HLSC120: Society, Culture and Health eLearning Lecture Enhancement eModule Module 2 – Week 2 by by Dr Monica Nebauer (Queensland) Revised 2014

Introduction
Welcome to the second of six eLearning Lecture Enhancement Modules for this unit. As explained in your first eModule, the purpose of these eModules is to extend the content of your weekly two hour lecture, to create knowledge links for you to the Seminar Questions that you and other students will be planning to present in your Student Seminars, and to help you enrich your learning as you develop your reflective learning and writing skills.

In this eModule, you will be able to explore further: social changes from world globalizing processes, health care and globalizing processes, and finally, globalizing processes and cultural diversity in Australia. As you will be aware there is one Reflective Learning and Writing proforma on LEO that you are asked to use for your Reflective Learning and Writing task (2,500 words). At the end of this eModule (look under the green box) there are five questions from which you can choose a question to answer for your second assessment task.

Learning Outcomes and Graduate Attributes
The Learning Outcomes (with numbering from your Unit Outline) that will be addressed in this eModule are as follows – 1. explain changes in contemporary Australian society, culture and health related to world globalising processes; 2. discuss the impact of societal changes and an increasing cultural diversity in Australia on the provision of health care; 3. contrast how health and illness are constructed within diverse cultures and biomedical constructions of health and illness in Australia; 5. differentiate the health issues of vulnerable people in marginalised social groups in Australia;

HLSC 120 Semester 1, 2014

eModule 2

Page 1

7. apply the principles of cultural sensitivity and cultural safety when working with others who are culturally different; 8. reflect critically on your learning about cultural diversity in relation to health care.

The Graduate Attributes that will be addressed in this eModule are as follows – • • • • GA1: demonstrate respect for the dignity of each individual and for human diversity; GA2: recognise responsibility to the common good, the environment and society; GA4: think critically and reflectively; GA7: work both autonomously and collaboratively.

Social Changes from Globalizing Processes
Your first activity in this eModule will be a reflective activity that is related directly to the PowerPoint slides of Lecture 2 and Chapter 2 in your text book by Germov (2014). You will also find some good ideas related to the lecture content when you look at the following excerpt – Exploration Films. (2008, June 28). What is postmodernism? Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oL8MhYq9owo&feature=related

Reflective Activity 2.1

Using the major features of postmodernity that were discussed in your lecture and in the YouTube excerpt, please reflect upon the following questions. You can write your responses in your Reflective Record – 1. A blurring of boundaries What are your personal responses to the blurring of boundaries that occurs with • • • Blurred genders – e.g., gender re-assignment surgery, cross-dressing Blurring between race and culture – intermarriage, multiculturalism Blurring between professional roles – “turf wars” between health professionals

HLSC 120 Semester 1, 2014

eModule 2

Page 2

• •

Blurred gender-specific roles – e.g., house husbands, corporate women, and female engineers? What are the problems/issues that the above can lead to for individuals and for society itself?

2. A breaking down of structures What are your personal responses to the breaking down of structures in society: • • • • • Increased marriage/relationship breakdowns Society structures – e.g., government entities, judiciary, police exposed of corruption, etc., Churches exposed for child abuse, etc. Role of media in exposés of politicians’ rorts, infighting, etc., to public. What are the problems/issues that the above can lead to for individuals and for society itself?

3. A generalised lack of trust in designated order and expertise What are your personal responses to the following: • • • Lack of confidence and trust by the public in recognised “experts” (e.g., doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, politicians, teachers, etc.) Loss of confidence by the public in society’s institutions (e.g., church, legal system, system of government) What problems/issues can this loss of confidence and trust by the public lead to for members of the public as well as to society itself?

