Health Communication
Overview
This unit engages students in the multi-disciplinary field of Health Communication. Students will critique communication theories as they relate to health promotion principles and practice including social marketing, contemporary approaches for health literacy and working with diverse communities. The role of all forms of media, advocacy and activisms in health will be discussed with students as they relate to health communication. Students will be encouraged to critically discuss concepts of agenda setting, framing and representation as they relate to health communication.
Requisites
Rules
Pre-requisite
HEP20002 Health Promotion and Disease Prevention
Equivalent
HEP20003 Health Communication (Discontinued)
01-June-2025
Learning outcomes
Students who successfully complete this unit will be able to:
- Critically explore the scope, role and functions of health communication, media and culture in relation to the health system, other sectors, and wider society
- Apply theories, principles and methods of effective health communication, including interpersonal skills and group work
- Evaluate the strengths and limitations of traditional and contemporary social marketing approaches in health communication
- Outline advocacy, education, media and activism strategies/techniques and illustrate their use in public health policy development and stakeholder engagement
- Design and evaluate a contemporary health communication strategy that applies information technology, digital media technology or social media/mass media (print, radio and TV)
Teaching methods
Hawthorn
| Type | Hours per week | Number of weeks | Total (number of hours) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Face to Face Contact (Phasing out) Lecture | 1.00 | 12 weeks | 12 |
| Face to Face Contact (Phasing out) Tutorial | 2.00 | 12 weeks | 24 |
| Online Contact (Phasing out) Discussion | 0.50 | 12 weeks | 6 |
| Specified Learning Activities (Phasing out) Readings | 1.50 | 12 weeks | 18 |
| Unspecified Learning Activities (Phasing out) Independent Learning | 7.50 | 12 weeks | 90 |
| TOTAL | 150 |
Assessment
| Type | Task | Weighting | ULO's |
|---|---|---|---|
| Analysis | Individual | 35% | 1 |
| Essay | Individual | 40% | 2,4,5 |
| Presentation | Group | 25% | 3 |
Content
- Introduction to health communication
- Understanding the media
- Social marketing, digital media and media as a health promotion tool
- Engaging community to create change
- Activism in health communication
- Advocacy in health communication
- Applying health promotion principles and theories to create change
- Health Literacy
- Stereotypes in the media
Study resources
Reading materials
A list of reading materials and/or required textbooks will be available in the Unit Outline on Canvas.