Overview
Since the 1960s, the occurrence of disasters globally has more than tripled. Extreme weather events are predicted to become even more frequent as our environment continues to change and communities will need to become more resilient if they are to withstand and recover from the effects of disasters. Disaster risk reduction and resilience is based upon a combination of risk reduction strategies combined with increasing intra- and inter-personal resilience, including building on existing strengths and relational networks. Individuals and communities are the starting point to build disaster resilience, consistent with Australia’s National Strategy for Disaster Resilience (2011) which underscores “shared responsibility” between governments and communities for disaster resilience. Connecting and working in partnership with the community is the aim in disaster risk reduction (DRR); building on existing networks, resources and strengths; identifying and supporting the development of community leaders; and empowering the community to exercise choice and take responsibility are some of the practical actions that can be undertaken to build a more resilient community. In this unit, you will review the historical aspects of disaster management, contrasting the traditional command and control method against the increasing involvement of the public/community in disaster management. You will examine the benefits and barriers to partnering with the broader community, identifying their level of commitment, making use of the community’s emerging skill base, and access to largely underutilised resources. By learning from authentic examples of emergency services and community interaction, you will be able to explore the concepts of engagement, preparedness and resilience and be able to participate in contemporary public health disaster management practices.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
Pre-Requisite of 96 credit points
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 2 - 2024
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 Personal reflection
The one thing I continue to struggle with is engaging professionals working this field to speak with the students.
Every effort will be made to make contact with professionals working in the field of Public Health Disaster Management to speak with the students about their experiences.
- Identify prominent public health issues during and after disasters
- Analyse the history and focus of disaster management from a global and domestic perspective.
- Compare and contrast traditional command and control concepts of disaster management with contemporary community based disaster management frameworks.
- Evaluate and apply the community based disaster management framework as a means to build and maintain partnerships within the context of disaster management.
- Collaborate to plan a response to a disaster scenario based on current and emerging evidence.
- Communicate information relating to disaster management to a wide variety of audiences using both “air and ground” strategies, including through a variety of information technologies and engagement strategies, respectively.
This unit relates to the following underpinning skills and knowledge as specified in the Environmental Health Australia Course Accreditation Policy (2019) Table 1:
C1 Knowledge of written and verbal communication techniques and strategies suitable for diverse audiences, purposes and contexts,
C2 Knowledge of strategies to build collaboration, work in teams, mediate, educate, advocate, and influence outcomes and deal with difficult situations,
C3 Basic principles of reflective practice and self-development for effective communication,
E1 Understanding of the core principles, frameworks for and procedures involved in risk assessment for environmental health contexts,
E2 Critical evaluation of evidence underpinning environmental health risk assessment,
E3 Introduction to risk management principles and evaluation of risk management options,
L1 Introduction to legislative frameworks for environmental health,
L4 Knowledge of public and environmental health legislation,
L14 Overview of the jurisdiction and role of agencies relevant to environmental health in all tiers of government,
M1 Introduction to decision support tools (e.g. risk analysis, cost-benefit analysis, etc.),
M4 Introduction to key government protocols in the context of environmental health,
P2 Introduction to population/public health and health promotion principles, theories, strategies, frameworks and tools,
P4 Introduction to linkages between environment and health demonstrated through health policies and programs,
P9 Introduction to the impact of development on environmental health,
R5 Problem solving using systems thinking and critical judgement,
S12 Introduction to treatment and monitoring technologies e.g. wastewater treatment, air pollution control, etc,
S13 Introduction to hazardous materials used in construction (e.g. asbestos).
The unit also relates to the applied area of Emergency Management in the Policy (section 3.2.2).
3.2.2 Applied areas
Part 3 of the enHealth ‘Environmental Health Officer Skills and Knowledge Matrix’ describes the following nine applied work-related areas of skills and knowledge:
• safe and suitable food;
• prevention and control of notifiable and communicable conditions;
• water management;
• environmental management;
• land use management;
• built environment;
• Indigenous environmental health;
• sustainability and climate change; and
• emergency management.
