, from Australian and international perspectives; understand the nature of health care error including the methods of error detection and monitoring, and quality indicators; understand the role of good communication and other professional responsibilities in quality and safety in healthcare; have developed an understanding of clinical governance, accountability and systems management; have considered methods for improving healthcare such as getting research into practice, clinical practice guidelines and clinical practice improvement. This unit consists of online discussions and activities based around key provided readings and other resources.

This unit aims to teach students the principles of research integrity in writing for medical journals, to guide them to resources to improve their conference abstract and manuscript writing and submission to a peer reviewed journal. Students will learn about reporting guidelines, common pitfalls in writing and presenting research, improving tables and figures for manuscripts, writing cover letters and responding to reviewer's comments. Students will learn skills needed to act as a peer-reviewer.

This unit covers statistical analysis techniques that are commonly required for analysing data that arise from clinical or epidemiological studies. Students will gain hands on experience applying model-building strategies and fitting advanced statistical models. In particular, students will learn a statistical software package called Stata, how to handle non-linear continuous variables, and how to analyse correlated data. Correlated data arise from clustered or longitudinal study designs, such as, cross-over studies, matched case-control studies, cluster randomised trials and studies involving repeated measurements. Statistical models that will be covered include fixed effects models, marginal models using Generalised Estimating Equations (GEE), and mixed effects models (also known as hierarchical or multilevel models). This unit of study focuses on data analyses using Stata and the interpretation of results.

This unit of study introduces the student to basic concepts behind diagnostic and screening tests, including: test accuracy, sources of bias in test evaluation, critical appraisal of test evaluation studies, principles and use of evidence in making decisions about population screening. After completing this unit of study, the student should have a basic understanding of contemporary issues and the methodology underlying, diagnostic and screening test evaluation and application.

This unit of study introduces the student to basic concepts behind diagnostic and screening tests, including: test accuracy, sources of bias in test evaluation, critical appraisal of test evaluation studies, principles and use of evidence in making decisions about population screening. It will then move to more advanced topics including: application of test results to individual patients, place of tests in diagnostic pathways, impact of tests on patient outcome, tests with continuous outcome, receiver-operator characteristic curves, systematic review of diagnostic tests, predictive models, monitoring, diagnostic tests in the health system, and over-diagnosis. After completing this unit of study, the student should have a comprehensive understanding of contemporary issues and the methodology underlying, diagnostic and screening test evaluation and application.

This unit provides a critical overview of China's contemporary health system and health issues. It uses a multidisciplinary approach to examine the interaction between health and China's development process. Through the use of case studies this unit provides students with concrete examples of current and future issues faced by China's health system, including: health policy formation; health services financing, delivery and evaluation; ethical issues in health services delivery; health inequalities; and, China's epidemiological and demographic transitions.

Information technology (IT) has significantly contributed to the research and practice of medicine, biology and health care. The IT field is growing enormously in scope with biomedicine taking a lead role in utilizing the evolving applications to its best advantage. The goal of this unit of study is to provide students with the necessary knowledge to understand the information technology in biomedicine. The major emphasis will be on the principles associated with biomedical digital imaging systems and related biomedicine data processing, analysis, visualization, registration, modelling, compression, management, communication and security. Specialist areas such as Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS), computer-aided diagnosis (CAD), content-based medical image retrieval (CBMIR), and ubiquitous m-Health, etc. will be addressed. A broad range of practical integrated clinical applications will be also elaborated.

This unit brings together a wide range of skills that are routinely practised in bioinformatics, from the 'hard' subjects of mathematics, statistics and computer science, to the 'soft' subjects in the biological / health sciences and pharmacology. The unit covers the essentials of bioinformatics data gathering, manipulation, mining and storage that underpin bioinformatics research. It further provides additional practice in the graduate attributes of Research and Inquiry, Information Literacy and Communication through analysis of scientific research, use of large bioinformatics data sets, and writing of reports.

To provide students with sufficient background and appreciation of the importance of preventive dentistry and oral health promotion and to provide them with the opportunity to develop skills and acquire essential knowledge in this field for the effective practice of population oral health. The following topics will be covered: principles of prevention; oral diseases and conditions of public health concern - a review; the epidemiology of the common oral problems; prevention of dental caries; prevention of periodontal disease; prevention of other diseases of oral health concern; evidence-based preventive dental care; principles of health education, health protection, and oral health promotion; and analysis of health education and oral health promotion initiatives. On the completion of this unit of study, the student will be able to: understand the efficacy and effectiveness of risk reduction strategies in relation to the common oral problems and conditions; select interventions and strategies for the prevention and control of oral disease and the promotion of oral health; and understand the limitations of health education and the potential for oral health improvement through effective oral health promotion strategies.

To provide students with sufficient background and appreciation of the role and scope of dental health services within health care and to provide them with the opportunity to develop skills and acquire essential knowledge in this field for the effective practice of population oral health. The following topics will be covered: dental services in the twenty first century; the primary health care approach; assessment of the role of Western Dentistry (the limits of conventional dentistry); the limitations of a "high-risk" approach for the prevention of dental caries; the common risk factor approach: a rational basis for promoting oral health and strategies for developing oral health care programs in deprived communities; priorities in oral health care services; review of the Save our Kids Smiles program in New South Wales; the prevention of social inequalities in oral health; adult access to dental care in Australia; and ethnic indicators of dental health schoolchildren resident in areas of multiple deprivation. On the completion of this unit of study, students will be able to: understand the principles governing primary health care; understand the principles governing the delivery and management of dental services; and develop resources and implement and manage appropriate dental services for populations.

To provide students with sufficient background and appreciation of the importance of population oral health and to provide them with the opportunity to develop skills and acquire essential knowledge in this field for the effective practice of population oral health. This unit focuses on the determinants of oral health and the importance of upstream measures to attack the root cause of oral diseases and the planning, implementing and evaluating of these approaches. The following topics will be covered: principles of population health approach, planning and policy framework for population oral health, the changing profile oral health and patterns of oral health care; water fluoridation (including legislation, benefits/risks, the politics of fluoridation, the arguments for and against water fluoridation, how to respond to antifluoridationists; how to promote and extend water fluoridation,), overview of policies and initiatives regarding dental services - the example of New South Wales; and oral health workforce and emerging workforce issues. On the completion of this unit of study students should be able to demonstrate ability to design/develop, implement and evaluate population based oral health programs to improve overall oral health and reduce inequalities in oral health.

To develop a critical and comparative understanding of the history, theory and practice of health policy. To give an overview of the political choices and frameworks - national and global - that shape policymaking.
Learning objectives:
- acquire a critical understanding of the basic history and features of the Australian health system
- understand the main frameworks used to analyse and make policy
- understand the main issues in the translation of policy into practice
- demonstrate the capacity to apply these understandings in particular settings through case studies.
Content:
This unit explores the main structures and institutions that make health policy. The unit examines debates over policy frameworks, and the evidence and advocacy in setting priorities. Conflicts over health policy will be placed in broader contexts - comparing different health systems and assessing global influences. Case studies will be used to examine the relationships between policy and practice.

This unit aims to provide students with an understanding of the financial and economic aspects of health policy. It introduces the main concepts and analytical methods of health economics, political economy and finance. Learning objectives: - understand the main models and debates regarding health funding countries and the implications for equity, delivery and governance of health services. - apply this knowledge to current Australian and global health systems and debates over reform. - understand the role of economic analysis in evaluating health policy change - be familiar with theoretical frameworks underlying health economics and current debates over health finance. Content: This unit introduces the main concepts and analytical methods of health economics, political economy and finance to examine the workings of health systems in Australia and comparable countries. It looks at the main models of health system funding and their implications for the structure, planning and delivery of services. The first module focuses on the basic concepts and methodologies of health economics and political economy and their contribution to policy analysis. The second module places funding structures in a broader political and policy context. Topics include the debates over the public-private mix and governance and accountability - who makes decisions about funding priorities? To whom should decision makers be held accountable and for what aspects of their work? How does health finance shape broader policy reform?

