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Communicating for Health, not Harm (POPH30005)
Undergraduate level 3Points: 12.5On Campus (Parkville)
About this subject
- Overview
- Eligibility and requirements
- Assessment
- Dates and times
- Further information
- Timetable (login required)(opens in new window)
Contact information
Semester 2
Melbourne School of Population and Global Health
OR
Currently enrolled students:
- General information: https://ask.unimelb.edu.au
- Email: Contact Stop 1
Future Students:
- Further Information: https://study.unimelb.edu.au/
Overview
Availability | Semester 2 |
---|---|
Fees | Look up fees |
Communicating for Health, not Harm is the capstone subject in the Public Health and Epidemiology Major in the Bachelor of Biomedicine.
In this Public Health and Epidemiology Major capstone subject students will take a deep dive into the challenges faced by health practitioners working in the modern world of misinformation, dark marketing and green/pink/social washing. Students will learn to identify methods used by industry and others to influence the community. Relevant pervasive examples of messaging from industry will be scrutinised. Students will learn to counter the challenges, and address the different goals of health communication, such as advocacy, awareness raising and behaviour change. This subject will cover the modern approaches that can be utilised to meet the different health communication goals. Students will learn about communicating health messages through community engagement, using diverse media (i.e., social media) and at an individual level.
Students will then be able to apply these learnings in a new and unique university initiative whereby they will work with the Health Promotions Team at the University of Melbourne to develop health messages in an active campaign. The output generated by the students in this subject will be directly utilised as part of the campaign. The hands-on, real-world experience gained through working on an active health promotion campaign will provide valuable skills and experience for future careers in the health field. In this real-world capstone experience the topics covered and methods chosen will change each year, depending on the health needs of the goals of the Health Promotions team.
This subject will be relevant for any students moving into the health professions, public health or biomedicine, as it will equip them with important communication skills and an understanding of effective health communication strategies.
Intended learning outcomes
On completion of this subject, students should be able to:
- Discuss how marketing and communication methods influence the health decisions made by populations
- Appraise overt and covert marketing and communication methods utilised by commercial entities, and consider strategies to counteract such messaging
- Investigate the sources of information utilised in common health messaging
- Describe and apply techniques that can be used for effective health communication with individuals and populations
- Describe and apply the different purposes of health communication (i.e., advocacy, building health literacy, behaviour change), with the aim of being able to develop the goals, principles, and content of a health communication strategy
- Utilise epidemiological evidence and the concepts of equity and ethics in the development of communication strategies and design of health messages
- Create health messages that can be utilised in a real-life health promotion campaign (capstone project)
Generic skills
- Literacy skills: development of skills in identifying credible sources and develop skills in media literacy.
- Communication skills: develop skills to communicate effectively with individuals and wider community
- Problem solving: The ability to define a real world problem and work to solve that problem
- Teamwork: The ability to work as an effective team member to meet a shared goal
Last updated: 26 April 2024
Eligibility and requirements
Prerequisites
Code | Name | Teaching period | Credit Points |
---|---|---|---|
POPH30003 | Real World Epidemiology | Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville) |
12.5 |
POPH30004 | Ethics and Equity in Health and Medicine | Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville) |
12.5 |
Corequisites
None
Non-allowed subjects
None
Inherent requirements (core participation requirements)
The University of Melbourne is committed to providing students with reasonable adjustments to assessment and participation under the Disability Standards for Education (2005), and the Assessment and Results Policy (MPF1326). Students are expected to meet the core participation requirements for their course. These can be viewed under Entry and Participation Requirements for the course outlines in the Handbook.
Further details on how to seek academic adjustments can be found on the Student Equity and Disability Support website: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/student-equity/home
Last updated: 26 April 2024
Assessment
Description | Timing | Percentage |
---|---|---|
Regular reflective journal on personal and in-class media interactions.
| 700 words by the end of week 5 and 700 words by the end of week 10 (marks split evenly across the two assessments) | 35% |
Health communication plan
| Week 7 | 20% |
Heath communication message creation
| Week 8 to 12, depending on campaign needs | 20% |
Written assignment: Focus on health communication goal or method
| During the assessment period | 25% |
Last updated: 26 April 2024
Dates & times
- Semester 2
Coordinator Lucy Westerman Mode of delivery On Campus (Parkville) Contact hours One hour lecture per week, delivered on campus, totalling 12 hours Two hours per week in interactive group learning workshops, delivered on campus, totalling 24 hours One hour instructional material and guided learning activities per week, delivered asynchronously online, totalling 12 hours. Total time commitment 170 hours Teaching period 22 July 2024 to 20 October 2024 Last self-enrol date 2 August 2024 Census date 2 September 2024 Last date to withdraw without fail 20 September 2024 Assessment period ends 15 November 2024 Semester 2 contact information
Melbourne School of Population and Global Health
OR
Currently enrolled students:
- General information: https://ask.unimelb.edu.au
- Email: Contact Stop 1
Future Students:
- Further Information: https://study.unimelb.edu.au/
What do these dates mean
Visit this webpage to find out about these key dates, including how they impact on:
- Your tuition fees, academic transcript and statements.
- And for Commonwealth Supported students, your:
- Student Learning Entitlement. This applies to all students enrolled in a Commonwealth Supported Place (CSP).
Subjects withdrawn after the census date (including up to the ‘last day to withdraw without fail’) count toward the Student Learning Entitlement.
Last updated: 26 April 2024
Further information
- Texts
Prescribed texts
There are no specifically prescribed or recommended texts for this subject.
- Breadth options
This subject is available as breadth in the following courses:
- Bachelor of Arts
- Bachelor of Commerce
- Bachelor of Design
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Acting)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Animation)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Dance)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Film and Television)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Music Theatre)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Production)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Screenwriting)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Theatre)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Visual Art)
- Bachelor of Music
- Available through the Community Access Program
About the Community Access Program (CAP)
This subject is available through the Community Access Program (also called Single Subject Studies) which allows you to enrol in single subjects offered by the University of Melbourne, without the commitment required to complete a whole degree.
Entry requirements including prerequisites may apply. Please refer to the CAP applications page for further information.
- Available to Study Abroad and/or Study Exchange Students
This subject is available to students studying at the University from eligible overseas institutions on exchange and study abroad. Students are required to satisfy any listed requirements, such as pre- and co-requisites, for enrolment in the subject.
Last updated: 26 April 2024