Postgraduate - UnitMPH5314 - Epidemiology of chronic disease

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2015 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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6 points, SCA Band 2, 0.125 EFTSL

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered.

Level	Postgraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences
Organisational Unit	Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine
Offered	Not offered in 2015
Coordinator(s)	Dr Robert Hall

Synopsis

This unit provides an introduction to epidemiology and control of chronic diseases. Included in this unit is an overview of important chronic diseases currently impacting Australia, and strategies for their prevention and control. Measurement of disease and burden of disease; concept of risk factors and risk factors for important chronic diseases will be examined. Additionally, students will examine the effect of social and economic factors on the epidemiology of chronic diseases and the impact of chronic diseases on society and the economy. The impact of screening and health promotion as public health tools will be discussed, along with use of evidence in public health programmes to prevent chronic diseases.

Outcomes

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

Describe the epidemiology and burden of chronic diseases in Australia.
Assess the causal pathways leading to important chronic diseases.
Analyse strategies for the public health control of chronic diseases.
Evaluate the role of public health evidence in the control of chronic diseases.
Examine the influence of social and economic factors on chronic diseases.

Assessment

Responses to 6 weekly forum discussions topics (450 words each) (45%)
Written essay (1,500 words) (25%)
Written essay (2,000 words) (30%)

Workload requirements

Off-campus: 20 hours per week for 6 weeks.

Chief examiner(s)

Dr Robert Hall

This unit applies to the following area(s) of study

Public health

Co-requisites

Must be enrolled in course 4529.