This unit develops skills for the effective critical appraisal of health policy. It familiarizes students with the principles, and limitations, of evidence-based health policy and how this is shaped by the health and political systems. Learning objectives: - to develop critical appraisal skills and analytical methods for analysing health policy - to identify and analyse the main influences on policy development - to evaluate existing policy frameworks and processes in relation to evidence, political context and broader community values Content: This unit builds policy analysis and analytical skills by exploring policy design, implementation and evaluation. It looks at key approaches to analysing health policy, the methods and limitations of evidence-based health policy and the problems of integrating equity concerns when developing and applying health policy. The workshops focus on the critical use of epidemiological and public policy analysis to build the evidence base for, and analysis of policy, taking into account political and social contexts.

This unit explores the impact of globalization the health of populations and policy making processes. It also investigates the potential to improve health outcomes globally through policy. The aim of this course is to equip students with the knowledge and skills to identify and articulate political and policy processes at the global level, become familiar with institutions and actors involved in global health policy and utilize strategies for influencing policy making at the global level. The unit will explore global health threats that transcend national boundaries; especially those whose causes or results transcend the capacity of individual states to influence. We analyse the influence and power of institutions and actors in the development and implementation of global health policy, including the World Health Organisation, UNICEF, the World Bank, the WTO, the Gates Foundation and NGOs. We will also investigate the governance of global health policy responses. Teaching will make extensive use of current case studies from recognised experts in the field.

Healthcare systems intimately coupled to ICT have been at the forefront of many of the medical advances in modern society in the past decade. As is already the case in many other service-driven sectors, it is widely recognised that a key approach to solve some of the healthcare challenges is to harness and further ICT innovations. This unit is designed to help fill a massive technology talent gap where one of the biggest IT challenges in history is in the technology transformation of healthcare.
The unit will consist of weekly lectures, a set of group discussions (tutorials) and practical lab sessions. The contents will offer students the opportunity to develop IT knowledge and skills related to all aspects of Enterprise Healthcare Information Systems. Key Topics covered include:
* Health Information System e.g., Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS) and Radiology IS
* Electronic Health Records / Personal Health Records
* Health data management
* Healthcare Transactions
* Health Statistics and Research
* Decision Support Systems including Image-based systems
* Cost Assessments and Ethics / Privacy
* TeleHealth / eHealth
* Cases studies with Australian Hospitals
Guest lecturers from the healthcare industry will be invited. The core of student's assessments will be based on individual research reports (topics related to the current industry IT needs), software / practical assignment and quizzes.

Information technologies (IT) and systems have emerged as the primary platform to support communication, collaboration, research, decision making, and problem solving in contemporary health organisations. The essential necessity for students to acquire the fundamental knowledge and skills for applying IT effectively for a wide range of tasks is widely recognised. This is an introductory unit of study which prepares students in the Health discipline to develop the necessary knowledge, skills and abilities to be competent in the use of information technology for solving a variety of problems. The main focus of this unit is on modelling and problem solving through the effective use of using IT. Students will learn how to navigate independently to solve their problems on their own, and to be capable of fully applying the power of IT tools in the service of their goals in their own health domains while not losing sight of the fundamental concepts of computing. Students are taught core skills related to general purpose computing involving a range of software tools such as spreadsheets, database management systems, internet search engine. Students will undertake practical tasks including scripting languages and building a small scale application for managing information. In addition, the course will address the issues arising from the wide-spread use of information technology in a variety of Health area.

This is a compulsory unit for all postgraduate students who do not hold a law degree or equivalent from a common law jurisdiction entering the: Master of Administrative Law and Policy; Master of Business Law; Master of Environmental Law; Master of Environmental Science and Law; Master of Global Law; Master of Health Law; Master of International Business and Law; Master of Labour Law and Relations; Master of Law and International Development as well as Graduate Diplomas offered in these programs. The unit has been designed to equip students with the necessary legal skills and legal knowledge to competently apply themselves in their chosen area of law. Instruction will cover the legislative process; the judiciary and specialist tribunals; precedent; court hierarchies; legal reasoning; constitutional law; administrative law; contracts; and torts. Some elements of the unit will be tailored in accordance with the requirements of the particular specialist programs.

This unit provides an introduction to key topics in public health law, and a foundation for further study in this field. It begins by exploring the use of law - both historically and conceptually - as a tool for protecting the public's health, for responding to health risks and implementing strategies designed to promote public health. It reviews the sources of public health law, considers the strategies that law can deploy to protect and promote health, as well as debates about the appropriate limits for law in the protection of public health in a liberal democracy.
The unit also provides a review of the law's role within several critical areas, including: acute public health threats (with a focus on SARS, pandemic influenza, and bioterrorism); sexual health and STIs; and tobacco control.
Key topics include: The definition and role of public health law; Case studies illustrating the sources of public health law; The legal framework for managing pandemic influenza and other acute public health threats; An introduction to tobacco control law; and Law's role in promoting sexual health.
Throughout the unit, students will be trained to identify legal issues and to explore their health significance, or impact on population health. Students will be encouraged and expected to critically evaluate the success of public health laws and their underlying strategies for protecting and promoting health. Students will also explore the tension between the public health interest, and competing public and private interests.
Students wishing to extend their knowledge of public health law can enrol in the companion unit, LAWS6848 Law and Healthy Lifestyles. These units comprise a core program in public health law.

This unit is about legal and regulatory responses to tobacco use, obesity, poor diet, harmful use of alcohol and sedentary lifestyle - the leading causes of preventable disease in Australia, in high-income countries generally, and increasingly, in developing economies. Cancer, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and tobacco-related diseases (known as 'non-communicable diseases' or NCDs) are society's greatest killers. But what can law do - and what should law be doing - to prevent them? Unlike other health threats, NCDs and their risk factors are partly caused by consumer choices that are lived out every day across the country. The challenge of encouraging healthier lifestyles cannot be separated, then, from the regulation of the businesses that all too often have a vested interest in unhealthy lifestyles. Law's relationship with smoking, alcohol and food is complex and contested. Nevertheless, governments around the world are experimenting with a wide range of legal strategies to encourage healthier lifestyles. This unit will focus on developments in Australia and the United States, placing legal developments in these countries in an international context. During the course, we will confront some important over-arching questions. What are the global determinants of NCDs, and to what extent are global solutions needed? What do global solutions look like? To what extent should law intervene to influence the behaviour of populations-as distinct from treating lifestyle-related risk factors as the personal responsibility of each individual? Does a regulatory approach to the prevention of NCDs imply coercion? Does it signal the emergence of the 'nanny state'? Does progress depend on motivating people to consciously improve their habits and lifestyles? Is it possible to regulate business without micro-managing or dictating commercial decisions and 'legislating the recipe for tomato ketchup?' Throughout the unit, students will be encouraged to explore the tension between personal responsibility and freedom, and the broader public interest in a healthy population and a productive economy. Key topics include: Frameworks for thinking about law, and environments that support healthier lifestyles; Global health governance and the prevention of non-communicable diseases; Tobacco control: where to from here? Personal responsibility for health, and law's role; Regulating alcohol; Obesity prevention; and Law's role in improving diet and nutrition, and encouraging active living.

