92590 Non-communicable Disease Prevention and Management
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Credit points: 6 cp
Subject level:
Undergraduate
Result type: Grade and marksDescription
Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) have displaced infectious diseases as the most significant health challenge for most countries. Globally, two-thirds of all deaths are the result of NCDs, with premature deaths and complex co-morbidities comprising a challenge for governments that extends well beyond the health sector. Governments at all levels, struggling with the direct and indirect costs as well as the social impacts, have developed a range of policies and strategies designed to address the NCD burden, from issuing dietary guidelines and promoting lifestyle change, screening vulnerable populations, to ensuring that health systems are equipped to provide adequate treatment.
This subject introduces students to the concepts, causes, and policies for managing NCDs. After considering the social and environmental determinants of NCDs, students then critically assess the primordial, primary, secondary and tertiary prevention model. The subject also considers the role of health professionals and importance of cross-sectoral engagement, with a particular focus on minority, excluded, and lower socioeconomic groups in Australia and abroad.
Subject learning objectives (SLOs)
| A. | Describe how NCDs are defined and framed in public policy, and how this affects strategies designed to reduce the global burden of NCDs |
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| B. | Evaluate the current epidemiological methods for surveillance of the incidence and prevalence of NCDs; understand the disease transition from infectious to non-communicable disease and its implications |
| C. | Analyse the role of social and environmental determinants in the growing NCD burden |
| D. | Critically assess the current goals and strategies for addressing NCDs employing the primordial, primary, secondary and tertiary prevention |
| E. | Identify and analyse current international and Australian health governance on prevention and treatment strategies, including cross-sectoral activities |
| F. | Appraise the role of professional practice in addressing the NCD burden |
| G. | Evaluate how current strategies can address the needs of specific vulnerable populations, including Indigenous and economically marginalised communities |
| H. | Collaborate and communicate effectively with peers to develop practical approaches for NCD prevention across the health sector, and strategies for working with other sectors |
Course intended learning outcomes (CILOs)
This subject also contributes specifically to the following graduate attributes:
- Develop creative and innovative responses to health issues (2.2)
- Demonstrate adaptability to social, political and technological change in public health (2.3)
- Translate and communicate knowledge and research effectively to various audiences (3.3)
- Demonstrates a capacity for autonomy, accountability and critical self-assessment (3.4)
- Recognises the need of supportive and responsive evidence-based practice in diverse communities (4.2)
- Demonstrates critical thinking in the development and practice of public health (5.1)
- Translate public health policy into evidence-based strategies (5.2)
- Assess and evaluate the relevance and quality of research in the context of specific health issues and populations (5.3)
Contribution to the development of graduate attributes
This subject also contributes specifically to the following graduate attributes:
- Develop evidence informed solutions reflecting in-depth knowledge of the social determinants of health (1.2)
- Utilise enquiry-based learning to develop innovative approaches to complex issues (2.2)
- Manage and adapt to the environment to maximise integration of care and outcomes for a range of individuals, communities and stakeholders (2.3)
- Facilitate the growth and development of self and others through responsive leadership (3.3)
- Contribute to environments that support and promote inter- and trans- disciplinary collaboration (3.4)
- Promote health equity by recognizing and seeking to address disadvantage (4.1)
- Make use of research and data to enable responsible, ethical and equitable service provision (4.2)
- Identify appropriate information resources and apply effective and creative solutions for the improvement of individuals and communities (5.1)
- Take a lively and questioning approach to developing optimal health care delivery (5.2)
- Critically evaluate research and practice for socially driven change (5.3)
Teaching and learning strategies
The course is designed to be student-centred and highly interactive. In most sessions, there will be one or more short lectures, followed by one or more student-centred activities that will include critical analysis, discussion, scenario development, and simulations. Students will be asked to complete short readings prior to the class and some activities will be based around these. Active participation will be essential in achieving the learning outcomes for each session.
Content (topics)
Topic 1: Framing NCDs as a global health crisis?
- Defining NCDs: How are NCDs framed in the policy literature? Who and what is covered/not covered in the definitions?
- Social (economic, cultural, political) and environmental determinants of NCDs, role of the individual vs. state in prevention & treatment.
- Surveillance and monitoring; historical development of NCDs; increasing burden of illness in both developed and developing countries.
Topic 2: Strategies for prevention and management of NCDs
- Primordial prevention, risk prevention strategies; mass screening; mass communication use and effectiveness.
- Primary prevention, identifying at-risk communities, strategies for reducing incidence of the disease.
- Secondary prevention, reducing prevalence of disease; focus on those who are asymptomatic or developing first symptoms
- Tertiary prevention, reducing complications from illness and disability.
- Applying the model to real-life situations
Topic 3: NCDs and health governance
- International, regional, national, and local programs for addressing NCDs; WHO goals;
- Australian government responses to the NCD burden
- Evaluations of current approaches; range of actors and interests;
- Engagement with non-health sectors.
