SOCL19065 - Rural Communities and Health

General Information

Unit Synopsis

This unit will prepare you for rural practice by providing an overview of rural Australia and its socio-cultural environment. Guided by a sociological perspective, you will gain an understanding of contemporary rural Australia and rural communities, and the social structures and cultural factors that influence them. The social determinants of health for rural populations will be examined and compared with those of metropolitan areas. The health inequalities and rural 'disadvantage' will be critically examined and you will investigate the challenges in accessing health care and health professionals, social determinants, risk behaviours and occupational factors. You will learn about the meaning of ‘rurality’ and the implications of ‘rurality’ for the health of different social groups. You will be prepared for rural practice through developing an understanding of your role as professionals, and of rural health issues, including the health status of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. While the focus of this unit is rural Australia, it would be of particular interest to those planning to live and work in rural and remote Australia; including social workers, human services practitioners, community development officers, nurses, paramedics and teachers.

Details

Level Undergraduate
Unit Level 2
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 4
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites

Completion of 24 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).

Class Timetable View Unit Timetable
Residential School No Residential School

Unit Availabilities from Term 3 - 2024

There are no availabilities for this unit on or after Term 3 - 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).

Assessment Overview

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 30%
2. Online Quiz(zes) 20%
3. Portfolio 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%).

Consult the University's Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades

Past Exams

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Previous Feedback

Term 1 - 2021 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 50.00% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 25.29% 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: Unit evaluation
Feedback
Lack of content on rurality, rural community and rural health in the unit.
Recommendation
Revision of the unit content to provide stronger rural content will ensure each topic is connected to rural communities, rural health and/or professional practice in rural communities.
Action Taken
The set textbook from which most readings were taken from was dropped and a range of new readings around rural health, rural community and rural workforce adopted from journal articles, CROs and CQU library Ebooks. The lecture material was updated and incorporated a stronger rural focus.
Source: Unit evaluation
Feedback
The unit needs more teaching of the sociological imagination and writing with a sociological voice.
Recommendation
A strong introductory sociology foundation at the beginning of the unit will be provided to students to equip them with the knowledge and skill to critically think and write from a sociological perspective.
Action Taken
The sociological perspective was taught to students from the commencement of the unit in week 1 and a sociological focus taken throughout especially with the teaching around Indigeneity, inequality and marginalised groups in rural communities.
Source: Unit evaluation
Feedback
The unit would benefit from better quality lectures and more topic content connecting the readings, unit outcomes and lectures.
Recommendation
New lecture notes and recordings to support the revised topic schedule will be produced for the unit. Weekly learning outcomes will be communicated to students to direct their reading and learning.
Action Taken
Along with a new schedule of readings there were new lectures, lecture notes, and tutorial material produced to support students' learning
Source: Unit evaluation
Feedback
For the unit's assessment, fewer large written assessments and more smaller percentage weighted assessments are wanted.
Recommendation
There will be the removal of a main essay and replacement of the two major written assessments with a variety of smaller assessments types.
Action Taken
No changes were made in the types of assessments but more assessment preparation support was provided to students. Changes to the type and weighting of assessments will be implemented in 2022.
Source: Unit evaluation
Feedback
Students request better marking and feedback on assessments and improvement in communicating the assessment requirements by adding more detail and a clearer marking rubric.
Recommendation
The University moderation processes will be undertaken by the marking team and individualised feedback provided to students to support their improvement on future assignment performance (content, structure, referencing).
Action Taken
University moderation was undertaken for the two written assessments as per university policy. Students received individualised feedback, exemplar papers, assessment help sessions and a detailed marking rubric with additional guidance. Further academic support was given to some students who struggled with the academic writing requirements.
Source: Email & Unit Evaluation
Feedback
Some students enjoyed the unit and felt they had gained a lot of knowledge of rural healthcare and communities to utilise in their future practice.
Recommendation
Continue to support students with relevant readings and assessments that build their professional capacity and performance.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Email and Other
Feedback
Some students wanted more individualised responses to their questions.
Recommendation
Provide a learning and supportive environment to students by responding to students individually and supporting their emotional state.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Unit Evaluation
Feedback
Some students sought resources & lecture content for the twelve weeks early in the term to undertake an independent self-paced study plan.
Recommendation
Continue to support students' learning through tutorials, online discussion forums, and one-on-one discussions. All lecture notes will be made available at the start of the term for students wishing to work ahead of the weekly schedule.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Unit Evaluation
Feedback
Some students found the late addition of another unit's practical session to interfere with the timetabled tutorial time.
Recommendation
Ensure tutorial times for the unit are known by other discipline unit coordinators to prevent timetable clashes.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Unit Evaluation
Feedback
Some students found the navigation of Moodle to find content not to be optimal.
Recommendation
Input from Learning & Teaching design support will be used to change the Moodle tile layout and make content more visible and not grouped into folders.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Other, in class
Feedback
Some students experienced difficulty with written assessments such as essays and portfolio - prefer quizzes and short answer questions.
Recommendation
Provide students with greater academic learning support through the Academic Learning Centre on grammar, academic writing, referencing, and academic integrity skills.
Action Taken
In Progress
Unit learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  1. Use a sociological perspective to explain health and social issues in rural and remote Australia
  2. Explore the social determinants of health and how they may impact rural communities in rural and remote areas
  3. Distinguish the health and social issues and challenges experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and other social groups (e.g. new migrants, people living with disabilities) living in rural and remote communities
  4. Explain the unique role of the health or social work professional working and living in rural and remote Australia.

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
1 - Written Assessment •
2 - Online Quiz(zes) • • •
3 - Portfolio • • •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
1 - Communication • • • •
3 - Critical Thinking • • • •
6 - Information Technology Competence • • • •
7 - Cross Cultural Competence • •
8 - Ethical practice •
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10