This unit introduces key concepts in health communication. Students will explore micro- and macro-level theories of health (behaviour) communication that inform the design and implementation of health communication campaigns, planned and unplanned effects of communication campaigns, and the evaluation of such campaigns. It aims to give students a critical and practical understanding of theory and research concerning the role of communication in health promotion efforts.

This unit aims to provide an overview of common health issues and emerging travel-related diseases, with a general look at prevention and control of these problems for travellers or those intending to work in tropical or resource-poor settings for a significant period of time. Travel/public health regulations associated with outbreaks and disasters are also addressed. During the short course, students will also explore issues such as pre-travel preparations, protection from vector-borne diseases and vaccinations. The teaching method is face-to-face teaching only. Attendance is compulsory.

This unit gives candidates an insight into the prevention and control of communicable diseases in developing countries using country-specific examples presented by professionals with field experience. The unit covers tropical diseases (including schistosomiasis and leprosy), as well as vector-borne conditions (including yellow fever and dengue), zoonoses and emerging infectious diseases such as pandemic influenza and Ebolavirus disease

This unit aims to give students an overview of the health status of women and children in developing countries. It also examines causes of major health problems and approaches to improving the health of women and children in developing countries. The unit covers a variety of issues in women's and children's health, including approaches to prevention of maternal and fetal, neonatal and child mortality, , mother to child HIV transmission, women and violence, family planning, diarrhoeal disease, pneumonia, and vaccine preventable diseases.

This unit aims to provide an integrated and interpretive approach to an understanding of health-related behaviours of populations in international settings, by synthesizing anthropological knowledge and methodology, and the interactions of culture, biology, psychology and environment. The teaching process is by student-led, lecturer-guided, discussion based review and critical analysis of relevant topics. During the unit, students will explore a range of issues in global and multicultural health from an anthropological perspective. Methodological approaches will encompass ethnography and other anthropological data collection methods. The issues covered will include cultural influences on health, illness and healing, such as indigenous and traditional beliefs and systems, gender and cultural change and the impact of modernization and development on illness and healing. The impact examines disease and illness patterns - their distribution and persistence, mental illness and culture and attitudes towards the use of medications; and the provision of culturally sensitive and appropriate services. The emphasis will be on covering a range of topic areas relevant to the students enrolled, and those of particular importance in contemporary international and multicultural health contexts.

This unit aims to provide candidates with an understanding of the causes and control of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) with a focus on low and middle income countries (LMIC). These diseases are associated with social and economic development and the demographic and health transitions. Topics covered in the unit include cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancer, primary health care in relation to NCDs, health promotion for NCDs and approaches to NCD research in developing countries. Lectures are given by health professionals with direct experience of NCD control in LMICs.

This unit offers a detailed and evidence-based assessment of the global HIV situation to equip students with the latest understanding of HIV distribution and trends globally, its social and economic implications, the measures being taken to prevent and treat HIV and AIDS, the gaps that need to be addressed in HIV control, and the politics around global HIV issues. Examples from different parts of the world, particularly less developed settings, are used to illustrate key issues influencing the HIV control agenda globally. Emphasis is placed on developing a critical and analytical approach to assessing the HIV situation and developing interventions for its control.

This unit gives students an overview of public health aspects of humanitarian emergencies in developing country situations and the range of appropriate responses. This includes considering problems faced by government and non-government organisations in humanitarian emergency relief efforts. Topics covered in the unit include international and human rights law, the role of donor agencies, refugee health, nutritional emergencies, site planning for refugee camps, water and sanitation, sexual violence, protection of vulnerable groups, and communicable disease surveillance and control.

This unit aims to present an overview and critique of mental disorders in an international context. It covers broad issues related to the classification of disorders, their prevalence and population burden and their determinants. While the focus of the module is on international epidemiology, the course also aims to promote understanding of the economic and humanitarian implications of the burden of mental and substance use disorders for prevention, treatment and health policy. The unit will cover what a mental disorder is, how frequent and how disabling mental disorders are and what the major correlates and determinants of mental disorders are,with a focus on health policy.

Health systems are complex and multi-faceted. Successful health systems require attention to political economy, governance, institutions, and local context. This unit will cover health systems in developing countries to equip students with a conceptual understanding and a set of tools to address major public health challenges from a health systems perspective. With a focus on evidence-based decision making, the unit will provide an understanding of health systems including specific topics such as health workforce, financing, service delivery, information systems and policy, and how these impact health interventions and health status in less developed countries. A multi-sectoral, integrated model will be used to understand the varied aspects of development challenges related to health systems. A case study approach will then provide students with concrete examples of health systems challenges and will strengthen students' ability to view health problems in a holistic, multi-faceted manner. The unit will provide students with the tools needed to make a practical difference in health systems in less developed countries with emphasis on implementation of health projects and bringing interventions to scale.

The aim of this unit is to provide students with insights into the major nutrition-related public health problems in low- and middle-income countries; knowledge and practical skills about nutritional assessment; and the design and evaluation of nutritional interventions. The content areas include an overview of nutrition as a major determinant of health and disease; methods to assess community nutritional status; the impact of maternal and child under-nutrition on mortality and overall disease burden; design and evaluation of effective interventions; issues surrounding food security; agriculture and nutrition; and nutrition policies and resources. The unit is taught in two 2-day workshops, with the first workshop focusing on nutritional assessment and major nutrition-related public health problems in low- and middle-income countries, and the second workshop focusing on design and evaluation of interventions. On completion students should be able to recognise key nutritional problems facing low- and middle-income countries; have acquired knowledge and practical skills as to how these problems can be assessed; and gained insights into a number of different multi-sectoral approaches to address these problems.

Effective international health projects management contributes to the achievement of health and development in developing countries. The Unit aims to give students a good understanding of the concepts and key elements of project design and evaluation, and to demonstrate tools and techniques used in effective project management at different stages. A detailed step by step application of the Logical Framework Approach (LFA) in project design will be presented, including stakeholder analysis, problem and objective analysis, and the logframe matrix. The Unit also gives students an opportunity for hands-on practice through the design of a project in an international setting and allows them to consider the challenges and practical issues faced by people involved in international health project management. The key topic areas covered include: concepts and principles of international project management; context and situation analysis; the LFA for project design; project management functions including managing information, resources, risk, quality and change; and project monitoring and evaluation. At the end of the course, students should be able to: identify the key aspects of the LFA to project design; develop a project proposal in international settings; recognise challenges and practical issues faced by people involved in international health project management; and apply a systematic approach to project planning and management in international settings.

The aim of this unit of study is to teach the academic writing skills expected of graduates of Public Health and International Public Health courses. The ability to write clearly and effectively communicate information concerning public health is a key expectation of our graduates The emphasis in this unit is on writing assignments. Based on feedback from academics experienced in marking, it will address common areas of difficulty, for example structuring an argument and referencing and citing correctly. In interactive tutorials, we will analyse sample texts related to public health and collaboratively write new ones. These activities will be supplemented by online exercises to practice relevant grammar skills. Please note: This unit of study is intended for students whose first language is not English or who did not receive an English-language tertiary education. It is not intended for native English speakers who wish to perfect their academic writing.

This unit of study introduces students to the concepts and principles underlying, and issues associated with, nutrition in community and public health contexts. It covers the principles of health promotion and teaches the students how to plan, implement and evaluate nutrition promotion strategies. The scope and distribution of chronic diseases and the role of nutrition in the etiology of diseases such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes and obesity is examined. This unit of study also investigates the food habits of culturally and linguistically diverse groups, nutritional intakes and requirements of people across the lifespan, and the current nutrition policies and guidelines aimed at preventing chronic diseases.