4. Difficulties in preserving identity and focus on surface and image What are your personal responses to the ways people have of preserving/changing identity and the surface nature of society – • People expressing their individuality, autonomy and freedom of choice through images they portray – intense exercise, health foods, junk foods, high fashion, sub-cultures; Focus on surfaces and images – body tattoos/body piercing/shaving/painting, etc. Advertising industry promotes images that feed consumer culture – ultra thin models, high fashion, expensive cars, homes and holidays, etc. Search for the novel, the aesthetic, the beautiful, and a desire to look like those who are icons in society – sporting stars, movie stars, etc. What problems/issues can the above lead to for members of the public as well as to society itself?

• • • •

5. A move from a labour economy to a market economy HLSC 120 Semester 1, 2014 eModule 2 Page 3

What are your responses to the move from an industrial economy to a consumerist economy • • • • • • Global society now focuses on selling/buying in the global marketplace rather than on industry and jobs People will go into debt to play/live in the global marketplace – e.g., “max out” credit cards; People can buy/select anything off the global supermarket shelf – a hedonistic society seeking health, well-being, beauty, image-change, lifestyle; People in developing countries used as cheap labour to increase profits of global corporations who focus solely on profits for shareholders; Poor work conditions and poor health for exploited people around the world; Effects of global marketplace – people who live beyond their means: denial, anxiety, depression, hypertension, gastric ulcers from worry about paying off credit cards, etc., loneliness, sense of exclusion from a wealthier society - affects sense of identity, self-esteem. What problems/issues can the above lead to for members of the public as well as to society itself?

•

6.

All pervading anxiety and fear of the void What are your responses to the following – • Awareness that modernity and promise of science/scientific achievement to solve all human problems has actually caused more problems – e.g., environmental issues such as oil spills, global warming, threat of nuclear war, weapons of mass destruction, chronic illness, high crime levels, etc. Talk of “end times” related to Mayan calendar, various prophetic predictions people anxious, fearful – effects on health. Use of various technologies (e.g., computer games, overeating) to numb mind/fill in time so no need to think of global problems and possible outcomes; Loss of sense of identity and community – no community “in place” as in the past; search for virtual/imagined communities, social networking. What problems/issues can the above lead to for members of the public as well as to society itself?

• • • •

Health Care and Globalizing Processes
It is now time for your first reading for this eModule –

HLSC 120 Semester 1, 2014

eModule 2

Page 4

Reading 2.1

Cockerham, G.B., & Cockerham, W.C. (2010). Globalization: Health benefits and risks. In Health and globalization (pp. 24-41). Cambridge, UK: Polity Press. When you have completed the above reading, there is a related Reflective Activity for you. Pleases complete it by writing in your Reflective Record -

Reflective Activity 2.2

Please reflect upon the following questions from the above reading. You will find it helpful if you also bring your knowledge from the DVD by John Pilger (shown in class in weeks 1 or 2) into your reflections 1. How similar or different is the Eastern notion of balance in the human body to the Western medical science beliefs about the nature of the human body? 2. How did Weber explain the differences between the formal rationality of Western society and the substantive rationality of Asian society? 3. What are some of the issues that could arise for an Asian person with the values and beliefs associated with substantive rationality when they work in a section of the Australian health care system that espouses the formal rationality of Western society? What are some of the issues when a patient/family with the values and beliefs associated with substantive rationality are cared for in a section of the Australian health care system that espouses the formal rationality of Western society? 5. What are some implications for people with reduced/limited/impaired rationality/cognition - for example, people with dementia, mental health problems, and brain injuries - when they live within or are cared for within an Australian society/health care system that values rationality, logic, structure, order, and practicality? 5. What influence did Rene Descartes' philosophy of rationalism have on the development of Western medicine? 6. How did developments in France and Germany in the mid to late 1800s influence the development of Western medicine? 7. How did the globalizing processes of colonisation influence the health of people in the colonized nations? HLSC 120 Semester 1, 2014 eModule 2 Page 5