- Specific issues for marginalised and vulnerable populations, including Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
- Professional practice for NCD management and prevention
Assessment
Assessment task 1: Individual Media Journal
| Intent: | The purpose of this activity is to reaffirm understanding of NCDs as having social and environmental determinants, and review the role of the social determinants of health as a frequently ignored paradigm in the context of the growing burden of NCDs. |
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| Type: | Journal |
| Groupwork: | Individual |
| Weight: | 15% |
| Length: | 800 words (+/- 10%) |
Assessment task 2: Group presentation (Groups of 4 – 5 students)
| Intent: | This group presentations helps students to develop an understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the current model for prevention and management of NCDs, and to develop and weigh up practical responses given resource and funding limitations. |
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| Type: | Presentation |
| Groupwork: | Group, group and individually assessed |
| Weight: | 30% |
| Length: | 20-minute presentation in which all group members must present (plus 5 - 10 minutes discussion). The group will submit a handout outlining the key points in their presentation. |
Assessment task 3: Individual Policy analysis
| Intent: | This essay requires students to consider how well current government policies address the NCD burden when applied to specific vulnerable populations. It asks students to consider and apply learnings from the course in critiquing the policy and develop a practical response where appropriate. |
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| Type: | Essay |
| Groupwork: | Individual |
| Weight: | 40% |
| Length: | 2,200 words |
Assessment task 4: Professionalism
| Intent: | This assessment is designed to reaffirm the importance of professionalism among students, and to develop attitudes and practices that will guide them through their professional lives as health workers. |
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| Objective(s): | This assessment task addresses subject learning objective(s): D, E, F, G and H This assessment task contributes to the development of graduate attribute(s): 2.2, 2.3, 3.3, 3.4, 4.2, 5.1, 5.2 and 5.3 |
| Type: | Reflection |
| Groupwork: | Individual |
| Weight: | 15% |
| Length: | One A-4 page |
| Criteria: | Students will be asked to complete a one-page reflection that shows how much they have contributed to the learning environment for the course. The reflection will cover areas such as communication with the course co-ordinator, communication with other students, appropriate preparation for classes, contribution to class all activities, and areas for self-improvement. 50% of the mark for this assignment will come from the mark awarded for the reflection and 50% will come from the teacher's in-class assessment of those same factors. |
Required texts
There are no required texts. Reading materials will be provided for each week on UTS online.
Recommended texts
McQueen, D.(ed). (2013). Global handbook on noncommunicable diseases and health promotion. Springer: New York.
Rayner, M., Wickramasinghe, K., Williams, J., MacColl, K., & Mendis, S. (2017). An introduction to population-level prevention of non-communicable diseases. Oxford: OUP.
References
Allen, L. N., & Feigl, A. B. (2017). Reframing non-communicable diseases as socially transmitted conditions. Lancet 5(7):e644-e646. doi: 10.1016/S2214-109X(17)30200-0.
Allotey, P., Davey, T., & Reidpath, D. D. (2014). NCDs in low and middle-income countries: Assessing the capacity of health systems to respond to population needs. BMC Public Health, 14(Suppl 2): S1.
Australian Health Ministers’ Advisory Council (2017). National strategic framework for chronic conditions. Australian Government. Canberra. https://preview.tinyurl.com/y8j6rrzu
De Maeseneer, J., Roberts, R. G., Demarzo, M., Heath, I., Sewankambo, N., Kidd, M. R., van Weel, C., Egilman, D., Boelen, C., & Willems, S. (2011). Tackling NCDs: A different approach is needed. Lancet 379, 1860-61.
Di Cesare, M., et al. (2013). Inequalities in non-communicable diseases and effective responses. Lancet 381(9866): 585-597.
Galambos, L. & Sturchio, J. L. (2014). Noncommunicable diseases in the developing world: Addressing gaps in global policy and research. The Johns Hopkins University Press: Baltimore.
Jeet G., Thakur J. S., Prinja S., & Singh M. (2017). Community health workers for non-communicable diseases prevention and control in developing countries: Evidence and implications. PLoS One 12(7):e0180640. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0180640.
McQueen, D.(ed). (2013). Global handbook on noncommunicable diseases and health promotion. Springer: New York.
Mallawaarachchi, D. S. V., Wickremasinghe S. C., Somatunga Lakshmi C., Siriwardena Vithanage T. S.K., Gunawardena Nalika S. (2016). Healthy Lifestyle Centres: A service for screening noncommunicable diseases through primary health-care institutions in Sri Lanka. WHO South-East Asia Journal of Public Health 5(2): 89-95.
Moodie, R. A., Tolhurst, P., & Martin, J. E. (2016). Australia’s health: Being accountable for prevention. Med J Aust 204(6), 223-225. doi: 10.5694/mja15.00968.
Pearson, T. A. (2007) The prevention Of cardiovascular disease: Have we really made progress? Health Affairs. 26(1), 49-60.
Schoenberg, N. E., Tarasenko, Y. N., & Snell-Rood, C. (2017). Are evidence-based, community-engaged energy balance interventions enough for extremely vulnerable populations? TBM doi: 10.1093/tbm/ibx013.
Quinn E., O'Hara B. J., Ahmed N., Winch S., McGill B., Banovic D., Maxwell M., & Rissel C. (2017). Enhancing the get healthy information and coaching service for Aboriginal adults: Evaluation of the process and impact of the program. Int J Equity Health 16(1), 168. doi: 10.1186/s12939-017-0641-8.
Ursoni, S. (2009). Primordial prevention, developing countries and the epidemiological transition: Thirty years later. Wiener Klinische Wochenschrift 121(5–6), 168–172.
World Health Organization (WHO). (2014). “Global status report on NCDs 2014”. World Health Organization: Geneva.
Sonia Wutzke, S., Morrice, E., Benton, M. C., & Wilson, A. (2016). What will it take to improve prevention of chronic diseases in Australia? A case study of two national approaches. Australian Health Review 41(2) 176-181. https://doi.org/10.1071/AH16002
World Health Organization (WHO) (2013). Global action plan for the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) 2013–2020. WHO Press: Geneva. http://apps.who.int/iris/ bitstream/10665/94384/1/9789241506236_eng.pdf
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