This unit of study will evaluate the burden and impact of chronic diseases on Australian society, and the local and international chronic disease models and programs that have been developed. Students will explore the principles of chronic disease prevention and management, including relevant evidence-based decision-making processes and practices, the concepts of self-management, and coordinated, quality care. The National Health Priority Areas of arthritis and musculoskeletal conditions, asthma, cancer control, cardiovascular health, diabetes mellitus, injury prevention and control, mental health, and obesity will be examined from both population and personal illness experience perspectives. Unit content will be informed by person-centred, interdisciplinary approaches to care and service delivery as these relate to the management of chronic conditions.

This unit provides students with core skills in epidemiology, particularly the ability to critically appraise public health and clinical epidemiological research literature. This unit covers: study types; measures of frequency and association; measurement bias; confounding/effect modification; randomized trials; systematic reviews; screening and test evaluation; infectious disease outbreaks; measuring public health impact and use and interpretation of population health data. It is expected that students spend an additional 2-3 hours at least preparing for their tutorials.

This unit aims to provide students with an introduction to statistical concepts, their use and relevance in public health. This unit covers descriptive analyses to summarise and display data; concepts underlying statistical inference; basic statistical methods for the analysis of continuous and binary data; and statistical aspects of study design. Specific topics include: sampling; probability distributions; sampling distribution of the mean; confidence interval and significance tests for one-sample, two paired samples and two independent samples for continuous data and also binary data; correlation and simple linear regression; distribution-free methods for two paired samples, two independent samples and correlation; power and sample size estimation for simple studies; statistical aspects of study design and analysis. Students will be required to perform analyses using a calculator and will also be required to conduct analyses using statistical software (SPSS). It is expected that students spend an additional 2 hours per week preparing for their tutorials. Computing tasks are self-directed.

This unit aims to provide students with specific information on the concepts, methods and applications underpinning cancer prevention and control at population level. It is designed to address specific educational needs of students in various programs within the School of Public Health and to offer a broad-based perspective on cancer control, ranging from primary prevention, screening and early intervention, tertiary prevention and palliative care. Emphasis will be given to cancers with the greatest impact at population level and where evidence demonstrates that policies and interventions are capable of reducing cancer incidence, mortality, prolonging survival and improving quality of life. Although focusing on specific Australian conditions, the information will be presented in the context of regional and global cancer control efforts. At the completion of the unit, students will be equipped with the basic tools to design, plan, implement and evaluate cancer control programs in Australia or other countries.

This course offers a broad-based integrated perspective on chronic disease prevention. The course reviews the epidemiology of selected chronic diseases with the highest impact at population level in Australia (cardiovascular diseases; cancer; chronic lung disease; diabetes and chronic renal disease). The information will focus on Australian settings, but presented within the context of a regional perspective of chronic disease prevention.
Teaching will focus on the interrelationships between the biological and epidemiological aspects of chronic diseases, the interplay between determinants of health and chronic disease, and the balance between high risk and population based strategies for reducing disease burden, and exploring their applicability to disease prevention. Students will be involved in evaluating the effectiveness of different prevention strategies and will examine the role of health policy in developing effective and sustainable chronic disease management programs in different settings (in Australia and the region).

This unit will build on introductory public health core units of study, and apply them to consideration of global obesity as a public health problem. The unit will develop students' skills in approaches to obesity monitoring, prevention programs and policies, extending research methods, critical appraisal skills, introductory health promotion and disease prevention in MPH. Students will develop an understanding of surveillance systems to monitor obesity, and develop skills in evidence based obesity prevention interventions in diverse social, cultural and community contexts. The course will include discussions of policies and international approaches to obesity prevention, as part of non-communicable disease prevention and control.

This course will build on introductory public health core units of study and apply them to an examination of physical activity and public health. The epidemiological and other evidence for health and social benefits and reasons for activity will be considered, as well as evidence-based strategies and settings for increasing physical activity at the population level. The course will consider the differences between local level 'exercise programs' and large scale public efforts, and develop an understanding of policy and advocacy as applied to physical activity promotion.

This unit focuses on mass-reach public health campaigns used to promote health and prevent disease. Building on introductory Masters of Public Health units of study in health promotion/disease prevention [or equivalent], this unit describes the rationale for mass-media led campaigns, social marketing interventions, and how they fit into a comprehensive approach to population health promotion and chronic disease prevention. The major themes covered are the principles of mass-reach communications in public health; designing campaigns [formative evaluation]; developing public health campaigns as part of comprehensive health promotion; understanding the messages, branding and marketing of campaigns; process and impact evaluation of campaigns; the differences between campaigns and social marketing initiatives; and the role of ancillary and supportive health promotion strategies, including media placement and advocacy. The Unit will equip students with skills to plan, design, implement and evaluate public health campaigns.

This unit of study is taught over two days of residential workshop and is an introduction to public health program evaluation principles. It builds on core MPH methods subjects, but extends learning objectives to develop skills in practical and applied public health and health promotion program planning, evaluation and research methods. Both qualitative and quantitative methods will be used in program evaluation discussions, but the major focus will be on measuring the implementation of programs, and assessing program impact. There is an emphasis on evaluating 'real world' programs that address chronic disease prevention and health promotion, but other broad public health content areas will also be used as examples. The unit comprises four areas of discussion, including the [i] principles of evaluation; [ii] research designs and methodological issues for community and applied public health settings; [iii] methods for measuring program impact and outcomes; and [iv] the principles of research translation and dissemination. Attendance at the two days of residential teaching is compulsory for participants.

The unit provides students with a broad understanding of key public health nutrition practices and principles which will enable them to better understand and address population nutrition issues. There will be a strong focus on understanding dietary intake assessment and the use of data generated from nutrition surveys to improve the understanding of nutrition epidemiological studies and the relationship between diet and chronic disease. The concept of nutrition environments will be central to the exploration of community nutrition status and how dietary interventions are planned and evaluated. Global and local food and nutrition policy issues will be addressed and related to sustainability and environmental health concerns. The teaching approach involves class interaction and provides opportunities for self-reflection

This unit provides a critical overview of foundational aspects of public health, introducing fundamental concepts and conceptual and historical contexts through which to view contemporary issues in public health. The unit begins with a review of human health status through history and the changing roles and major challenges that drove development of modern public health theory and practice. It then provides an overview of contemporary challenges in public health policy and program development through exposure to leading commentators, activists and theoreticians on public health. It culminates with an anticipation of major problems that public health practitioners will be challenged with over the near future (5-20 years).The particular problems of societal inequities as drivers of health status, and the importance of multi-disciplinary approaches to contemporary health problems are emphasised.

This unit introduces students to the methods by which evidence is translated, used and abused when governments make decisions affecting public health. Students will become familiar with the main tools used by health economists and policy analysts. The unit will emphasize the role of different forms of evidence and values for priority-setting and policy-making.
Unit technical content is unified by common themes and case studies. Students will apply methods and principles of health economics e.g. resource scarcity, opportunity cost, efficiency and equity to practical real-life examples (including specific indigenous health issues) to critically consider the role of economic evidence in health decision-making in Australia.
Students will then use policy analysis methods to critically examine the Australian health care system and decision-making in public health. The unit will pay particular attention to questions of power and equity, including the position of indigenous peoples. Finally, it will look at how evidence is framed and used in decision-making.
Teaching will make use of contemporary case studies so students learn how technical analytical tools are used in practical examples of policy development, decision-making and public debate.
The unit gives public health students an essential basic knowledge of both disciplines (health economics and health policy) and lays the groundwork for more advanced studies.

