HSC2300 - Health promotion and disease prevention

This unit introduces students to the contemporary frameworks and strategies that are used to prevent disease and promote health at the population level. Students will examine methods for primary, secondary and tertiary prevention undertaken through health agencies, and develop an understanding of the role of different health professions in this work. Disease prevention methods investigated will include behavioural education and counselling, vaccination and pharmacological interventions, health screening, chronic disease self-management, and rehabilitation in health care and community settings. Health promotion will be introduced as an approach that uses multiple strategies to empower individuals and communities and create supportive environments for health. The health promotion actions examined will include policy development, community mobilisation, health education and social marketing. The role that partnerships and capacity building play in sustaining action and health outcomes will be investigated. Learning will be facilitated with case examples and consideration will be given to how the methods examined can be applied to current public health priorities.