Overview
This unit is designed to provide you with a strong comprehension of the psycho-social-biological changes that people experience as they grow older. Population ageing across all communities and cultures, as well as the theories of ageing will be reviewed. The physiological and pathophysiological effects of ageing will be covered in-depth. The implications of an ageing society for all Australians will also be discussed. Mental health issues, particularly in dementia care and communication, along with polypharmacy in the elderly will be addressed. By the end of the unit, you will be able to describe the role of podiatric practice in an ageing society.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
Pre-requisite: ALLH11006 Life Course Development for Health Professionals.
Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).
Offerings For Term 2 - 2025
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Class Timetable
Assessment Overview
Assessment Grading
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of 'pass' in order to pass the unit. If any 'pass/fail' tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully ('pass' grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the 'assessment task' section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%). Consult the University's Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades.
All University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
You may wish to view these policies:
- Grades and Results Policy
- Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework)
- Review of Grade Procedure
- Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure - Domestic Students
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure - International Students
- Student Refund and Credit Balance Policy and Procedure
- Student Feedback - Compliments and Complaints Policy and Procedure
- Information and Communications Technology Acceptable Use Policy and Procedure
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Feedback from SUTE qualitative feedback.
Students enjoyed the assessment items in this unit, but noted similarity in the assessment strategy when compared with prior podiatry units.
It is recommended that the assessment strategy be considered in 2025 to improve the variety in the assessment tasks in PODI12007.
Feedback from SUTE quantitative and qualitative feedback.
Students may benefit from enhancements to the delivery of feedback in this unit.
It is recommended that the unit coordinator reviews the methods of providing feedback to students and communicates these to the teaching team to promote a positive student experience.
- Determine the physiology, patho-physiology and socio-economic impact of ageing on the body system and relate them to common foot conditions in podiatric practice.
- Develop knowledge and skills to effectively communicate with elderly patients.
- Appraise functional performance of geriatric podiatry patients to identify evidence-based management for cognitive, psychological, sensory, and perceptual changes associated with ageing.
- Identify the challenges of polypharmacy encountered with elderly patients in podiatric practice
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Written Assessment - 20% | ||||
| 2 - Presentation - 30% | ||||
| 3 - In-class Test(s) - 50% | ||||
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Communication | ||||
| 2 - Problem Solving | ||||
| 3 - Critical Thinking | ||||
| 4 - Information Literacy | ||||
| 5 - Team Work | ||||
| 6 - Information Technology Competence | ||||
| 7 - Cross Cultural Competence | ||||
| 8 - Ethical practice | ||||
| 9 - Social Innovation | ||||
| 10 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures | ||||
Textbooks
Information for Textbooks is not yet available.
The textbooks have not yet been finalised.IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: American Psychological Association 7th Edition (APA 7th edition)
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
b.peterson@cqu.edu.au
Module/Topic
Overview of the unit
Gerontology:
Terminology and age-positive language
Theories of aging
Aging trends in Australia
Impact of aging on the healthcare system
Healthy aging
Chapter
Neale's Disorders of the Foot and Ankle, 9th Edition.
Burrow, et al. (2020)
Chapter 11: Podiatric management of the elderly
Merriman's Assessment of the Lower Limb, 3rd Edition.
Yates, B. (2009)
Chapter 16: Assessment of the older person
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Dermatological and musculoskeletal changes related to aging
Chapter
Neale's Disorders of the Foot and Ankle, 9th Edition.
Burrow, et al. (2020)
Chapter 11: Podiatric management of the elderly
Chapter 8: Musculoskeletal podiatric medicine
Merriman's Assessment of the Lower Limb, 3rd Edition.
Yates, B. (2009)
Chapter 16: Assessment of the older person
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Changes to the neurological and vascular systems related to aging
Falls among older people
Chapter
Neale's Disorders of the Foot and Ankle, 9th Edition.
Burrow, et al. (2020)
Chapter 11: Podiatric management of the elderly
Merriman's Assessment of the Lower Limb, 3rd Edition.
Yates, B. (2009)
Chapter 16: Assessment of the older person
Chapter 9: Footwear assessment
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Effective and appropriate communication with older people
Elder abuse
Chapter
Neale's Disorders of the Foot and Ankle, 9th Edition.
Burrow, et al. (2020)
Chapter 11: Podiatric management of the elderly
Merriman's Assessment of the Lower Limb, 3rd Edition.
Yates, B. (2009)
Chapter 16: Assessment of the older person
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Nil PODI12007 class this week due to PODI12009 internal clinical placement.
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Medicines use and polypharmacy among older people
Written Assessment (Poster) due Friday
Chapter
Neale's Disorders of the Foot and Ankle, 9th Edition.
Burrow, et al. (2020)
Chapter 15: Pharmacology and therapeutics
Specific assessable readings from the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care will be accessible via the Moodle page.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Podiatric assessment and management of older people (part 1)
Chapter
Neale's Disorders of the Foot and Ankle, 9th Edition.
Burrow, et al. (2020)
Chapter 11: Podiatric management of the elderly
Merriman's Assessment of the Lower Limb, 3rd Edition.
Yates, B. (2009)
Chapter 16: Assessment of the older person
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Podiatric assessment and management of older people (part 2)
Chapter
Neale's Disorders of the Foot and Ankle, 9th Edition.
Burrow, et al. (2020)
Chapter 11: Podiatric management of the elderly
Chapter 21 Footwear
Merriman's Assessment of the Lower Limb, 3rd Edition.
Yates, B. (2009)
Chapter 16: Assessment of the older person
Chapter 9: Footwear assessment
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Nil PODI12007 class this week.
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Nil PODI12007 lecture or tutorial this week.
Oral presentation assessment (30%) to be presented during lecture time.