This core unit of study introduces students to evidence-based health promotion as a fundamental approach to preventing disease and reducing health inequalities in populations. The unit is divided into three modules: (i) principles underpinning disease prevention and health promotion, (ii) evidence-based prioritising for disease prevention and health promotion programs, and (iii) evaluating disease prevention and health promotion programs. It will develop students' skills in: identifying opportunities for prevention and setting prevention and health promotion priorities; planning and prioritising evidence-based programs, and; measuring the implementation of programs and evaluating the impact of programs on population health. The unit will critically examine diverse characteristics of disease prevention and health promotion programs, including behaviour change programs, community development-, environmental-, and policy- based programs. Students will develop an understanding of approaches used to enhance inter-sectoral action and partnerships, and community participation and consultation. The role of translation of research into policy and practice to enhance public health impact will also be explored. The unit will also illustrate how the principles of prevention and health promotion are applied in Aboriginal health promotion settings.

This unit provides students with an opportunity to draw together and integrate their learning in core and elective Public Health units and apply this to a project relevant to employment in public health. Students will develop a practical or hypothetical project and literature review largely as an individual self-directed activity but will work within a supported, group-based environment with an academic as topic leader. The nature of the project can be a research proposal (quantitative or qualitative methods), a public health program plan or evaluation, a policy analysis, an extended rapid review, an environmental impact assessment or data analysis, amongst others. Topic areas are also wide-ranging and include obesity and physical activity, injury, environmental health, work-related disorders, mental health, communicable diseases, cancer and tobacco control. Learning is supported by a one-day workshop, literature review training, group meetings (face-to-face or online) and a study guide.

This unit gives high-achieving students who have completed their MPH and have an average weighted mark of 75% or more in their first 24 units of coursework the opportunity to undertake a supervised work placement in a Public Health institution. Places are limited and selection of candidates will be based on academic merit. During this placement you will undertake a project which will make a useful contribution to the workplace. Your project proposal, the project or portfolio itself and your reflection on your progress towards it will form part of your assessment for the unit.
The placement will consist of a minimum of 216 hours' work in a practice placement, that is approximately 6 weeks' full-time work (or equivalent part-time work). Initially placements will only be possible in Australia, although this may change in the future. The Public Health institutions would normally be located outside university environments. Examples include NSW Department of Health Public Health Units or Health Promotion Units, government supported agencies such as the Sax Institute and Family Planning NSW, and non-government organisations such as NSW Cancer Council or advocacy groups.

This unit gives high-achieving students who have completed their MPH and have an average weighted mark of 75% or more in their first 24 units of coursework the opportunity to undertake a supervised work placement in a Public Health institution. Places are limited and selection of candidates will be based on academic merit. During this placement you will undertake a project which will make a useful contribution to the workplace. Your project proposal, the project or portfolio itself and your reflection on your progress towards it will form part of your assessment for the two related units (PUBH5041 and PUBH5042).
The placement will consist of a minimum of 216 hours' work in a practice placement, that is approximately 6 weeks' full-time work (or equivalent part-time work). Initially placements will only be possible in Australia, although this may change in the future. The Public Health institutions would normally be located outside university environments. Examples include NSW Department of Health Public Health Units or Health Promotion Units, government supported agencies such as the Sax Institute and Family Planning NSW, and non-government organisations such as NSW Cancer Council or advocacy groups.

This unit gives high-achieving students who have completed their MPH and have an average weighted mark of 75% or more in their first 24 units of coursework the opportunity to undertake a supervised work placement in a Public Health institution. Places are limited and selection of candidates will be based on academic merit. During this placement you will undertake a project which will make a useful contribution to the workplace. Your project proposal, the project or portfolio itself and your reflection on your progress towards it will form part of your assessment for the two related units (PUBH5041 and PUBH5042).
The placement will consist of a minimum of 216 hours' work in a practice placement, that is approximately 6 weeks' full-time work (or equivalent part-time work). Initially placements will only be possible in Australia, although this may change in the future. The Public Health institutions would normally be located outside university environments. Examples include NSW Department of Health Public Health Units or Health Promotion Units, government supported agencies such as the Sax Institute and Family Planning NSW, and non-government organisations such as NSW Cancer Council or advocacy groups.

Health equity refers to systemic and socially patterned differences in health which are unnecessary and avoidable but are considered unfair and unjust. Healthcare systems are generally concerned with a fair and socially just distribution of the access to and finance of health care, so that the health outcomes are distributed equally across society. Therefore, the underlying approach to the allocation of healthcare resources in such systems is the notion that healthcare should be allocated on an equitable basis according to the needs of the population. This unit of study will enable the participant to understand the concept of health equity, to differentiate between horizontal and vertical equity, to understand the impact of different methods of healthcare financing on equity, and to understand how inequalities in healthcare are measured. The concept of intervention generated inequalities (IGIs) will be introduced, with analysis of interventions designed to improve health equity. The unit of study, using quantitative methods, is aligned with the Health Economics/Health Policy Pathway.

This unit is intended for students nearing the end of their MPH. The aim of this unit is to systematically complete a self-directed project in one of the main content areas of the course. This project may be developed by the student or the student could develop a project in consultation with an intended supervisor. Students should contact an academic staff member associated with the area of their project and negotiate the details of the project design and the method and frequency of contact with the supervisor during the project. The student would be expected to undertake approximately 80 to 100 hours of work for this unit.

This unit is intended for students nearing the end of their MPH. The aim of this unit is to systematically complete a self-directed project in one of the main content areas of the course. Students should contact an academic staff member associated with the area of their project and negotiate the details of the project design and the method and frequency of contact with the supervisor during the project. The student would be expected to undertake approximately 40 to 50 hours of work for this unit.

The unit will explore the major categories of environmental health hazards including air quality, water quality, chemical hazards (eg soils and contaminated sites), physical hazards (eg noise and radiation), microbiological hazards (eg Legionnaires' disease) and food safety. Regional and global issues of sustainability, climate change and land use planning will also be covered. The unit aims to develop an understanding of environmental health hazard identification and risk assessment, as well as the principles of hazard control. The disciplines of epidemiology, toxicology and ecology will be applied within a risk assessment framework to characterise health risks associated with environmental hazards and determine risk management options and risk communication strategies. Students completing this unit will appreciate the multi-disciplinary nature of environmental health hazards, the application of a risk assessment framework to characterise environmental health risks, and the need to work closely with a broad range of stakeholders including commonwealth and state health and environment agencies, local government, industry and the community.

This unit aims to assist students in developing an evidence-based understanding of the epidemiology of alcohol and drug use and its impact on health, and the effectiveness of methods for prevention and management of related problems. This fuller drug and alcohol elective covers all the content of PUBH5115 and goes on to assist the student to develop more advanced skills in research and in management of clinical services in relation to alcohol and drug use disorders, and to examine the needs of special populations.

This unit aims to assist students in developing an evidence-based understanding of the epidemiology of alcohol and drug use and its impact on health, and the effectiveness of methods for the prevention and management of related problems.

This unit caters for practitioners, policy and decision-makers, students and researchers in public health, public policy, journalism, law, epidemiology, medicine, science, industry, ethics, philosophy, communication and advocacy. It gives a basic introduction to genetics and genetic epidemiology and covers issues like genetic determinants of disease, genetic testing and screening, psychosocial, legal and ethical aspects of genetics and genetic testing, genetic education and genetics and public policy.

