Measuring health status is an important aspect of promoting health in Australia. It allows us to identify priority health issues, monitor progress and re-evaluate health promotions. The measurement of health status uses epidemiology to provide a picture of many aspects of Australia’s health and to help health authorities to determine future actions required.
Australia is one of the world’s healthiest countries, but has many lifestyle diseases and other illnesses that need to be addressed. Epidemiology has a vital role in determining the priority areas for Australia’s health and provides plenty of information, however this information is limited in what is can tell us.
You need to ensure that you critique the use of epidemiology and can interpret graphs and tables that present epidemiology in a format more readily understood.
Students learn about:
- measuring health status
- role of epidemiology
- measures of epidemiology (mortality, infant mortality, morbidity, life expectancy)
Students learn to:
- critique the use of epidemiology to describe health status by considering questions such as:
- what can epidemiology tell us?
- who uses these measures?
- do they measure everything about health status?
Past HSC PDHPE exam questions
2012 Question 23
How is epidemiology used to improve the health of Australians? Provide examples. 6 Marks
2013 Question 21
Outline TWO indicators of morbidity. Include examples in your answer. 3 Marks
2017 Question 21
(a) Outline the measures of epidemiology. 3 Marks
(b) Describe the limitations of epidemiology. 4 Marks