Registry

Module Specifications

Current Academic Year 2012 - 2013
Please note that this information is subject to change.

Module Title Perspectives on Health
Module Code NS134
School School of Nursing and Human Sciences
Online Module Resources

Module Co-ordinatorSemester 1: Mark Philbin
Semester 2: Mark Philbin
Autumn: Mark Philbin
NFQ level 8 Credit Rating 5
Pre-requisite None
Co-requisite None
Compatibles None
Incompatibles None
Description
In this module, learners explore various perspectives on health with particular reference to their moral, social and practical implications. The module will help learners towards a broad understanding of health issues which they will deepen as they progress through the BSc Health & Society programme.

Learning Outcomes
1. Identify the principal ways in which health is conceptualised and explained
2. Discuss the value and limitations of various perspectives on health
3. Explore the moral, social and practical implications of health perspectives
4. Integrate various health perspectives in examining particular health issues



Workload Full-time hours per semester
Type Hours Description
Lecture12Participation in lecture-discussion
Group work24Preparation for and participation in weekly reading groups
Tutorial4Group tutorials
Independent learning25Reading, use of library, Moodle use
Examination40Preparation for and completion of examination
Assignment20Preparation of an essay
Total Workload: 125

All module information is indicative and subject to change. For further information,students are advised to refer to the University's Marks and Standards and Programme Specific Regulations at: http://www.dcu.ie/registry/examinations/index.shtml

Indicative Content and Learning Activities
Health as a value.
Health is examined as a fundamental good through consideration of how persons are better off for being healthy, what health means and how this varies, the problematic conflation of 'the healthy' with 'the good', the potential for health fascism and why health is a worthwhile field of study..

Health as biologically given.
The biological basis of health status is explored along with Arthur Frank's idea of the 'contingency of the body'. The implications of the idea of biological givenness are also considered in relation to biomedical intervention, moral blamelessness, social exclusion, power and technology..

Health as a body project.
The idea that persons should 'look after their bodies' is examined. The significance of lifestyle for health status is explored along with the personal and social implications of being somehow accountable for one's own body..

Health as a matter of coping.
The idea of coping with stress is considered along with various personal dispositions or qualities that are often associated with positive health outcomes. These include optimism, hopefulness, resilience and hardiness..

Health as unequally distributed.
Inequalities in health are considered in relation to material circumstances, affluence and poverty, gender, ethnicity and culture, geography and place..

Assessment Breakdown
Continuous Assessment50% Examination Weight50%
Course Work Breakdown
TypeDescription% of totalAssessment Date
OtherLearners will lead and participate in weekly discussions of readings that pertain to particular health issues. The quality of their participation will be self-assessed and peer assessed.20%Every Week
EssayOn the notion of responsibility for one's own health.30%Week 8
Reassessment Requirement
Resit arrangements are explained by the following categories;
1 = A resit is available for all components of the module
2 = No resit is available for 100% continuous assessment module
3 = No resit is available for the continuous assessment component
This module is category 1
Indicative Reading List
  • Arthur W. Frank: 1995, The wounded storyteller, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 0226259927
  • Orbach, S: 2010, Bodies, Profile, London,
  • Martin E. P. Seligman,: 0, Flourish: A New Understanding of Happiness, Well-Being - And How to Achieve Them., 9781857885699
  • Nicholas Agar,: 0, Liberal Eugenics, 9781405123907
  • Susan Bordo; new preface by the author; new foreword by Leslie Heywood: 2003, Unbearable weight, University of California Press, Berkeley, Calif., 9780520240544
  • Brown, A: 2009, Personal Responsibility: Why it matters, Continuum, London,
  • Allen Buchanan,: 0, Better than Human: The Promise and Perils of Enhancing Ourselves, 9780199797875
  • 0: Smile or Die, 31176
  • 0: Culture, bodies and the sociology of health, 31177
  • 0: Man's Search for Meaning, 31178
  • 2005: The obesity epidemic, Routledge, New York, 31118
  • 2008: Fat, Polity, Cambridge, U.K., 31179
  • 0: Understanding Health Inequalities, 31180
  • 0: Body image, 31181
  • 2010: Enhancing Evolution: The ethical case for making better people, Princeton University Press, Princeton University, 31117
  • 0: Fat, Gluttony and Sloth, 31182
  • 0: Smoking Kills, 31119
  • 2008: Sociology of the body, Oxford University Press, Don Mills, Ont., 31120
  • 2002: Key concepts and debates in health and social policy, Open University Press, Philadelphia, PA, 31183
  • 0: The new genetics and the public's health, 31184
  • 0: Enhancing Human Capacities, 31121
  • 0: Social inequalities in health, 31185
  • 0: Modernism and Eugenics, 31186
  • 0: Against Moral Responsibility, 31122
  • 2006: Social determinants of health, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 31187
  • 0: The media and body image,
Other Resources
None
Array
Programme or List of Programmes
BHSBachelor of Science in Health & Society
Timetable this semester: Timetable for NS134
Date of Last Revision30-JAN-12
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