This fully online unit aims to provide students with an understanding of the burden of communicable diseases of public health significance in Australia, as well as the biology, epidemiology and surveillance for and control of those communicable diseases. By the end of this unit, the student will have the theoretical background to take up a position as a member of a Communicable Diseases section of a Commonwealth or State Health Department or Public Health Unit. It is expected that the students undertake an extra hour per week of reading, research and preparation for discussion.

Health promotion in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities requires investment in building the human capital and capabilities of the population within a paradigm of hope. You will first acquire an understanding of the distal, medial and proximal determinants of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and the subsequent risk factors that have resulted in high rates of morbidity and mortality. You will also learn how to ethically engage with and consult Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and understand how the often unintentional misuse of power can deny disadvantaged people the right to take control of their health and wellbeing. You will then work with an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health promotion professional to apply these skills and understanding in a compulsory workshop. The outcome will be a draft a health promotion plan that addresses a specific priority health issue in a specific urban, regional or remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community. The conceptual and technical tools learned may then be built upon and applied to any health issue in any Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander setting.

This unit examines quantitative approaches to public health and clinical decision-making. Topics of study include: decision trees and health-related utility assessment; incorporating diagnostic information in decision making; sensitivity and threshold analysis; and application of decision analysis to economic evaluation. Students gain practical skills using decision analysis software via computer practicals undertaken within Sessions 4 and 5. The assessment quiz (20%) is conducted in the first part of Session 5. Exercises are set at the end of most sessions and are reviewed at the start of the following session. Readings are also set after most sessions. Preparation time for each session is 1-2 hours.

This unit introduces the principles underpinning the design and conduct of high quality clinical trials to generate good evidence for health care decision making. The topics include clinical trial design, randomization, sample size, measures of treatment effect, methodological issues, trial protocols, and ethical principles. The unit is delivered over 2 full days via formal lectures followed by practical sessions. The unit may also be completed online.

Students will learn how to analyse data using multiple linear regression. Multiple linear regression is a powerful statistical method for analysing a continuous outcome variable with several explanatory variables. In particular, this unit will cover how to compare more than two groups, adjust for confounders, test for effect modification, calculate adjusted means, conduct appropriate model checking, and teaches strategies for selecting the 'best' regression model. Students will learn how to apply these methods using the statistical package called SAS. In this unit, each topic is covered by a one hour statistics lecture, a one hour SAS lecture, a one hour SAS practical and a one hour statistics tutorial to discuss the interpretation of the results. Each fortnight there is an exercise on the material covered in the statistics lecture. The SAS practical covers the necessary statistical computing to answer the questions for the tutorial the following week. The assignments will involve practical analysis and interpretation of a data set. This unit is the prerequiste for learning other types of regression models, such as logistic regression (PUBH5212) and survival analysis (PUBH5213).

In this unit the biostatistical concepts covered in earlier units are extended to cover analysis of epidemiological studies where the outcome variable is categorical. Topics of study include: testing for trend in a 2 x r contingency table; the Mantel-Haenszel test for the combination of several 2 x 2 tables, with estimation of the combined odds ratio and confidence limits; multiple logistic regression; Poisson regression; modelling strategy. The assignments will involve practical analysis and interpretation of categorical data. Data analyses will be conducted using statistical software (SAS).

During this unit, students learn to analyse data from studies in which individuals are followed up until a particular event occurs, e.g. death, cure, relapse, making use of follow-up data also for those who do not experience the event. This unit covers: Kaplan-Meier life tables; logrank test to compare two or more groups; Cox's proportional hazards regression model; checking the proportional hazards assumption; and sample size calculations for survival studies. For each topic participants are given some material to read beforehand. This is followed by a lecture, then participants are given one or two exercises to do for the following week. These exercises are discussed in the tutorial at the next session before moving on to the next topic. That is, in most weeks the first hour is a tutorial and the lecture is given in the second hour. Participants are expected to run SAS programs in their own time. Preparation time for each session is 2-3 hours. The assignments both involve use of SAS to analyse a set of survival data.

This unit introduces the topic of linked health data analysis. It will usually run in late June and late November. The topic is a very specialised one and will not be relevant to most MPH students. The modular structure of the unit provides students with a theoretical grounding in the classroom on each topic, followed by hands-on practical exercises in the computing lab using de-identified linked NSW data files. The computing component assumes a basic familiarity with SAS computing syntax and methods of basic statistical analysis of fixed-format data files. Contents include: an overview of the theory of data linkage methods and features of comprehensive data linkage systems, sufficient to know the sources and limitations of linked health data sets; design of linked data studies using epidemiological principles; construction of numerators and denominators used for the analysis of disease trends and health care utilisation and outcomes; assessment of the accuracy and reliability of data sources; data linkage checking and quality assurance of the study process; basic statistical analyses of linked longitudinal health data; manipulation of large linked data files; writing syntax to prepare linked data files for analysis, derive exposure and outcome variables, relate numerators and denominators and produce results from statistical procedures at an introductory to intermediate level. The main assignment involves the analysis of NSW linked data, which can be done only in the School of Public Health Computer Lab, and is due 10 days after the end of the unit.

This unit of study is intended for students who have completed Epidemiology Methods and Uses (or an equivalent unit of study) at a credit or higher level. It is designed to provide students with an opportunity to consolidate critical appraisal skills, to acquire the practical knowledge and skills needed to design epidemiological research, and to extend students' theoretical knowledge of epidemiology beyond basic principles.

This unit aims to develop students' knowledge and skills of economic evaluation as an aid to priority setting in health care. This unit covers: principles of economic evaluation; critical appraisal guidelines; measuring and valuing benefits; methods of costing; modeling in economic evaluation. The workshops consist of interactive lectures and class exercises.

The aims of this unit are to provide students with an understanding of the concepts, application and analytical techniques of more advanced methods of health economic evaluation and with practical working knowledge of how to conduct economic evaluations using stochastic and deterministic data. This unit will focus on students developing the hands-on skills of conducting economic evaluations, included detailed practical instruction in the use of decision analytic software such as TreeAge and Excel. The format will be in face to face workshops with lectures followed by computer based exercises directly relating to the lectures. The broad topic areas covered are: 1) analysis of health outcomes including survival and quality of life measures 2) analysis of costs 3) economic modeling, including conduct of sensitivity analyses (one way, multi-way and probabilistic sensitivity analysis) and 4) presenting and interpreting results of cost effectiveness analyses.

This unit will examine the major mechanisms of health workforce planning in Australia. The nature of the Australian health workforce will be considered, and the processes by which planning is influenced through government policy and research translated and integrated with policy. Current health workforce issues such as adequacy of education and training programs, ageing, and the distribution of the workforce will be addressed. Current approaches to planning for an adequate health workforce, and evaluations of the quality of evidence on current health workforce models of care will be examined using practical examples.

Translational Health introduces the main existing translational methods and models in healthcare, most of which focus on 'knowledge translation' and 'bringing evidence into practice', i.e. on moving results from the basic sciences through clinical and public health science and guidelines into clinical and public health decision and policy making. Most of these models diagnose the problem of 'loss in translation' in terms of institutional and professional barriers and blocks along the translation pathways. While acknowledging these, Translational Health focuses on the modelling method - the 'language' and 'vocabulary' - most likely to perform the translation task effectively in relation to patient-centered practice. The technique underlying the method is Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (in contrast to conventional Decision Analysis) and the template for its practical implementation is the Annalisa 2.0+ software. It is shown how high quality clinical and public health decision making needs to be based on 'values translation' as well as 'knowledge translation'. And how the approach can facilitate the desirable 'backwards translation' to ensure research is practice-relevant in both content and format. Students choose from a set of topics within which to pursue the principles, follow empirical examples and develop their own analyses in a practicum.

