Social Health

Unit Code

01248

Department/Institution Offering Unit

Centre for Health and Society
School of Population Health
University of Melbourne
Level4, 207 Bouverie St
Carlton
Victoria 3053 Australia

web: www.cshs.unimelb.edu.au

Unit Points

Research Points: 75

Coursework Points: 25

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Contacts

Unit Coordinator/s:

Dr Alison Brookes
Centre for Health and Society
School of Population Health
University of Melbourne
Level 4, 207 Bouverie Street
Carlton
Victoria 3053 Australia

tel: +61 3 8344 0826
fax: +61 3 8344 0824
email: abroo@unimelb.edu.au

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Overall Objectives

Social Health is a broad area of study that focuses on issues of health and health care their social context. Social Health research investigates issues such as:

• how people in the community understand their medical conditions;
• how patients experience various forms of medical treatment, including hospitalisation, surgery, medication, visiting a GP, and so on;
• the ways in which doctors understand and interact with their patients;
• how doctors are influenced by the social, cultural and institutional context of medicine;
• medical students' experience of medical education;
• and people's use and understanding of complementary therapies.

Projects in Aboriginal Health may be done in Social Health. Students interested in Aboriginal Health projects are encouraged to contact Mr Shaun Ewen for further information. Email: sewen@unimelb.edu.au, or see: www.chs.unimelb.edu.au/Koori/

Students in the Social Health Unit will usually undertake a project involving some form of data collection or fieldwork, such as conducting interviews or focus groups, or doing structured observation. Projects of this sort require ethics approval, and training in the ethics approval process is part of the unit. Less commonly, students will undertake a literature- or document-based project. The decision about which sort of project to undertake will be made by the supervisor and student, on the basis of which methodology best suits the proposed research project.
Note: There is some flexibility to transfer to the Medical Humanities Unit after Semester 6 has begun, if that unit turns out to be more suitable to a student's needs and research interests.

The specific objectives of the Social Health Unit are for students to gain:

• training and skills in research techniques, analysis and writing, which will be relevant for all forms of research, including social, clinical and scientific research;
• an awareness and critical understanding of the relationship between health and the social context;
• perspectives, concepts and analytical tools from the social sciences with which to think critically and constructively about health, illness and clinical care; and
• an enrichment and enhancement of personal and cultural resources relevant to the needs of future medical practitioners in both their professional and private lives.

Students undertaking an Aboriginal Health project will gain a greater understanding of the health problems faced by Indigenous communities and of issues in health service delivery and health policy, including concepts such as self-determination. Students will be encouraged to develop a self-reflexive approach to understanding Indigenous health and Indigenous issues that will enable them to reflect upon their own attitudes, those of others, and those which might be embedded in institutional practices and policies.

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Content

Coursework: Qualitative Health Research (12.5 points), Semester 6.
One other subject (12.5 points) in Semester 6, as recommended by the supervisor, in consultation with the student. NB: The Jamkhed course run by the Australian International Health Institute can be one of the coursework options. This subject is largely self-funded by students.

Research: The research component consists of a supervised project, plus a 30-minute oral presentation, held at the start of Semester 7, reporting on work in progress.
Students also present their final work at the School of Population Health AMS Conference at the end of the AMS year (late May). The conference is held at the University, and is usually attended by 80-100 people. Where appropriate, supervisors will encourage students to publish their work.

Students may either develop their own area of research interest, or work on established research projects being undertaken by CH&S staff and associates. Information about CH&S staff and their research interests can be found at: www.chs.unimelb.edu.au/

There are opportunities for students to undertake fieldwork or library research in overseas locations for part of the AMS year (usually 3-4 months maximum). CH&S staff members have research contacts in a number of overseas locations, e.g. Thailand , New Zealand. Joint placements may also be available through the Harm Reduction Unit at the Burnett Institute, which operates programs in many different countries. Research contacts already made by the Centre would be the main basis for overseas AMS placements.

Overseas placements can only take place if the AMS Academic Co-ordinator is satisfied that the placement is safe and worthwhile, and that appropriate local supervision and support are available.

Sample Research Topics:

1. Interns in Sri Lanka : the experience of ethical dilemmas. For this project, the student travelled to Sri Lanka and interviewed interns working in two different hospitals in Colombo .
2. How Western-trained doctors in Hong Kong use traditional Chinese medicine. For this project, the student travelled to Hong Kong and interviewed doctors there.
3. Differential gender access to needle-exchange programs in Nepal. For this project, the student travelled to Nepal and interviewed health care workers in harm-reduction centres to ascertain why women are not accessing needle-exchange programs.
4. Social adjustment to post-surgical scarring in young people. In this study, the student interviewed young people about their experience of recent surgery at the Royal Melbourne Hospital.
5. How does the Human Genome Project deal with race and ethnicity? The student studying this project conducted interviews with key informants involved with the Human Genome Project in Melbourne.
6. 'Black intellectual totalitarianism'? The misrepresentation of the return of Aboriginal skeletal remains. For this study, the student carried out an oral history on the Murray Black Collection, a collection that comprised more than 800 individuals and was housed within the University of Melbourne until 1984.
7. Stigma associated with mental illness in Melbourne 's Vietnamese community. The student interviewed Vietnamese doctors in Melbourne.

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Assessment Breakdown

Research Component: 75 points
Research Report (up to 7000 - 9000 words): 85%
February work-in-progress Oral presentation: 15%

Coursework Component: 25 points
Qualitative Health Research will be assessed as per the subject description. 2nd Subject: Depending on the subject, this may be written work only or a combination of written work and examination usually totalling up to 4000 words.

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Student Numbers

Number of places available:
12