The unit will explore health promotion and disease prevention as a key aspect of development work in both historical and contemporary contexts. From the founding of the World Health Organization in 1948 and its early fights with malaria, through to more recent mobilisations against HIV/AIDS and now COVID-19, this unit will highlight how disease and illness have shaped patterns of development globally. Emphasising the social determinants of health, this unit provides students with the conceptual tools to analyse the interconnections between poverty, structural violence, ill-health and health seeking behaviors. Informed by contemporary approaches to Global Health that recognise health disparities and promote equity through interdisciplinary engagement with people affected by ill-health and disease, this unit will also provide students with the practical skills to engage with the subjective illness experiences of individuals in a range of development contexts.

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:
1. Understand and critically engage with health as a fundamental goal of development;
2. Analyse the interconnections between poverty, structural violence, ill-health and health seeking behaviors;
3. Understand historical approaches to disease prevention from colonial medicine through to contemporary framings of Global Health;
4. Demonstrate a clear understanding of the structural determinants of health and the ability to apply these critically to a range of development contexts;
5. Articulate the limits of the western biomedical paradigm and demonstrate the importance of engaging with cultural, religious, gendered and other subjective experiences of illness; and
6. Demonstrate knowledge of a range of tools used by development practitioners to better understand and formulate programs based on the lived experiences of people affected by ill-health.

Graduate attributes

1. UC graduates are professional - use creativity, critical thinking, analysis and research skills to solve theoretical and real-world problems
1. UC graduates are professional - employ up-to-date and relevant knowledge and skills
2. UC graduates are global citizens - adopt an informed and balanced approach across professional and international boundaries
2. UC graduates are global citizens - behave ethically and sustainably in their professional and personal lives
2. UC graduates are global citizens - communicate effectively in diverse cultural and social settings
2. UC graduates are global citizens - understand issues in their profession from the perspective of other cultures
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 - be self-aware
4. UC graduates are able to demonstrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ways of knowing, being and doing - use Indigenous histories and traditional ecological knowledge to develop and augment understanding of their discipline

Prerequisites

None.

Corequisites

None.

Incompatible units

None.

Equivalent units

None.

Assumed knowledge

None.