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
This week will include a review lecture and a 'mock in-class test'
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
The In-Class Test (50%) for PODI12007 will be scheduled during the usual lecture time.
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
1 Written Assessment
You have been asked by a community group to design a poster relating to a common foot problem experienced by people above the age of 60 years old. The community group and the topic of your poster will be allocated to you and you will be advised of these details early in the term. This is an individual assessment task.
Note: your poster may be selected to be displayed in the CQUniversity Health Clinic.
Level of GenAI use allowed:
Level 2: You may use AI for planning, idea development, and research. Your final submission should show you have developed and refined these ideas.
Week 6 Friday (29 Aug 2025) 11:59 pm AEST
Submission via Moodle
Week 8 Friday (12 Sept 2025)
Feedback will be provided via Moodle
The poster will be marked according to a purpose made rubric that will be made available to you at the start of the term.
Your poster will be marked according to a marking rubric that will be provided to you early in the term.
The poster should:
- be visually appealing
- be appropriate for it's intended target group
- demonstrate how the lower limb is affected by the condition
- show how podiatry can help - management / education
Please ensure that all content/ layout of the poster is your own work and that you own the rights to all photos/ figures used. Do ensure that all content is properly referenced and all photos/ figures are appropriately credited.
- Determine the physiology, patho-physiology and socio-economic impact of ageing on the body system and relate them to common foot conditions in podiatric practice.
- Develop knowledge and skills to effectively communicate with elderly patients.
2 Presentation
This assessment task is an oral presentation worth 30% and can be presented 'live' or as a pre-recorded video.
You are a podiatrist, and have been asked by a local community group (eg. Stroke group, Parkinson's group, Rheumatoid Arthritis group) to provide an informative presentation on how the condition affects the lower limb, and how podiatry can assist in managing the condition. The presentation will be no longer than 20 minutes, with 5 minutes for Questions and Answers. The presentation will be conducted during the lecture / tutorial time.
Your community group will be allocated to you at the beginning of the term. This is an individual assessment task.
Level of GenAI use allowed:
Level 2: You may use AI for planning, idea development, and research. Your final submission should show you have developed and refined these ideas.
The 72-hour grace period does not apply for this assessment item.
Week 10 Tuesday (23 Sept 2025) 9:00 am AEST
Prior to your presentation, please submit your powerpoint slides or video recording before the due date/ time as evidence of completion of this assessment task.
Week 12 Tuesday (7 Oct 2025)
Feedback will be provided via Moodle
The assessment will be marked according to a marking rubric designed specifically for this assessment task.
The assessment rubric for the oral presentation will be provided to you at the start of term.
If the presentation exceeds the 20 minute time limit, you may opt to complete the presentation but any additional content that is over the time limit will not be assessed by the examiner.
- Determine the physiology, patho-physiology and socio-economic impact of ageing on the body system and relate them to common foot conditions in podiatric practice.
- Develop knowledge and skills to effectively communicate with elderly patients.
- Appraise functional performance of geriatric podiatry patients to identify evidence-based management for cognitive, psychological, sensory, and perceptual changes associated with ageing.
- Identify the challenges of polypharmacy encountered with elderly patients in podiatric practice
3 In-class Test(s)
The in-class test in Week 12 will consist of multiple choice, short and long answer questions and cover content from Weeks 1 - 10.
The quiz will have a time limit of 120 minutes and will be conducted during the lecture/ tutorial time.
This is a closed book task. Access to books, notes, websites (other than the quiz) and the use of other electronic devices are prohibited during the test.
Level of GenAI use allowed:
Level 1: You must not use Al at any point during the assessment. You must demonstrate your core skills and knowledge.
The 72-hour grace period does not apply for this assessment item.
Week 12 Tuesday (7 Oct 2025) 9:00 am AEST
The in-class test will occur during the usual class time in Week 12.
Exam Week Tuesday (21 Oct 2025)
Marks for this assessment will be made available via moodle
The assessment will be marked according to a purpose made answer guide designed specifically for this assessment task.
- Appraise functional performance of geriatric podiatry patients to identify evidence-based management for cognitive, psychological, sensory, and perceptual changes associated with ageing.
- Identify the challenges of polypharmacy encountered with elderly patients in podiatric practice
As a CQUniversity student you are expected to act honestly in all aspects of your academic work.
Any assessable work undertaken or submitted for review or assessment must be your own work. Assessable work is any type of work you do to meet the assessment requirements in the unit, including draft work submitted for review and feedback and final work to be assessed.
When you use the ideas, words or data of others in your assessment, you must thoroughly and clearly acknowledge the source of this information by using the correct referencing style for your unit. Using others’ work without proper acknowledgement may be considered a form of intellectual dishonesty.
Participating honestly, respectfully, responsibly, and fairly in your university study ensures the CQUniversity qualification you earn will be valued as a true indication of your individual academic achievement and will continue to receive the respect and recognition it deserves.
As a student, you are responsible for reading and following CQUniversity’s policies, including the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure. This policy sets out CQUniversity’s expectations of you to act with integrity, examples of academic integrity breaches to avoid, the processes used to address alleged breaches of academic integrity, and potential penalties.
What is a breach of academic integrity?
A breach of academic integrity includes but is not limited to plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, cheating, contract cheating, and academic misconduct. The Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure defines what these terms mean and gives examples.
Why is academic integrity important?
A breach of academic integrity may result in one or more penalties, including suspension or even expulsion from the University. It can also have negative implications for student visas and future enrolment at CQUniversity or elsewhere. Students who engage in contract cheating also risk being blackmailed by contract cheating services.
Where can I get assistance?
For academic advice and guidance, the Academic Learning Centre (ALC) can support you in becoming confident in completing assessments with integrity and of high standard.
What can you do to act with integrity?
