Unit Synopsis
This unit is designed to provide you with a strong comprehension of the psycho-social-biological changes that people experience as they grow older. Population ageing across all communities and cultures, as well as the theories of ageing will be reviewed. The physiological and pathophysiological effects of ageing will be covered in-depth. The implications of an ageing society for all Australians will also be discussed. Mental health issues, particularly in dementia care and communication, along with polypharmacy in the elderly will be addressed. By the end of the unit, you will be able to describe the role of podiatric practice in an ageing society.
Details
| Level | Undergraduate |
|---|---|
| Unit Level | 2 |
| Credit Points | 6 |
| Student Contribution Band | SCA Band 2 |
| Fraction of Full-Time Student Load | 0.125 |
| Pre-requisites or Co-requisites |
Pre-requisite: ALLH11006 Life Course Development for Health Professionals. 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). |
| Class Timetable | View Unit Timetable |
| Residential School | No Residential School |
Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2026
Term 2 - 2026 Profile
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.
Assessment Tasks
| Assessment Task | Weighting |
|---|---|
| 1. Written Assessment | 20% |
| 2. Presentation | 30% |
| 3. In-class Test(s) | 50% |
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%).
Past Exams
All University policies are available on the Policy web site, however you may wish to directly view the following policies below.
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of policies are available on the Policy web site.
Term 2 - 2025 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 100.00% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 50% response rate.
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.
Source: SUTE qualitative feedback.
Students enjoyed the assessment items in this unit, but noted similarity in the assessment strategy when compared with prior podiatry units.
It is recommended that the assessment strategy be considered in 2025 to improve the variety in the assessment tasks in PODI12007.
In 2025, there were no changes to assessment 'types', however the content of individual assessment items was revisited to promote variety within the unit, and variety compared with pre-requisite units.
Source: SUTE quantitative and qualitative feedback.
Students may benefit from enhancements to the delivery of feedback in this unit.
It is recommended that the unit coordinator reviews the methods of providing feedback to students and communicates these to the teaching team to promote a positive student experience.
In 2025, there was a focus on providing clear and timely feedback to students. This included opportunities for formative and summative feedback, which were well-received by students.
Source: Unit Coordinator reflection
Relative to its weighting, the 'In-class test' assessment item maps to a small number of Learning Outcomes
It is recommended that the mapping of Learning Outcomes to the 'In-class test' is considered prior to the next delivery of this unit, with updates to this mapping where appropriate.
In Progress
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- Determine the physiology, patho-physiology and socio-economic impact of ageing on the body system and relate them to common foot conditions in podiatric practice.
- Develop knowledge and skills to effectively communicate with elderly patients.
- Appraise functional performance of geriatric podiatry patients to identify evidence-based management for cognitive, psychological, sensory, and perceptual changes associated with ageing.
- Identify the challenges of polypharmacy encountered with elderly patients in podiatric practice
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Written Assessment | • | • | ||
| 2 - Presentation | • | • | • | • |
| 3 - In-class Test(s) | • | • | ||
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 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 | • | • | ||
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | |