PE4S241 - Protecting the public’s health 01 Sep 2021 - 31 Aug 2027 | Version 1

Associated Module Information

Module Code: PE4S241
Module Title: Protecting the public’s health
Faculty: Faculty of Life Sciences and Education
Faculty Group: Allied Health and Chiropractic
Faculty Sub Group: Clinical Services
Module Leader: Karl New
Module Team:
First Intended Intake: SEP 2021 Final Year of Intake: 2026
Date Closed:
Credit Value: 20 Credit Level: 7
Language: English
Percentage of Module Taught in Welsh: 0
Equivalent Module:
HECOS codes: 100260 - healthcare science
HECOS Code Weighting: 100

Document Version Information

Version 1
Valid From 01 Sep 2021
Valid To 31 Aug 2027

Module Aims

To understand how to identify, assess and communicate risks associated with hazards relevant to health protection, and coordinate an appropriate public health response.

Content Summary

Indicative content to include topics outlined in notes and/or any other relevant current topics:

Week 1

Identification, risk and hazard identification.
To identify and risk assess communicable and environmental hazards.
Epidemiology (including microbial epidemiology), and biology (including microbiology) of communicable diseases. Causes, distribution, natural history, clinical presentation, methods of diagnosis and control of infections of local and international public health importance.

Week 2

Environmental determinants of disease and their control.
Surveillance.
Health and social behaviour: in relation to risk of infectious and environmental diseases.

Week 3

Health protection - identifying and managing an outbreak.
Surveillance.
Communicable disease: definitions, surveillance and methods of control.
Current outbreak investigation including the use of relevant epidemiological methods.
Waterborne, airborne outbreaks.

Week 4

Health protection - identifying and managing an incident.
Principles of the current public health aspects of emergency planning and managing environmental/chemical and radiological incidents including the roles and legal responsibilities of people and organisations involved in protecting the population’s health and well-being.

Week 5

Surveillance.
Immunisations and screening.
The design, evaluation, and management of current screening & immunisation programmes.

Week 6

Implementing change.
Current national and international public health legislation and its application.
Current legislation in environmental control and international aspects of hazard control.
Whole systems approaches government and local policy/ regulation; environment; behavioural change, screening programmes.

Learning and Teaching Methods

Activity Type Hours
Independent Study 60
Directed Study 99
Formative Assessment - Independent 1
Groupwork 40
Total Hours Selected 200

Learning Outcomes

# Learning Outcome
LO1 Use appropriate data and evidence to critically apply the appropriate techniques and methods to identify and assess the risks and hazards of communicable disease and non-communicable disease, relevant to health protection.
LO2 Co-ordinate appropriate public health responses, communicating effective interventions to protect populations by preventing communicable and non-communicable disease, ensuring that this is supported by the critical application of robust evidence.

Module Requisites

N/A

Assessment Criteria

Assessment Category Assessment Type Description Duration Word Count Weight (%) Best of? Pass Mark
Synchronous Online Assessment Time-constrained assessment (Online) 1 End of Module examination related to protecting the public’s health 60 N/A 30 No 40
Asynchronous Assessment Self Reflective Assessment 1 Reflective Journal 0 600 10 No 40
Asynchronous Assessment Project 1 Completion of a group project related to protecting the public’s health 0 N/A 20 No 40
Asynchronous Assessment Case study 1 Case based scenarios and discussion Forum related to protecting the public’s health 0 N/A 40 No 40

Assessment Matrix

Assessment Type Learning Outcomes
LO1 LO2
Time-constrained assessment (Online) 1
Self Reflective Assessment 1
Project 1
Case study 1

Reading List

HealthKnowledge. Disease Causation and Diagnostic. Available at: https://www.healthknowledge.org.uk/public-health-textbook/disease-causation-diagnostic

World Health Organisation. Health Protection, including management of environment, food, toxicology and occupational safety. Available at: http://www.emro.who.int/about-who/public-health-functions/health-protection.html

World Health Organisation. e-Library - Communicable diseases. Available at: http://www.emro.who.int/e-library/publications/publications.html

GOV.UK. UK National Screening Committee. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/uk-national-screening-committee-uk-nsc

Nelson, K.E. and Williams, C.M. eds., 2014. Infectious disease epidemiology: theory and practice. Jones & Bartlett Publishers.