Ecological Public Health Practice (10010.2)

Please note these are the 2027 details for this unit
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Ecological Public Health Practice
Available teaching periods Delivery mode Location
View teaching periods Hybrid
 Bruce, Canberra
EFTSL Credit points Faculty
0.125 3 Faculty Of Health
Discipline Study level HECS Bands
Public Health Level 2 - Undergraduate Intermediate Unit Band 2 2021 (Commenced After 1 Jan 2021)
Band 3 2021 (Commenced Before 1 Jan 2021)
This unit will expose students to the breadth of public health practice and practitioners through study of various public health workforce sectors and lectures from a broad range of public health practitioners drawn from health protection, health promotion and disease prevention. Both government and non-government sectors will be covered in this unit as will public health responsibilities undertaken by private sector workplaces. This unit will better prepare students for their placement in the third year unit 8577 Health Program Planning and Development and will broaden their understanding of the work options open to them as graduates of the Bachelor of Public Health.

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:
1. Understand the breadth of options open to public health professionals;

2. Become familiar with working examples of public health practice;
3. Understand workplace expectations in relation to the variety of public health occupations studied; and
4. Critically analyse the work of the various public health professions and to understand the interrelationships that assist this work.


Graduate attributes

1. UC graduates are professional - communicate effectively
1. UC graduates are professional - display initiative and drive, and use their organisation skills to plan and manage their workload
1. UC graduates are professional - employ up-to-date and relevant knowledge and skills
1. UC graduates are professional - use creativity, critical thinking, analysis and research skills to solve theoretical and real-world problems
2. UC graduates are global citizens - make creative use of technology in their learning and professional lives
2. UC graduates are global citizens - think globally about issues in their profession
3. UC graduates are lifelong learners - adapt to complexity, ambiguity and change by being flexible and keen to engage with new ideas
3. UC graduates are lifelong learners - reflect on their own practice, updating and adapting their knowledge and skills for continual professional and academic development


Skills development

In this unit, you will be exposed to a range of examples of public health practice, and develop an understanding of diverse ways in which public health effects change by understanding and working with systems. These are essential skills for public health practitioners of the 21st century. Ecological public health seeks to understand the systems that produce good and poor health, to better understand the complex inter-relationships between health (humans and other species), societies and ecosystems, intersect and how public health practitioners can intervene to support better health and wellbeing. An ecological public health perspective recognises that public health professionals may work in both 'traditional' occupations such as epidemiology, and non-traditional occupations such as studying social behaviours, wellbeing and broader policy development for wellbeing. This subject uses multiple case studies to demonstrate both the principles of systems thinking that underpin ecological public health, and to demonstrate the range of settings in which public health practitioners often work. Case studies examined in the course include disaster response, obesity, wellbeing budgeting and policy approaches, adaptation to climate change, and understanding and addressing the global nutrition transition. Through these and other examples we will discuss the different roles of public health professionals, as well as giving a strong grounding in understanding the systems - ecological, built and natural environment, organisational, families and communities - that influence health outcomes, and which public health practitioners seek to influence. 



Prerequisites

None.

Corequisites

None.

Equivalent units

8574 Public Health Systems and Policy 2.

Assumed knowledge

None.
Availability for enrolment in 2027 is subject to change and may not be confirmed until closer to the teaching start date.
Year Location Teaching period Teaching start date Delivery mode Unit convener
2026 Bruce, Canberra Semester 1 16 February 2026 Hybrid Dr Ro McFarlane
2027 Bruce, Canberra Semester 1 15 February 2027 Hybrid Dr Ro McFarlane
The information provided should be used as a guide only. Timetables may not be finalised until week 2 of the teaching period and are subject to change. Search for the unit timetable.

Required texts

See Canvas site. There are no specific texts for this course; a set of readings is provided on Canvas for each week of the course. 

Submission of assessment items

Extensions & Late submissions

Artificial intelligence

Students are permitted to use generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) as indicated in the assessment instructions for this unit, as well as Studiosity Writing Feedback Plus.

GenAI may only be used in authorised ways when completing assessments at UC. This means that GenAI can only be used for an assessment when:

  1. the Unit Convener has authorised GenAI use for that assessment
  2. the student uses GenAI in the way that the assessment instructions allow
  3. the student fully acknowledges their use of GenAI, with proper citations, references and a GenAI Acknowledgement Statement in line with the assessment instructions.

Where the assessment instructions do not specifically state that GenAI may be used and how, then its use is not permitted for that assessment. Students must still provide the required GenAI Acknowledgement Statement to indicate whether GenAI has or has not been used in the preparation of the assessment. If unsure, students should seek advice from the Unit Convener.

The GenAI for Students Links to an external site. Library Guide provides further information, including how to reference GenAI Links to an external site..

Moderation

All assessment items will be moderated as outlined in the Faculty of Health Moderation Guidelines.  A copy of these guidelines is available on the Canvas site.

 

Students must apply academic integrity in their learning and research activities at UC. This includes submitting authentic and original work for assessments and properly acknowledging any sources used.

Academic integrity involves the ethical, honest and responsible use, creation and sharing of information. It is critical to the quality of higher education. Our academic integrity values are honesty, trust, fairness, respect, responsibility and courage.

UC students have to complete the Academic Integrity Module annually to learn about academic integrity and to understand the consequences of academic integrity breaches (or academic misconduct).

UC uses various strategies and systems, including detection software, to identify potential breaches of academic integrity. Suspected breaches may be investigated, and action can be taken when misconduct is found to have occurred.

Information is provided in the Academic Integrity Policy, Academic Integrity Procedure, and University of Canberra (Student Conduct) Rules 2023. For further advice, visit Study Skills.

Learner engagement

Students are expected to attend tutorials in person or online at set times, as these include live interactive activities. Lectures will be attended online. 

Use of generative artificial intelligence in assessments is only as directed and must comply to University of Canberra policy

Participation requirements

Students will be expected to participate in tutorials face to face or online. 

Required IT skills

None. However we will be using software to fascilitate systems diagrams

In-unit costs

None

Work placement, internships or practicums

None

Next step

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