This unit aims to provide students with a clear understanding of the magnitude of the injury burden, both in higher and lower income countries, and the strategies that are required to address this burden. This unit will cover: injury definitions, measurement and surveillance; risk factor identification; intervention strategies and their evaluation; advocacy; cause-specific injury topics. During the 2 day workshop, guest speakers will outline issues relevant to the general injury prevention field and students will participate in interactive small group work which will focus on issues relevant to cause-specific injuries, in collaboration with guest contributors.

The aim of this unit is to provide students with an understanding of immunisation principles, the impact of vaccination on the epidemiology of vaccine preventable diseases (VPDs), how to assess the need for new vaccines and how to implement and monitor a new vaccination program. This unit covers the history and impact of vaccination; basic immunological principles of immunisation; surveillance of diseases, vaccination coverage, vaccine effectiveness and adverse events; vaccine scares; risk communication; immunisation in the developing country context; assessing disease burden and new vaccines. Learning activities include short online preparatory lectures and a workshop with interactive lectures and small group case studies.

This one-semester online unit teaches students about the principles of injury epidemiology, prevention and control. It provides a basis for the assessment and investigation of injury issues and the development, implementation and evaluation of injury prevention programs. The unit will cover: injury measurement and classification (descriptive methods); risk factor identification (analytic methods); evidence-based interventions for injury prevention; priority setting in injury control; injury prevention policy; strategies in injury control; implementing strategies in injury control; program evaluation in injury prevention; injury and Indigenous Australians and an international perspective on injury. During this unit, students will: gain an understanding of the epidemiology of injury, including the burden of injury, injury surveillance, methods for estimating the frequency and severity of injury, and methods for identifying risk factors; gain an understanding of the theories underpinning injury prevention and illustrate their application; develop an appreciation of the process of priority setting in injury, the design and implementation of injury prevention interventions, and the principles and conduct of evaluations.

The unit consists of learning topics, each of which is supported by extensive Web based resources, and 4 moderated online discussion forums, each focusing on a problem related to tobacco use and control. Lecture topics include: history of tobacco use and control; the burden of illness from tobacco use; secondhand smoke: the research evidence; measuring tobacco use, uptake and cessation in communities; international trends in tobacco consumption; the tobacco industry; the WHO's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and new forms of tobacco advertising and promotion. Problem focused discussion forums include: Harm reduction and tobacco control, regulation of tobacco, improving and implementing pack warnings; promoting smoking cessation, prevention of uptake (youth programs); denormalisation of the tobacco industry; controlling advertising; and controlling exposure to tobacco smoke, making news on tobacco and influencing political policy on tobacco.

This fully online unit aims to teach students about the principles of falls prevention in the older person with an emphasis on the application of these principles in the field. This unit will focus on risk factors for falls and the development, implementation and evaluation of fall prevention programs. Students will learn about and discuss research methods for the understanding of, prediction of, and prevention of falls, critically evaluate journal articles, and discuss the development of fall prevention programs using case studies.

Students will have the opportunity to critique and analyse case studies from a variety of both successful and unsuccessful public health advocacy examples. There will be an emphasis on how online environments and social media tools are contributing to public health advocacy debates and campaigns. Recent examples of how online media have influenced health policy and programming will be presented. Students will examine and prepare writing for online media such as news, blogs, and social media. The lectures will include guest speakers from non-government organisations, government and other experienced stakeholders from across the public heath sector.

This unit will provide students with an understanding of the individual and societal risks of healthcare-associated infections (HAI) and the rationale for, and barriers to, their prevention and control (PC). A basic understanding of medical microbiology and communicable disease epidemiology will be assumed. The unit will cover such important concepts as: ethical and economic implications; psychological, behavioural, cultural and professional influences; the varying roles, responsibilities and perspectives of clinicians, health support staff, administrators, patients and the community; potential uses and implications of new technology (such as information and decision support systems, electronic medical records and highly discriminatory microbial strain typing, including whole genome sequencing) in HAI surveillance. The course will also address the rationales and strategies for implementation of HAI-related policies, such as hand hygiene, aseptic technique and antimicrobial stewardship, and some reasons for and consequences of failure to implement them, for individual patients, the health system and the community.

In this unit, students will develop a critical awareness of the determinants of effective communication, particularly in relation to health risks to the individual and to society. The first half covers individual health risk communication in clinical settings, including: theories of health communication, patient centred care and shared decision making; evidence-based communication skills; research paradigms including interaction analysis; cross-cultural communication in health care; discussing prognosis and informed consent. The second half explores risk communication for public health. We teach theories of risk perception and communication with particular application to public health incident responses. We give practical guides to media messages, risk message framing, public engagement, traditional and social media, and the ethical aspects of public communication. The unit offers students the opportunity to learn from outstanding guest lecturers who work in these areas and interactive opportunities for students to try their skills in risk communication and decision making.

This extension unit of study involves a student project under face-to-face supervision with concurrent online learning. Online content covers advanced concepts on immunisation for children, adolescents and adults. Students will have access to online learning resources such as readings and lectures and will be required to complete compulsory online quizzes over the 12 week semester. Students will also choose a project from a range of project-based activities offered by the NCIRS. Project topics include vaccine policy development; vaccine safety; vaccine effectiveness; evaluation of immunisation programs; immunisation in special populations; implementation of new vaccination programs; social research and latest developments in vaccinology. Students will be jointly supervised by the unit coordinator and other senior researchers associated with the NCIRS. They will work on their project at the NCIRS and have at least 4 compulsory face-to-face meetings with their supervisors across the semester. This includes an initial planning meeting followed by at least two meetings to discuss project progress and a final meeting to give feedback on the draft project report, before submission of the final project report (marked by an independent assessor).Students will spend approximately 6-8 hours/week (x 12 weeks) on the project.

This unit of study provides a comprehensive introduction to qualitative inquiry in health. It is designed for beginners and people who want an advanced-level introduction. Over the course of the unit we will address: What is qualitative research? How is it different from quantitative research? What is its history? What research problems can it address? How do I design a qualitative study? What are the different (and best) ways to generate data? How do you analyse qualitative data? Is methodology different to method? What are ontology and epistemology? What is reflexivity (and aren't qualitative researchers biased)? What are the ethical issues? What is good quality qualitative research? Can I generalise qualitative findings? You will get practical experience and skills through carrying out an observation, participating in a focus group, conducting an interview, analysing data, arguing for qualitative research in health, and appraising the quality of published literature. In both workshops you will meet working qualitative researchers and hear about their projects. This advanced unit will show you a new way of thinking critically about research and researching, and give you the skills and confidence to begin evaluating and doing qualitative research for yourself.

This unit provides an overview of climate change in the context of public health. The unit begins with climate change models and explores causation and the ways in which climate change interacts with human behaviour and population health. It comprises three parts: 1) the scientific evidence, including the history/trend, exposure assessment, and the consequences of climate change and extremes, 2) responses to climate change, including adaptation and mitigation, to build community resilience, and 3) an integrated multi-disciplinary perspective, e.g. international environmental governance and law, environmental economics, and environmental and social injustice, to address climate change and health in a broader concept of sustainability and global change. This unit will provide both Australian and international perspectives on climate change and health, supported by theoretical and empirical research in both developed and developing countries. It will enable students to have a critical thinking about climate change and health. Students will be able to participate debate on climate change and health.