Universities must demonstrate how they are preparing their graduates to apply the underpinning skills and knowledge in the applied areas.
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| 1 - Online Quiz(zes) - 20% | ||||||
| 2 - Group Work - 40% | ||||||
| 3 - Written Assessment - 40% | ||||||
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| 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 | ||||||
Textbooks
There are no required textbooks.
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: Harvard (author-date)
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
d.trott@cqu.edu.au
Module/Topic
Approaches to Public Health Disaster Management
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial (Zoom): Introduction to the unit & Introduction to Assessment 1
Module/Topic
Legislative framework - Queensland & Australia
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Assessment task 1- Online Quiz Opens: Week 2 Friday 11:45 pm AEST
Module/Topic
Public Health Hazards
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial (Zoom): Introduction to Assessment 2
Assessment task 1- Online Quiz Due: Week 3 Friday (26 July 2024) 11:45 pm AEST
Module/Topic
Public Health Hazards cont'd
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Public Health Hazards cont'd
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Working Tutorial (Zoom): Assessment 2 general help
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Disaster Risk Reduction
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Building Community Resilience
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial (Zoom): Introduction to Assessment 3
Module/Topic
Partnering with communities in DRR
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Working Tutorial (Zoom): Assessment 3 general help
Group Work Due: Week 8 Friday (6 Sept 2024) 11:45 pm AEST
Module/Topic
Planning a disaster response
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Recovery
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Working Tutorial (Zoom): Assessment 3 general help
Module/Topic
Community partnerships in recovery
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Communication strategies
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
1 Online Quiz(zes)
- The quiz will become available at 11:45pm on the Friday of Week 2 and remain open until Friday of Week 3.
- There is no time limit to complete the quiz and you can save your quiz and return to it later (while the quiz is available).
- You will get your final result from the quiz after the closing date showing which questions you got right or wrong. This will let you know what areas you need to study/revise.
- You should choose the most correct answer.
- There will be 12 quiz questions.
1
Week 3 Friday (26 July 2024) 11:45 pm AEST
After the quiz has closed on Friday of Week 3.
The quiz will assess the student's knowledge of introductory disaster management; the hallmarks of traditional and contemporary approaches; legislation relating to disaster management in Queensland and Australia; and the structure & content of disaster management plans.
- Identify prominent public health issues during and after disasters
- Analyse the history and focus of disaster management from a global and domestic perspective.
2 Group Work
Part A: Report (80% of the grade allocated to assessment task 2)
A scenario of a extreme weather event impacting on the hypothetical community is provided on Moodle. As a team of public health professionals, you have been assigned the task of assisting to plan for the impending event.
Your task is to:
1. analyse the scenario and identify potential disaster hazards that may create a risk to public health during and after the event;
2. assess the risk posed by each disaster hazard;
3. identify actions that need to be taken to reduce the risk posed by these disaster hazards, prioritised according to the risk they present; and
4. write a report explaining the disaster hazards, prioritising them for action. Include with the report a Letter to Council succinctly summing up the findings of your report.
Remember that a disaster is when an event overwhelms a community's capacity to cope. In your report, you need to consider (among other things):
- vulnerable groups
- built environment
- community infrastructure
- available resources
- industry
- geography, climate & natural environment
- communication
- evacuation needs
As with any report, you should use appropriate evidence to support your findings. There is no prescribed format for this task, but your report should use relevant headings and subheadings to guide the reader. A Table of Contents and Executive Summary are not required.
Length: 3500 words (± 10% is acceptable).
Part B: Team participation (20% of the grade allocated to assessment task 2)
1. Complete a Group Member Evaluation (GME) task evaluating the quality of participation from each of your team members and an assessment of your own contribution. This activity will contribute 10% of the grade allocated to Assessment Task 2.
