511-111 Society and Health

Credit Points

HECS Band

Coordinator

Semester

Contact

Subject Description

This subject covers: preventive dentistry; developmental perspectives and education; health science communication and research methods; and applied behavioural science and community studies.

On completion of this subject, the student should:

• comprehend the basic concepts of community and social structures and the implications for health and oral health; the principles of the aetiology and prevention of common oral diseases; the relevance of psychology and human development to health care and good dental practice; the principles of teaching methodologies and of patient and carer management;

• demonstrate skills in collating, graphing and interpreting data; and

• appreciate the benefits of health maintenance practice in contrast to the treatment of preventable disease; the responsibilities of dental therapists, dental hygienists, and the dental profession toward the provision of preventive care and treatment of oral disease at individual and community levels; an awareness of the range of differing health care needs of individuals and groups within the community and diversity of the methods needed to provide them.

Assessment

One 2-hour written examination at the end of Semester 1; one 2-hour written examination at the end of Semester 2; written assignments, class presentations and practical reports throughout the year.

Prescribed Texts

• K Betts and A Seitz, Writing Essays and Research Reports in the Social Sciences. 2nd ed., Nelson, 1994.
• C G Kent and A S Blinkhorn, The Psychology of Dental Care. Wright, 1992.
• J J Murray (ed), Prevention of Oral Disease. Oxford University Press, 1996.