Overview
This unit will prepare you for rural practice by providing an overview of rural Australia and its social, cultural, geographic, environmental and economic influences. Guided by a sociological perspective, you will gain an understanding of the historical transformation of rural Australia, and the social structures and cultural processes underpinning problems that characterise rural communities. The meaning of ‘rurality’ and the implications of ‘rurality’ for health and social service delivery and practice is covered from a range of viewpoints and experiences. You will develop an understanding of your role as professionals, and of rural health issues, including the health status of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. You will gain an appreciation of the unique features of rural service delivery in relation to the use of communication technology, rural practice models, and responses to natural disasters. This unit would be of particular interest to those planning to live and work in rural and remote Australia; including allied health practitioners, community development officers, nurses, paramedics and teachers.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
Students are required to have completed 24 units of credit.
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 1 - 2019
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
Wendy was very approachable and supportive. The markers provided excellent feedback.
This unit will continue to provide high quality teaching and learning
Feedback from Unit Evaluation
Course Strengths - assessment variety was great, found both assessment pieces quite enjoyable and both challenging but rewarding for learning - assessment feedback was really fair and helpful
This unit will continue to provide high quality teaching and learning
Feedback from Unit Evaluation
- include a quiz or another assessment piece so it's not too heavily weighted
A quiz used to be part of the assessment. There were many complaints about the quiz, so it was removed as an assessment item.
- Use a sociological perspective to discuss the impacts of global forces, historical changes and rural culture on the social organisation of Australian rural communities
- Identify the social-structural characteristics of rural areas and the factors (social, economic, cultural) that influence the health of rural Australians, and delivery of health care to rural and remote areas
- Describe the health issues experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and other social groups (e.g. new migrants, people living with disability) living in rural and remote communities
- Explain the role of the health professional working and living in rural and remote Australia, and the rewards and challenges this provides
- Compare and contrast the various health service delivery models used in rural and remote communities.
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
1 - Written Assessment - 50% | |||||
2 - 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 - Written Assessment - 50% | ||||||||||
2 - Written Assessment - 50% |
Textbooks
There are no required textbooks.
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.
w.hillman@cqu.edu.au
Module/Topic
Sociology, the sociological imagination & identity
Chapter
Willis (2011) – CRO
Yuill, Gibson & Thorpe (2011) - CRO
Sullivan & Lane West-Newman (2007) - CRO
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Botterill (2006) e-journal
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Rural culture & social conditions AND the global forces and politics in rural communities
Chapter
Bryant & Garnham (2015) e-journal
Hogan & Lockie (2013) e-journal
Woods (2006) e-journal
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Bourke et al. (2010) e-journal
Bourke et al. (2012) e-journal
Dixon & Welch (2000) e-journal
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
McBain-Rigg & Veitch (2011) e-journal
Smith (2016) - CRO
See the Week 5 block on Moodle for further resources
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Bourke (2003) e-journal (youth)
Garnham & Bryant (2013) e-journal (ageing)
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Rural issues 2: Rural women and Domestic Violence & family violence
Chapter
Grace & Lennie (1998) e-journal
Wendt (2009) e-journal
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Rural issues 3: Migrant Ethnic minorities - diverse cultures & histories
Chapter
Schech (2014) e-journal
Townsend & Pascal (2012) e-journal
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Living and working in rural, regional & remote Australia
Chapter
Jervis-Tracey et al. (2012) e-journal
Keane, Lincoln &Smith (2012) e-journal
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Bennett, Zubrzycki & Bacon (2011)
Hooper, Thomas & Clarke (2007) e-journal
Walker & Sonn (2010) - internet article
See the Week 10 block on Moodle for further resources
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Professional practice in rural areas
Chapter
Beddoe & Burley (2012) - CRO
Bryant et al. (2015) e-journal
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Opportunities & challenges of professional practice in rural communities
Chapter
Dellemain & Warburton (2013) e-journal
Dew et al. (2012) e-journal
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
1 Written Assessment
Week 6 Wednesday (24 Apr 2019) 11:45 pm AEST
Wednesday 24 April, 2019
Week 8 Wednesday (8 May 2019)
As per University policy marked assignments have a 14 day turnaround time.
- Use a sociological perspective to discuss the impacts of global forces, historical changes and rural culture on the social organisation of Australian rural communities
- Identify the social-structural characteristics of rural areas and the factors (social, economic, cultural) that influence the health of rural Australians, and delivery of health care to rural and remote areas
- Describe the health issues experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and other social groups (e.g. new migrants, people living with disability) living in rural and remote communities
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
- Information Technology Competence
2 Written Assessment
This assignment requires you to write an essay based on two scenarios given to you and using academically credible literature and other associated relevant documents to support your introduction, discussion and conclusion. The essay gets you to engage with two individuals from some of the culturally diverse groups that live and work in rural and remote Australian communities.
The following task is a problem based learning activity that requires you to write an essay on both scenarios. You are encouraged to discuss the two scenarios with other students on the Assessment Discussion Forum and to review the supporting literature in order to treat the person effectively and provide the most appropriate support. Please do not share your written out ideas, or draft assignment with others as this can lead to plagiarism.
