Population Health and Ageing

This subject is not offered in 2015.

170 hours

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Students Experiencing Academic Disadvantage Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Description, Subject Objectives, Generic Skills and Assessment Requirements of this entry.
The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the disability support scheme can be found at the Disability Liaison Unit website.

This subject explores the impact of a rapidly ageing population in terms of both planning and providing for this worldwide trend. This subject includes an overview of the life course from conception through the key stages of life to old age in order to show the ageing experience. The primary focus of this subject is on the relationship between ageing and a range of social and economics determinants, including gender, poverty, race/ethnicity, housing, employment and working conditions. Students will draw on models for these determinants in order to better understand and evaluate the effectiveness of policy interventions that impact older people. This subject utilises examples from Australia and around the world to explore how policies aimed to promote healthy ageing influence population health.

On completion of this subject, students will be able to:

• Demonstrate an informed understanding and ability to find resources, measurement tools and data relating to ageing and demographic transitions
• Recognise and apply public health theories, frameworks and approaches
• Critically analyse how social and economic determinants intersect with the ageing process
• Interpret data and impact of public health interventions

• Weekly contributions to Online Discussions (10%)
• Team assignment on a health policy aimed at older people that addresses one of the social and economic determinants, with structured peer review of another team’s assignment due in the middle of the teaching period (40%)
• A 3,000 word essay comparing health policies from two different countries that aim to promote healthy ageing due at the end of the teaching period (50%)

Students will have access to electronic copies of relevant readings

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

Students will be provided with the opportunity to practice and reinforce:

• Demonstrate the ability to identify, analyse and evaluate relevant information.
• High level written communication skills.
• Demonstrate the ability to work collaboratively with team members.
• Advance analytic, integration and problem-solving skills.
• Comparative policy analysis and research skills.