2. Complete a short reflection (no more than 500 words) on the way in which the team environment contributed to the problem-solving process and ways in which your own participation could have made work more effective. This activity will contribute 10% of the grade allocated to Assessment Task 2.
Week 8 Friday (6 Sept 2024) 11:45 pm AEST
Week 10 Friday (20 Sept 2024)
Your submission will be graded according to the following criteria:
Part A: (80% of the assessment grade)
Relevance (30%)
- summarises relevant disaster hazards information from credible and reputable sources
- report is relevant to the topics covered in the scenario
- makes appropriate connections between evidence, opinion and recommendations
- appropriately uses relevant tools to consider risks
Validity (40%)
- depth and extent of discussion of the evidence presented
- accuracy of the application of evidence to opinion and recommendations
- opinion and recommendations have been based on critical thought, analysis of the evidence and synthesis of new ideas
- depth and range of evidence provided in report
Organisation (20%)
- quality of consideration of the required components- attention paid to relevant standards and/or legislation, identified hazards, controls, and corrective actions, etc., opinion is clearly expressed, recommendations are reasonable
- structure and flow of information
coherence and clarity of expression (spelling, grammar, syntax)
Presentation (10%)
- style and formatting of report
- typographical matters (types, font, etc.)
- referencing is consistent and in accordance with Harvard style
- length (3500 words ± 20%)
Part B: (20% of the assessment grade)
- Reliability
- Time management
- Group dynamics
- Depth of reflection
- Identify prominent public health issues during and after disasters
- Analyse the history and focus of disaster management from a global and domestic perspective.
- Compare and contrast traditional command and control concepts of disaster management with contemporary community based disaster management frameworks.
- Evaluate and apply the community based disaster management framework as a means to build and maintain partnerships within the context of disaster management.
- Communicate information relating to disaster management to a wide variety of audiences using both “air and ground” strategies, including through a variety of information technologies and engagement strategies, respectively.
3 Written Assessment
Using the community profile identified in Moodle, as your case study, write a discussion paper investigating how community participation and partnerships could enhance community disaster resilience, i.e. discuss this community's participation and partnerships as they could be perceived to enhance community disaster resilience. You should consider preparation, disaster risk reduction, and recovery contexts. Use current evidence from the scholarly literature and relevant humanitarian resources to support your arguments. The format of your discussion paper should be as a publication to a relevant journal. An exemplar will be provided on Moodle as a guide. Word limit: 3000 words (± 20% is acceptable).
Week 12 Friday (4 Oct 2024) 11:45 pm AEST
Grade will be returned following certification of grades.
Your submission will be graded according to the following criteria:
Relevance (30%)
- summarises relevant information from credible and reputable sources
- article is relevant to the issue under investigation
- response activities to the reduction of risk factors
- response activities are appropriate
- response activities are thoroughly explained
- effectiveness of the response activities is evaluated
Validity (50%)
- depth and extent of discussion
- discussion is thorough and logically presented
- accuracy of the statements proposed
- recommendations for future community participation and partnerships have been based on critical thought, analysis of the evidence and synthesis of new ideas
- creativity in integrating existing evidence to propose solutions
- depth and range of research
Organisation (10%)
- structure and flow of information
- coherence and clarity of expression (spelling, grammar, syntax)
- all sources attributed
Presentation (10%)
- style and formatting
- typographical matters (types, font, headings etc)
- referencing is consistent and in accordance with Harvard style
- length (3000 words ± 20%)
- Identify prominent public health issues during and after disasters
- Compare and contrast traditional command and control concepts of disaster management with contemporary community based disaster management frameworks.
- Evaluate and apply the community based disaster management framework as a means to build and maintain partnerships within the context of disaster management.
- Collaborate to plan a response to a disaster scenario based on current and emerging evidence.
- Communicate information relating to disaster management to a wide variety of audiences using both “air and ground” strategies, including through a variety of information technologies and engagement strategies, respectively.
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?