The purpose of this task is to prepare you for professional practice in rural and remote communities, and to understand the whole person through a broader lens.
Your essay needs to address the following two areas in the discussion:
1. Historical and contemporary social and cultural issues to accessing health care
2. Action that professionals can take to improve access, health outcomes and delivery of services to people from rural communities and culturally diverse backgrounds.
Scenario 1.
James Bell is an 80-year-old farmer who lives alone in the farmhouse where he grew up. It is located 20 miles outside of town. James has been a widower for 10 years. His son, Adrian, manages the farm now, but James is still involved in the decision making. James's current medical problems include insulin dependent diabetes complicated by an open foot wound. He also has some incontinence and difficulty sleeping.
James is awaiting a visit from the home health nurses. He relates that he has an open wound on his big toe that developed after walking in a new pair of shoes. When his daughter-in-law Allison saw the wound, she called the family doctor, who suggested a visit by the wound care nurse who works with the home health agency. James agreed as long as his Medicare benefits cover the costs. James is aware that his son and daughter-in-law have concerns about him living alone, but James insists that while he needs a little help from Adrian and Allison at times, he is still capable of caring for himself.
Scenario 2.
Maria is a 62-year-old Greek woman living in a rural town in outback Queensland, and who suffers from hypertension. In the past two years, she had been seen by several doctors, had multiple tests to rule out any underlying aetiology, and tried a variety of medications to control her blood pressure. Despite these efforts, her blood pressure has been poorly controlled. The patient, whose primary language is Greek, has very limited English skills, but has refused an interpreter at all clinic appointments. It appears that the patient has been non-compliant with taking the anti-hypertension medicine, only taking it when she felt tense or stressed. Maria is illiterate and does not understand the complex medication regimen she had been given. For Maria to manage her long term health and functionality, she needs to adhere to this ongoing treatment.
Based on the material covered in the unit, think about the various barriers and issues, and socio-cultural factors impeding James and Maria’s recovery. Also, think about what may be some of the issues for Maria and her professional health care person that may be impeding her access to services, treatment and management to better her health and well-being outcomes. Consider options available for James to access health services and to gain the necessary support he requires to manage the challenges confronting him.
To gain more insight into these two scenarios reflect on the broader social structures (social class, age, gender, ethnicity), cultural norms and expectations, and past history of rural communities and Australian society.
Instructions to Students
You are expected to utilise the electronic databases available through the library website to access peer-reviewed sociology journal articles and newspaper articles. Other sources of use include government reports, government and professional protocols/ guidelines and good (reputable) internet sites. Use reputable and quality sources and references to complete your assignment. Look to use references that are: current (less than five years old), objective/unbiased, relevant and from authority sources (e.g. academic journals, Queensland Health, Queensland Health Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Capability Framework 2010-2033).
Failure to use any references in each of your answers will result in zero marks. Correct referencing using one of the two listed referencing styles must be used to acknowledge information sources and any direct quotes. Do not quote or use the lecture notes and study guide. This is a sociology assessment and you are required to source sociological references (not psychology or medical references).
Marks will be deducted for exceeding the set word limit, using bullet points or numbered lists, not using and citing references, not using correctly either the APA or Harvard (author-date) referencing style.
The word count is measured from the first word of the answer to the last word of the answer and includes in-text referencing. The reference list is not included in the word count. A 10% leeway is permitted on either side of the word count. When answering the question you do not need to restate it at the beginning of your answer.
Include a Title page at the front with:
- student name
- student number
- unit code
- unit name
- term date and year
- names of unit coordinator
- name of assignment
- due date for submission (if an approved extension has been given, include the new submission date)
- your final word count.
Within the essay you are required to:
- Write in the third person (e.g. do not use ‘I’, ‘me’)
- Use double-line spacing and Arial 11-point font
- Include a reference list correctly formatted to APA 6th Edition (2010) or Harvard (author-date) (Term 1 2017 Edition) referencing style
Submit your assignment by the due date and allow several minutes for submission to be completed. Contact your unit coordinator if you are in doubt about your submission upload and include a copy of your assignment in the email as proof of completion. Upload with the file named in the following format: Surname_ First name_ Student number_ A2.
Week 11 Friday (31 May 2019) 11:45 pm AEST
Friday 31 May, 2019
Review/Exam Week Friday (14 June 2019)
As per University policy marked assignments have a 14 day turnaround time.
- Use a sociological perspective to discuss the impacts of global forces, historical changes and rural culture on the social organisation of Australian rural communities
- Identify the social-structural characteristics of rural areas and the factors (social, economic, cultural) that influence the health of rural Australians, and delivery of health care to rural and remote areas
- Describe the health issues experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and other social groups (e.g. new migrants, people living with disability) living in rural and remote communities
- Explain the role of the health professional working and living in rural and remote Australia, and the rewards and challenges this provides
- Compare and contrast the various health service delivery models used in rural and remote communities.
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
- Information Technology Competence
- Cross Cultural Competence
- Ethical practice
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.