The treatise gives the student an opportunity to produce a written piece of research work that is supervised by an academic member of staff. The aim is for the student to apply the knowledge and skills developed in their coursework to a particular topic or problem in public health. The student will produce a scholarly piece of written work that is suitable for submission to a peer-reviewed journal. As a general guide, the treatise would be completed in three months (or six months part time). The supervisor will help the student select a topic and define the research questions so that the treatise can be completed in this time. ONLY AVAILABLE TO STUDENTS WHO COMMENCED THEIR CANDIDATURE PRIOR TO 2011.

The treatise gives the student an opportunity to produce a written piece of research work that is supervised by an academic member of staff. The aim is for the student to apply the knowledge and skills developed in their coursework to a particular topic or problem in public health. The student will produce a scholarly piece of written work that is suitable for submission to a peer-reviewed journal. As a general guide, the treatise would be completed in three months (or six months part time). The supervisor will help the student select a topic and define the research questions so that the treatise can be completed in this time. ONLY AVAILABLE TO STUDENTS WHO COMMENCED THEIR CANDIDATURE PRIOR TO 2011.

The treatise gives the student an opportunity to produce a written piece of research work that is supervised by an academic member of staff. The aim is for the student to apply the knowledge and skills developed in their coursework to a particular topic or problem in public health. The student will produce a scholarly piece of written work that is suitable for submission to a peer-reviewed journal. As a general guide, the treatise would be completed in three months (or six months part time). The supervisor will help the student select a topic and define the research questions so that the treatise can be completed in this time. ONLY AVAILABLE TO STUDENTS WHO COMMENCED THEIR CANDIDATURE PRIOR TO 2011.

Introducing Qualitative Health Research is perfect if you're a beginner and want to gain an overview of this research approach. Over the course of the unit we will address: What is qualitative research? How is it different from quantitative research? What research problems can it address? How do I design a qualitative study? What are the different (and best) ways to generate data? How do you analyse qualitative data? How are theories used in qualitative research? What is good quality qualitative research? Can I generalise qualitative findings? You will get practical experience and skills through carrying out an observation, participating in a focus group, conducting an interview, analysing data, arguing for qualitative research in health, and appraising the quality of published literature. You will also meet working qualitative researchers and hear about their projects. This introductory Unit will give you the skills and confidence to begin evaluating qualitative literature and doing qualitative research for yourself.

This unit will explore determinants of sexuality from a societal perspective, with particular reference to their potential impacts on public health. It is available in both online and face-to-face modes. Social science theories of sexuality will be considered, and cross-cultural and historical accounts of sexual practices will be reviewed. Particular emphasis will be placed on the impact of diversity, culture, society, environment, life experiences, personal beliefs and health on sexual activity and potential Public Health impacts such as the spread of STIs and HIV. Course content will include diversity; adolescence sexual development; sex education; sexual assault, gender; sexual orientation and sexual behaviour.

This unit aims to provide a public health perspective of the community impact of sexually transmitted infections (STIs). It is available in both online and face to face modes. At the end of this unit, students will be able to understand the underlying principles of the surveillance systems used to monitor STIs; the core risk activity groups involved in the transmission of STIs; how the epidemiologies of STIs vary within and between societies; the public health impacts of STIs; and effective preventative strategies at individual and community levels. Course content will include an introduction to the basic biology of STIs; epidemiology and surveillance methods; STI service delivery considerations; STI/HIV interactions, impact of vulnerable at-risk populations; health promotion for STIs; policy approaches and ethical and legal issues.

This unit aims to provide a public health perspective of the impact of HIV infection. It is available in both online and face to face modes. At the end of this unit, students will be able to understand the underlying principles of the surveillance systems used to monitor HIV infection; the core risk activity groups involved in the transmission of HIV; how the epidemiology of HIV infection varies within and between societies; the public health impacts of HIV infection; and effective prevention strategies. Course content will include an introduction to the basic science of HIV infection; epidemiology and surveillance; sexual blood borne and mother to child transmission; STI/HIV interactions; other methods of transmission; health promotion for HIV; government perspectives and ethical and legal issues.

This unit aims to introduce the constructs of adolescent sexuality, explore the determinants of adolescent sexual health and to discuss the personal and public health implications of adolescent sexuality, with additional emphasis on a deeper exploration of an area of adolescent sexual health that is of particular interest to the student.
At the end of this unit of study, students will be able to describe the biological, developmental and socio-cultural contexts of adolescent sexual health as well as the constructs, challenges and diversities of adolescent sexuality. They will learn techniques used to optimize communication with adolescents and explore legal, ethical and public health implications of adolescent sexuality. They will also understand and describe one area of adolescent sexual health that the student chooses to study in depth from a list of suggestions.
The course is taught fully online using a range of assessments including group discussion, short answer questions and discussions based on case scenarios. It is divided into 6 modules: adolescent sexuality, adolescent sexual health, reproductive health issues in adolescence, diversity, legal and ethical issues and sexual health promotion.

This course aims to provide students with an understanding of fertility control, including hormonal and non-hormonal reversible contraceptive methods, emergency contraception and permanent methods of contraception. At the end of the unit students will be able to: (i) Discuss the available options for controlling fertility, including hormonal and non-hormonal reversible contraceptive methods, emergency contraception and permanent methods of contraception. (ii) Understand the reproductive health needs of women from adolescence through to menopause. (iii) Understand the consequences of unintended pregnancy and describe the options available to women; discuss the impact of unsafe abortion in an international context. (iv) Demonstrate an understanding of the impact of age, culture, tradition, society, personal beliefs, disability and health on contraceptive choices. (v) Understand the effect of sexual violence on reproductive health.

This unit will provide the student with an understanding of the biological basis of sexual development from foetus to adulthood and the socio-cultural factors that determine their expression; sensitise the student to the terminology of gender discourse and an overview of the range of gender and sexual differences and practices in the community and associated psychosocial issues. At the end of this unit students will be able to: (i) Demonstrate an understanding of the terminology used in gender discourse. (ii) Describe the biology of sexual development from foetus to adolescence and an understanding of the psychological and social factors that influence the process. (iii) Describe syndromes of atypical sexual development and demonstrate an understanding of the medical, psychosocial and ethical concerns in the management. (iv) Demonstrate an understanding of the biopsychosocial factors that influence the expression of gender identity and sexual orientation in the community. (v) Explore the psychosocial issues surrounding gender minorities in the community. (vi) Discuss the social support systems and needs of gender minorities and their importance to wellbeing and quality of life. (vii) Evaluate the legal and ethical concerns and problems faced by gender minorities in a global context. (viii) Identify and prioritise research issues in the area of sex and gender.

This unit of study will explore the evidence base, implications and considerations when delivering sexual health and relationships education in school and community settings from both Australian and global perspectives. This unit of study covers a range of topics including: (i) Social, cultural, religious and political aspects (ii) Constructions of childhood and adolescence (iii)Neuropsychology and adolescence (iv) Introduction to sexual health (v) Effective policy frameworks (vi) Essential pedagogical approaches, components and evaluation of sexual health and relationships education At the end of this unit of study, students should be able to: (i) Identify key components of evidence-based sexual health and relationships education programs (ii) Assess sexual health and relationships education curricula, policies and content for scientific quality and rigour (iii) Implement and evaluate age-appropriate sexual health and relationships curricula

This unit of study explores the epidemiological, behavioural and societal aspects of HIV, STIs and Sexual Health, with emphasis on the delivery of effective prevention and management strategies. Surveillance strategies, policy development and legislative responses will be discussed, with regards to the potential public health consequences. Areas covered include, the impact of culture, tradition, society, environment, life experiences, personal beliefs and health on sexual and other potential risk activities. Using case studies, students will have opportunities to contextualise the materials within a range of professional, geographical and cultural contexts.