Leader: Ms Rebecca Jones

Offered

Gippsland First semester 2008 (Off-campus)

Synopsis

This unit will examine relationships between human health and anthropogenic physical environmental change (environmental change accelerated by human activity). The emphasis of the unit will be on global and regional environmental change and how this manifests at a local level in both individuals and populations, within rural and metropolitan contexts. Questions underpinning students exploration will be: What is the relationship between health of the environment and the health of human communities? Do ecological changes affect human health and well being? What is the evidence? What are possible solutions? How do we act in the face of lack of evidence, gaps in knowledge, uncertainty and conflicting evidence? What are the differing viewpoints within key debates about problems and solutions? The role of health professionals and policy makers will be explored and students will reflect on their own personal viewpoints and practice as a professional and a global citizen.
Students will examine local and regional issues relevant to their professional practice and place these in the larger global context. An ecological perspective of health - the concept of a web of interconnected, interacting and dynamic relationships which embeds humans in their physical environment - will be applied to examine issues such as: health effects of global warming; health effects of loss of biodiversity; genetic modification of food crops; vector-borne and zoonotic diseases; agricultural pollutants and hazardous exposures. The subject will combine multidisciplinary approaches including epidemiological and social models of health.

Objectives

On completion of this unit, students will be able to:

1. Discuss specific examples of direct and indirect effects of anthropogenic environmental change on human health;
2. Critically analyse processes of interaction between anthropogenic environmental change and human health at a local, regional and global level using ecological perspectives on health and the physical environment;
3. Examine the socioeconomic context of environmental change and health in differing vulnerabilities and rural and urban populations;
4. Critically analyse strategies for dealing with lack of evidence, conflicting evidence and uncertainty;
5. Reflect on the impact of studying this unit on your own professional practice and personal perspectives; and
6. Undertake an ecological analysis of a selected issue and develop recommendations that will help to improve practice.

Assessment

Case study analysis (1500 wds) 20%
Reflective essay (3000 wds) 40%
Discussion activities x 4(2000 wds in total at 10%each) 40%