Overview
This unit explores the importance and role of epidemiology as an approach to both public health and clinical practice. You will be able to use evidence from epidemiological investigations, to understand the distribution of health outcomes in populations and understand the influence of factors that determine this distribution. The critical function of epidemiology will be reviewed including areas of anticipated needs, identified risk conditions, definition of priorities and the use of available resources for planning and administering health care services.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
Prereq: 72 credit points (any tertiary level units)
Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).
Offerings For Term 3 - 2018
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes – in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Class Timetable
Assessment Overview
Assessment Grading
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%). Consult the University’s Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades.
All University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
You may wish to view these policies:
- Grades and Results Policy
- Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework)
- Review of Grade Procedure
- Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure – Domestic Students
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure – International Students
- Student Refund and Credit Balance Policy and Procedure
- Student Feedback – Compliments and Complaints Policy and Procedure
- Information and Communications Technology Acceptable Use Policy and Procedure
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
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 Unit evaluation
Release of material was not timely.
Although I think comments about this may have come from students who mistakenly believed that material released on the Thursday or Friday was late- it was for the following week- there were times when the tutorial questions were not made available at the start of the week. The reasoning behind this is that tutorials require the application of the week's unit material to a problem or activity and so students need to cover that material before starting to work on the tutorial questions. Consider releasing tutorial questions at the same time as study material in future to anticipate these complaints.
Feedback from Unit evaluation
Video lectures were not good quality- audio was usually very low.
Re-record video lectures and ensure audio is enhanced.
Feedback from Personal reflection/unit delivery
Face to face tutorials not attended and majority of students participated in asynchronous tutorial.
Offer a second Zoom tutorial so that more students are able to attend synchronously.
- Calculate and communicate epidemiological statistics relating to the measurement of health, wellness and disease.
- Interpret epidemiological data within theories and frameworks of social justice and cultural diversity for effective knowledge transfer and exchange.
- Evaluate epidemiological investigations and sources of epidemiological data to identify inequities, enable change and advocate for health.
- Argue for a population health outcome using relevant research methods and approaches.
- Explain principles of data confidentiality and disclosure, and apply the ethical use of data.
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Presentation - 25% | |||||
| 2 - Group Discussion - 25% | |||||
| 3 - Written Assessment - 50% | |||||
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Communication | |||||
| 2 - Problem Solving | |||||
| 3 - Critical Thinking | |||||
| 4 - Information Literacy | |||||
| 5 - Team Work | |||||
| 6 - Information Technology Competence | |||||
| 7 - Cross Cultural Competence | |||||
| 8 - Ethical practice | |||||
| 9 - Social Innovation | |||||
| 10 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures | |||||
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | |
| 1 - Presentation - 25% | ||||||||||
| 2 - Group Discussion - 25% | ||||||||||
Textbooks
Introduction to Epidemiology
Edition: 2nd (2011)
Authors: Ilona Carneiro and Natasha Howard
Open University Press
Maidenhead Maidenhead , Berkshire , England
ISBN: 13:978-0-33-524461-4
Binding: Paperback
Additional Textbook Information
Introduction to Epidemiology (2nd edition) is available as a free eBook via CQUniversity Library
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing styles below:
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
l.bricknell@cqu.edu.au
s.mcnicol@cqu.edu.au
Module/Topic
Frameworks for determinants of population health
Chapter
Chapter 1 of Carneiro & Howard
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial
Module/Topic
Measuring the occurrence of disease
Chapter
Chapter 2 of Carneiro & Howard
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial
Module/Topic
Estimating risk and measures of association
Chapter
Chapter 3 of Carneiro & Howard
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial
Module/Topic
Sources of health data and measures of other health outcomes
Chapter
Chapter 4 of Carneiro & Howard
CRO Buttner and Muller
