Students learn about:

• Measuring health status
• • Role of epidemiology
  • Measures of epidemiology (mortality, infant mortality, morbidity, life expectancy)
    
    
• Identifying priority health issues
  • Social justice principles
  • Priority population groups
  • Prevalence of condition
  • Potential for prevention and early intervention
  • Costs to the individual and community

Students learn to:

• Critique the use of epidemiology to describe health status by considering questions such as:
  • What can epidemiology tell us?
  • Who uses these measures?
  • Do they measure everything about health status?
• Use tables and graphs from health reports to analyze current trends in
  life expectancy and major causes of morbidity and mortality for the
  general population and comparing males and females
• Argue the case for why decisions are made about health priorities by considering questions such as:
  • How do we identify priority issues for Australia’s health?
  • What role do the principles of social justice play?
  • Why is it important to priorities?

Extract from PDHPE Stage 6 Syllabus. © 2009 Board of Studies NSW.