At a global level, there are rising demands for health and social care, limited resources and increasing inequalities in health. Community health assets and needs assessments have a vital part to play, enabling practitioners, managers and policymakers to identify those in greatest need; the physical, economic, social and cultural assets available within the community; and to ensure that health care resources are used to maximise health improvement. For health promotion practitioners, the ability to conduct a community health assessment is a core skill. You will be introduced to the different types of community assets and needs assessments that can be undertaken with local communities. You will examine the history and role of community assets and needs assessments and review a range of methods that can be used to implement and evaluate assets and needs assessments in local communities. You will have the opportunity to complete a community profile and also undertake a community assets and needs assessment.

Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.

Feedback from SUTE

Some students found the Moodle tiles and modular design difficult when planning their study.

Improve Moodle design, making greater use of headings and provide students with the opportunity to mark activities as "done". Scaffold the "modular" design of the unit in early tutorials so that students are clear about learning to work at their own pace. Reduce the number of Discussion forums.

Feedback from Student feedback and personal reflection

Marking criteria are not clear enough to guide students.

Revise marking criteria.

Feedback from SUTE

Some students found the volume of content to be excessive, particularly with respect to the number of assessment tasks.

In 2024, the volume of content was reduced despite not being flagged as an issue in previous years. A redesign of Assessment task 2 tasks may address the issue of "volume".

Feedback from Teaching team evaluation and student feedback.

Assessment task 2 presented problems around teamwork.

Redesign Assessment task 2 to be less complex.

Feedback from UC feedback

Students from non-public health disciplines have difficulty using the community based lens for this unit.

Scaffold the "community lens" in the first module so students are clear about how this applies in assets and needs assessments.

Feedback from UC feedback

Some students found teamwork challenging

Provide an improved introduction to working in teams early in the term and make the expectations for team engagement explicit.

Feedback from UC feedback

Some students had the expectation that they would be given immediate on-on-one coaching.

Make expectations for communication with the lecturer explicit from the start of term, including CQU's expected turnaround times and the need for all course-related communication to be via the Discussion Forums.