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial
Workbook A Due: Week 4 Monday (26 Nov 2018) 9:00 am AEST
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Epidemiological research design and ethics
Chapter
Chapter 5 Carneiro & Howard
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial
Module/Topic
Ecological and cross sectional studies
Chapter
Chapter 6 and 7 of Carneiro & Howard
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial
Module/Topic
Cohort and case control studies
Chapter
Chapter 8 & 9 of Carneiro & Howard
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial
Presentation Due: Week 7 Thursday (3 Jan 2019) 9:00 am AEST
Module/Topic
Intervention studies and randomised control trials
Chapter
Chapter 10 of Carneiro & Howard
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial
Module/Topic
Qualitative studies
Chapter
Selected readings and course materials
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial
Module/Topic
Summary measures of population health and evidence reviews
Chapter
Selected readings and course materials
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial
Workbook B Due: Week 10 Monday (21 Jan 2019) 9:00 am AEST
Module/Topic
Using epidemiology for prevention and surveillance
Chapter
Chapter 11 and 12 of Carneiro & Howard
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial
Module/Topic
Epidemiological evidence and public health policy
Chapter
Selected readings and course materials
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
There is a new edition of the set textbook (third edition) now available incorporating significant changes to the contents. This unit uses the second edition but the CQU Bookshop has been unable to source sufficient copies. Students are able to access the text in electronic format for free from the CQU Library. Should you wish to purchase the book, you can purchase your own copy in electronic format from Google Books at https://books.google.com.au/books?id=SUJFBgAAQBAJ or from other online booksellers. Alternatively, you may be able to purchase a second hand copy from students who studied HLTH13031 in T1 2018 or find a copy online. The Unit content will be updated to match the new edition (or a new textbook) for T1 2019.
1 Group Discussion
Task
Complete a series of structured tutorial tasks addressing important epidemiological concepts and a range of epidemiological study designs. A Zoom tutorial and online discussion forum will be held each week examining each task. Students can choose to attend the tutorial online via Zoom, or through the forum for guidance in completing their tutorial activities.
Workbook A: due Monday of Week 4 (15%)
Workbook B: due Monday of Week 10 (10%)
Workbook A due Monday of Week 4. Workbook B due Monday of Week 10.
Workbook A returned Monday of Week 5; Workbook B returned Monday of Week 12.
This task will be will be assessed against the following criteria:
1. Comprehension and understanding of the topic (30%)
2. Relevance (30%)
3. Critical thinking and depth (30%)
4. Quality of expression and referencing (10%)
- Evaluate epidemiological investigations and sources of epidemiological data to identify inequities, enable change and advocate for health.
- Argue for a population health outcome using relevant research methods and approaches.
- Explain principles of data confidentiality and disclosure, and apply the ethical use of data.
- Communication
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
- Information Technology Competence
- Cross Cultural Competence
2 Presentation
Scenario
You are working for the Public Health Department of your local area. Your work area needs to provide a 15 minute presentation to the health department to critically outline the population health impact for one of the following health issues for the Australian population. Your manager has asked you to record your presentation and send it to them to check and provide feedback. They also want you to email your slides and notes for checking.
Topics
- The impact of loneliness on older Australians
- The impact of mosquito borne diseases in Australia
- The impact of diabetes on oral health outcomes in Australia
- The impact of workplace accidents on young males in the construction industry in Australia
-
The impact of falls in older Australians living in the community
- The impact of binge drinking in Australia
- The impact of male suicide in Australia
- The impact of food security on Australian households
Task
Your task is to create and record a 15 minute presentation that describes the population level impact a given health issue for the Australian population. You will need to source, interpret, and communicate current evidence using appropriate epidemiological measures. Upload the recording (or a link to the recording) to Moodle with a copy of the slides and notes by the due date. If you would like to examine a different topic (for example something related to your current work integrated learning unit or an area of interest related to your employment), please email the unit coordinator for approval before commencing work.
Your presentation needs to include:
- A clear introduction to the health issue, justifying why it is important.