8. How have globalizing processes influenced the development of Western scientific medicine throughout the world? 9. What is the effect of globalizing processes on the rise and development of medical tourism? What are the benefits/disadvantages to individual patients of medical tourism? Have you had any experiences of friends/family members opting for medical tourism or seeking care following medical tourism? 10. What are your personal and professional experiences of Beck's (as cited in Cockerham & Cockerham, 2010, p. 33) notion of the global "risk society"; and of Giddens' (as cited in Cockerham & Cockerham, 2010, p. 35) concept of "manufactured risks created by the impact of knowledge on the world." How can these concepts impact upon health and health care in Australia? 11. How have ideas of "human security" (Cockerham & Cockerham, 2010, p. 35) affected the security measures that are undertaken at national, State, local and organisational levels - eg., in a health care facility with which you are familiar? How has the idea of "human security" influenced the increase or reduction in extreme poverty and related health and health care in the world? 12. How have globalizing processes impacted upon world environmental health?

Globalizing Processes and Cultural Diversity in Australia
Here is your final reading and reflection for this eModule.

Reading 2.2

This reading is from your textbook – Germov, J. (2014). Ethnicity, health, and multiculturalism. In J. Germov, Second opinion: An introduction to health sociology (5th ed.). (pp. 163-183). South Melbourne, Vic: Oxford University Press.

HLSC 120 Semester 1, 2014

eModule 2

Page 6

Reflective Learning and Writing 2

Remember that your Reflective Learning & Writing Proforma is available as a Word document on LEO. You are asked to select one question from either eModule 1 or eModule 2 to answer for your first written assessment – Assessment Task 2. You may wish to choose one question from eModule 1 or one question from eModule 2. Here are the questions from this eModule 2.1 Choose ONE of the following features of postmodernity and reflect upon your responses to it, as well as on the possible impact of the feature on the health of people in society in general • • • • • • A blurring of boundaries A breaking down of structures A generalised lack of trust in designated order and expertise Difficulties in preserving identity and focus on surface and image A move from a labour economy to a market economy All pervading anxiety and fear of the void

2.2 What are some implications for people with reduced/limited/impaired

rationality/cognition - for example, people with dementia, mental health problems, brain injuries - when they live within or are cared for within an Australian society/health care system that values rationality, logic, structure, order, and practicality? What are your responses to this question?

2.3 How have ideas of "human security" (Cockerham & Cockerham, 2010, p. 35) affected the security measures that are undertaken at national, State, local and organisational levels - eg., in a health care facility with which you are familiar? 2.4 What is the effect of globalizing processes on the rise and development of medical tourism? What are the benefits/disadvantages to individual patients of medical tourism? 2.5 How similar or different is the Eastern notion of balance in the human body to the Western medical science beliefs about the nature of the human body?

HLSC 120 Semester 1, 2014

eModule 2

Page 7

Remember! – If you are having any problems with Reflective Learning and Writing, please make an appointment to see your Tutorial Facilitator as soon as possible, and take your journaling efforts with you to show your Facilitator. It is important that you start early on developing this skill as it is the foundation for this and other units in your course.

Conclusion
Well done! You have completed the second eModule for this unit. It has been a challenging journey as you have been introduced to some very complex ideas and language. In this eModule, you have further explored some of the social changes that have occurred from world globalizing processes, health care and globalizing processes, and finally, globalizing processes and cultural diversity in Australia. There were four questions in the final Reflective Learning and Writing section from which you could choose one or two questions to answer for your first written assessment task. In the next eModule, you will explore social constructions of health and illness in diverse cultures.

HLSC 120 Semester 1, 2014

eModule 2

Page 8

Reference List

Cockerham, G.B., & Cockerham, W.C. (2010). Globalization: Health benefits and risks. In Health and globalization (pp. 24-41). Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.

Exploration Films. (2008, June 28). What is postmodernism? Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oL8MhYq9owo&feature=related

Germov, J. (2009). Ethnicity, health, and multiculturalism. In J. Germov, Second opinion: An introduction to health sociology (4th ed.). (pp. 175-196). South Melbourne, Vic: Oxford University Press.

HLSC 120 Semester 1, 2014

eModule 2

Page 9