Public Health Perspectives
PUB 251 (Offering: 2003)

Description

This course examines the basic concepts of health and well being, and explores these concepts using various definitions of health. One of the definitions of health examined is that of the World Health Organisation, which states that health is not just an absence of disease or illness, but is a complete state of physical, social and emotional well being that allows people to live their lives to the fullest. In broadening the focus on health from an individual perspective, the course also introduces the concepts of community and public health, and examines the notion of community from a range of perspectives. The course ackowledges the diversity found within communities, including age, ethnicity, sexuality and gender, and physical, mental and emotional differences. Patterns and trends of health and illness in Australia are examined, and inequalities in health between different groups within the population are highlighted. The course uses an ecological model of health to examine a broad range of influences on public health, including biological and behavioural filters, and elements within the biophysical and socio-economic environments that promote, protect or harm the health of communities and populations.

Major(s)/Minors(s): Ecosystem Health (major), Public Health (major), Nutrition (major), Health Promotion (minor)

Usual Semester of offer: Semester 1

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