- The use of a range of appropriate epidemiological measures to critically demonstrate the impact the issue has on:
- the Australian population as a whole, and
- within and between different population groups of relevance to the health issue (differential impact). For example, age, gender, geographic location, cultural identity, occupation.
- Data visualisation that contributes to the effective communication of the issue.
- A clear and concise conclusion that links to the introduction and contents of the presentation.
Week 7 Thursday (3 Jan 2019) 9:00 am AEST
Week 9 Monday (14 Jan 2019)
You will be assessed on:
- Introduction (5%)
- Organisation and structure (15%)
- Presentation skills (10%)
- Quality of visual aids (5%)
- Understanding and use of epidemiological data (30%)
- Reasoning and support of claims or arguments (30%)
- Referencing (5%)
A detailed marking rubric is available on the unit Moodle site.
- Calculate and communicate epidemiological statistics relating to the measurement of health, wellness and disease.
- Interpret epidemiological data within theories and frameworks of social justice and cultural diversity for effective knowledge transfer and exchange.
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
- Information Technology Competence
- Ethical practice
3 Written Assessment
Scenario
The manager of the Public Health Unit you are working for was impressed by your presentation and now wants to conduct an intervention study addressing the issue. She has identified an appropriate grant opportunity and wants to apply for funding to support the research.
Task
Your task is to prepare an application requesting funding for a population level intervention addressing the topic you used for your Presentation task. You will need to use the application format provided on Moodle, which requires an evaluation of the literature to propose an evidence based approach. A template for the application and other resources are provided on Moodle, with guidelines for each section and word limits. If you'd wish to change your topic from the one used previously, contact the Unit Coordinator.
Exam Week Monday (11 Feb 2019) 9:00 am AEST
Following Certification of Grades.
Students will be assessed on:
- the communication of ideas (25%)
- the breadth of reading and knowledge of the topic (25%)
- the quality of their analysis (35%)
- the appropriate and effective use of referencing (15%)
- Calculate and communicate epidemiological statistics relating to the measurement of health, wellness and disease.
- Interpret epidemiological data within theories and frameworks of social justice and cultural diversity for effective knowledge transfer and exchange.
- Evaluate epidemiological investigations and sources of epidemiological data to identify inequities, enable change and advocate for health.
- Argue for a population health outcome using relevant research methods and approaches.
- Explain principles of data confidentiality and disclosure, and apply the ethical use of data.
As a CQUniversity student you are expected to act honestly in all aspects of your academic work.
Any assessable work undertaken or submitted for review or assessment must be your own work. Assessable work is any type of work you do to meet the assessment requirements in the unit, including draft work submitted for review and feedback and final work to be assessed.
When you use the ideas, words or data of others in your assessment, you must thoroughly and clearly acknowledge the source of this information by using the correct referencing style for your unit. Using others’ work without proper acknowledgement may be considered a form of intellectual dishonesty.
Participating honestly, respectfully, responsibly, and fairly in your university study ensures the CQUniversity qualification you earn will be valued as a true indication of your individual academic achievement and will continue to receive the respect and recognition it deserves.
As a student, you are responsible for reading and following CQUniversity’s policies, including the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure. This policy sets out CQUniversity’s expectations of you to act with integrity, examples of academic integrity breaches to avoid, the processes used to address alleged breaches of academic integrity, and potential penalties.
What is a breach of academic integrity?
A breach of academic integrity includes but is not limited to plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, cheating, contract cheating, and academic misconduct. The Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure defines what these terms mean and gives examples.
Why is academic integrity important?
A breach of academic integrity may result in one or more penalties, including suspension or even expulsion from the University. It can also have negative implications for student visas and future enrolment at CQUniversity or elsewhere. Students who engage in contract cheating also risk being blackmailed by contract cheating services.
Where can I get assistance?
For academic advice and guidance, the Academic Learning Centre (ALC) can support you in becoming confident in completing assessments with integrity and of high standard.
What can you do to act with integrity?
