HSH771 - The Social and Political Determinants of Health
| Year: | 2027 unit information |
|---|---|
| Enrolment modes: | Trimester 2: Online |
| Credit point(s): | 1 |
| EFTSL value: | 0.125 |
| Cohort rule: | Nil |
| Prerequisite: | Nil |
| Corequisite: | Nil |
| Study commitment: | Students will on average spend 150 hours over the teaching period undertaking the teaching, learning and assessment activities for this unit. |
| Scheduled learning activities - online: | Online independent and collaborative learning activities including 11 x 1.5 hour (recorded) lectures and 11 x 1 hour scheduled online seminars. |
Content
This unit looks in depth at two of the main structural determinants of health - the social and political. There are strong linkages between them and students will learn how they operate at different scales (e.g. the global and national), in different spaces (e.g. cities and the Global South), and how health is constructed by political decisions and social arrangements and social circumstances. Students will first learn that the social determinants of health broadly include all of the non-medical forces that shape our health outcomes, including where we are born and how variables such as education, working and living conditions, as well as socioeconomic, cultural and environmental factors intersect. The study of these determinants will be grounded in political economy, social epidemiology and intersectional approaches and frameworks. Students will develop a conceptual understanding of what constitutes the social determinants of health as a range of interacting socio-economic and environmental drivers of health outcomes. Students will explore theories and concepts of social determinants and then the various sources of qualitative and quantitative data through which we can analyse the social drivers of health. They will then be introduced to the impacts of politics and policy on health.
The unit examines how political systems, institutions and policy decisions shape health outcomes through their influence on areas including the environment, commercial regulation, social conditions, employment and wages, housing, transportation, hospital and care systems, the allocation of resources to health, and the overall governance of social and global systems, including consideration of institutional and power and political influence to the unit will also examine health governance at the national and international levels, including the role of Ministries of Health and the World Health Organisation.
Unit fee information
Fees and charges vary depending on the type of fee place you hold, your course, your commencement year, the units you choose to study and their study discipline, and your study load.
Tuition fees increase at the beginning of each calendar year and all fees quoted are in Australian dollars ($AUD). Tuition fees do not include textbooks, computer equipment or software, other equipment or costs such as mandatory checks, travel and stationery.
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