Aboriginal Health: Past to Present

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2009:

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Student Support and Engagement Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Generic Skills sections of this entry.

It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. Students who feel their disability may impact on meeting the requirements of this subject are encouraged to discuss this matter with a Faculty Student Adviser and Student Equity and Disability Support: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

Through the use of case studies located along a historical timeline, this subject provides students with a foundational understanding of Aboriginal health from pre-invasion to the present. Along this continuum, Aboriginal health issues are examined in terms of their socio-economic origins, the clash of Aboriginal and settler values, aspirations and outcomes, and comparative demographical trends. Key topics include: colonisation and infectious disease; loss of land/economy & health impacts; war and health; impacts of segregation; cultural oppression, identity and health; inter-generational health effects of family separations; and, institutional racism and health. Students will also consider the development of Aboriginal-led strategies, including Aboriginal leadership and community control of health services. The subject draws on a range of rich archival material in the form of a multimedia role-play, recent research, audio-visual materials as well as contemporary Indigenous community perspectives on Aboriginal health and wellbeing.

• Explain particular Koori health issues in terms of their historical antecedents;
• Explain contemporary Koori health issues in terms of key socio-economic and demographic variables and their historical basis.
• Analyse the potential of public health interventions in relation to Koori history and experiences of health/illness.
• Critically analyse professional and popular representations of Koori health disadvantage, own standpoint as an informed ethical public health practitioner and implications for own professional practice.
• Assess current responses to Koori health issues drawing on key social and cultural factors and their historical origins.

Essay of 2000 words due mid-semester (40%). Essay of 3000 words due at end of semester (60%)

A set of recommended readings will be available for purchase.

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

On completion of this subject students should have developed the following generic skills:

• highly developed cognitive, analytic and problem-solving skills;
• capacity for independent critical thought, rational inquiry and self-directed learning;
• leadership capacity, including a willingness to engage in constructive public discourse, to accept social and civic responsibilities and to speak out against prejudice, injustice and the abuse of power;
• ability and confidence to participate effectively in collaborative learning as a team-member, while respecting individual differences;
• a profound respect for truth and intellectual integrity, and for the ethics of scholarship;

This subject is a Group 1 elective in the Master of Public Health.