In your professional life, you will apply your knowledge of epidemiology to describe the impact of health outcomes, the patterns of disease, or the risks of a particular outcome in your work with clients, collaborators, or the general public. This assessment is a practical application of that.

In this assessment, you are asked to research, create, and develop a poster, suitable for presentation at an academic conference, that describes the population health impact of a health outcome that is of importance to the Australian population. Using appropriate measures, you must source, interpret and communicate the current epidemiological evidence. The audience for your poster will be health policymakers, health planners from the Department of Health, academics and researchers, and other health professionals.

Your poster needs to include:

• A clear introduction to the health issue that provides a clear definition and justification of why it is important.
• The use of a range of appropriate epidemiological measures to critically demonstrate the impact this health issue has on:
  • The Australian population as a whole and
  • Within or between different population groups of relevance (i.e. differential impacts based on, for instance, age, gender, geographic location, occupation, etc.)
• The use of data visualization that contributes to the effective communication of the issue.
• A clear and concise conclusion that links to the introduction and the contents of the poster.

The topic options for the task are:

• HIV in Australia
• Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) in Australia
• Silicosis in Australia
• Japanese encephalitis in Australia
• Social media consumption and mental health in Australia

See the unit Moodle site for full task guidelines.

The use of generative AI for this assessment task is permitted in limited and restricted ways. You may only use generative AI for the following purposes:

• Checking of grammar, punctuation, and syntax 

The use of generative AI to generate material or write parts of this assignment, or submitting work that was not written by you, is a breach of the University's academic integrity policy. 

If you require further academic support with this assignment, please utilise the range of resources available through the CQUniversity library and ALC for support with academic skills including:

• understanding and interpreting assessment task requirements and rubrics
• researching (including developing effective search terms, and effectively utilising search databases)
• writing (including paraphrasing, synthesising, critical appraisal)
• referencing (including what, how and where to reference appropriately)

Relevance (40%)

• Use of appropriate epidemiological measures to clearly and critically demonstrate the impact the health issue has on the Australian population and identified at-risk groups
• Use of original data visualisations that illustrate the epidemiological measure, the health issue, the audience and the poster format

Validity (40%)

• Depth and extent of research and analysis, demonstrated by the strength of evidence incorporated
• Strength and cohesion of evidence-based justification of importance of the issue to public health
• Factual accuracy
• Originality of the poster content

Organisation (10%)

• Overall quality of poster design
• Clear and logical structure, synthesis and flow of information
• Effective use of template(s) if used

Presentation (10%)

• Style and formatting in accordance with required academic standards and assessment task requirements
• Writing – clarity and consistency of academic or professional communication appropriate for the intended audience
• Writing -  fluency 
• Writing - spelling, punctuation and grammar.
• Sufficient and accurate referencing 

Assessment 2 is a series of quiz questions that you will complete individually. Each quiz consists of multiple-choice questions and/or short answer questions (approximate length 250 words). There are five quizzes in total, each worth 5%. The quizzes are spread out throughout the term, due in weeks 3, 4, 6, 9 and 11. Each quiz covers the concepts and that were introduced in the previous week. For example, the quiz due in Week 3 relates the concepts and materials from Weeks 1&2; the quiz due in Week 4 addresses the concepts and materials from Week 3; and so on.

Quizzes will include a mix of multiple-choice and short-answer questions. You will have 30 minutes to complete each quiz and you cannot pause it. You will only have one attempt to complete each quiz, so it's important to have a reliable internet connection when taking the quiz.

You may use a notes page with formulas and a simple calculator to assist you. The quiz will be available from 00:00 AEST hours on Monday of each relevant content week until 16:00 hours AEST on Monday of the following due week. For example, the quiz due in week 4 (related to concepts from week 3) will be available from Monday of week 3 and will remain open until Monday of week 4 at 16:00. You will receive your score and feedback on your answers after the quiz has closed to the student cohort. 

STUDENTS MUST NOT USE GENERATIVE AI TO COMPLETE THESE QUIZZES

No Assessment Criteria

In your professional life, you may use your knowledge of epidemiology to support applications for funding by your employer, either through grants or budget requests, to address health outcomes within your area. This assessment is a practical application of that scenario.

In this assessment task, you are required to research and write an application for funding. The funding will support an evidence-based intervention that will improve the health of a population concerning the health outcome you critically outlined in Assessment 1. Your task is to complete an application for funding to conduct an evidence-based population-level intervention to improve population health.

The application requires you to use an evaluation of relevant literature to propose an appropriate evidence-based, contextually relevant approach that addresses the health issue. You must research and design an evidence-based project to address the health outcome of interest that is suitable for the context in which you are implementing it. This is consistent with the goal of public health, which is to ask not just "what works" but to address "what works for whom, under what circumstances, and how".

The funding body has provided a template for the application with prescribed sections and strict word limits to explain your proposed project. You should source, interpret, critically evaluate and communicate the current epidemiological evidence, demonstrating your understanding of the available sources evidence and how they support your proposed project. You will submit your completed template, along with your references, via Moodle.

See the unit Moodle site for full task guidelines.

The use of generative AI for this assessment task is permitted in limited and restricted ways. You may only use generative AI for the following purposes:

• Checking of grammar, punctuation, and syntax 

The use of generative AI to generate material or write parts of this assignment, or submitting work that was not written by you, is a breach of the University's academic integrity policy. 

If you require further academic support with this assignment, please utilise the range of resources available through the CQUniversity library and ALC for support with academic skills including:

• understanding and interpreting assessment task requirements and rubrics
• researching (including developing effective search terms, and effectively utilising search databases)
• writing (including paraphrasing, synthesising, critical appraisal)
• referencing (including what, how and where to reference appropriately)

Relevance (40%)

• Appropriateness and justification of the identified need in an Australian context
• Use of meaningful and appropriate epidemiological information to support the proposal
• Clear and appropriately focused critical literature review 
• Suitability and justification of the methodology and impacts
• Cohesiveness and congruence of all aspects of the funding application (i.e. alignment between the topic, critical literature review, need, methodology and anticipated impacts)

Validity (40%)

• Factual accuracy of statements
• Depth, extent and quality of evidence used to provide strong and credible evidence-based proposals and justifications
• Quality of critical literature review
• Effectiveness of proposed methodology to achieve identified outcomes
• Feasibility of project and anticipated impacts
• Extent and magnitude of anticipated impacts
• Originality of proposed project
• Compliance of proposed project with ethical considerations

Organisation (10%)

• Consideration of required components of the assessment task
• Alignment of the individual components of the proposal into a consistent and cohesive proposal
• Structure, synthesis and flow of information
• Accurate and effective use of template(s)

Presentation (10%)

• Style and formatting in accordance with required academic standards and assessment task requirements
• Writing – clarity and consistency of academic or professional communication appropriate for the intended audience
• Writing -  fluency 
• Writing - spelling, punctuation and grammar.
• Sufficient and accurate referencing in-text and in the final reference list