Learning Outcomes
A. Understand the concept of environmental factors influencing health, and the relevance to public health from the global to the local levels.
D. Understand the way in which globalisation and the social, economic and political determinants of health influence disease, including identification of vulnerable groups.
E. Understand the concept of sustainable development
F. Identify and critique ethical elements relevant to environmental health protections, policies, and industry practices, from global to local scale.
G. Critically analyse the relationships between environmental risk factors and social, economic and political determinants of illness and injury from global to local scale.
Context:
This assessment explores your understanding of some of the key concepts introduced in the last three modules.
Instructions:
This quiz consists of five questions. Please complete the questions and submit the assessment using the Blackboard test in the Assessments page.
Quiz questions
Question 1 (multiple choice) Which features of the built environment can have an obesogenic effect on health?
a) Footpaths and parks for walking
b) Roads, bicycle lanes and public transport for getting around
c) Proximity to pollution-producing roads and factories
d) All of the above
Question 2
According to the Safe Work Australia website, who does the law hold responsible for health and safety in the workplace?
a) My employer
b) My colleagues
c) Me
d) All of the above
Question 3 (short answer within 300 words)
The Haddon Matrix is one useful tool for analysing events that result in injury, so that we can develop strategies to reduce injury risk. Use the Haddon Matrix (see Chapter 22 of Frumkin (2010)) to analyse risk for the following scenario:
A twenty-year old female driver had attended a family celebration and consumed alcoholic beverages throughout the course of the evening. She departed for home before midnight, forgetting to fasten her seatbelt for the drive home. The road was dry and unlit. The driver, driving an older model compact vehicle, braked before a curve in the road, but her brake pads were worn and did not
slow the car sufficiently to round the curve. She swerved and the car rolled over several times. The car did not have airbags. She was discovered shortly after and transported to hospital, but remained in a coma.
Question 4 (multiple choice)
Which of these is not one of the seven cardinal rules of risk communication?
a) Accept and involve the receiver of risk information as a legitimate partner
b) Plan and tailor risk communication strategies
c) Listen to your audience
d) Be honest, frank and open
e) Limit communications to critical information only
f) Coordinate and collaborate with other credible sources
g) Plan for media influence
h) Speak clearly and with compassion
Question 5 (short answer in 500 words)
Lisa is a nine-year-old child living with her single mother, Susan, in a city apartment. Susan left Lisa’s abusive father six months ago; he does not make child support payments, and Susan is afraid to take him to court. Susan didn’t finish high school, limiting her employment options, and works for two cleaning companies to pay for rent, food, and schooling for Lisa. Her hours have recently been reduced because the business is struggling in a weak economy. She would like to study to become a teacher, but has no time or energy after work.
Their apartment block is next to a busy highway in an industrial part of town, with several factories nearby. Although Susan gets frequent headaches and Lisa has developed asthma since moving there, Susan believes that this is better than remaining in a violent relationship. Her family were angry with her for leaving her husband, so she has no family or social support. Susan tried to make friends with
her neighbours when she moved in, but they swore at her and slammed the door. Lisa has asked for a bicycle to ride after school, but Susan cannot afford one, and there are no parks, footpaths or bicycle lanes for Lisa to ride on. Susan would not be able to supervise her as she often has to work late as a cleaner, meaning that Lisa cannot play netball after school because Susan is not able to drive her. Because she is too tired to cook when her shift ends at 8pm she often brings Susan something from an inexpensive takeaway restaurant for dinner.
The final week of this subject focuses on prevention, but this fictional account demonstrates real limitations in people’s circumstances that create barriers for engaging in disease-preventive behaviours. When you develop a disease prevention plan, you need to understand the environment in which people live, so that you can develop effective prevention strategies that will work. What are the features of the social, economic and physical environments that create health risks to Susan and Lisa?
Given the factors that create risk, what would you recommend to address these environmental factors? These can be policy changes, or actions taken by the school, community or government.
Assessment criteria for short-answer questions:
Knowledge of concepts, agencies and relationships between environmental factors and health: 40%
Critical analysis through effective application of concepts, including use of examples: 40%
Writing quality and clarity, including adhering to the word limits set: 20%
