James Cook University Subject Handbook - 2001

TM2310:03

Community Development

Townsville

45 lectures, 5 tutorials, 5 hours practicals, 15 hours workshops. Second semester. Intensive block mode.

Available to students enrolled in the Advanced Diploma of Indigenous Health.

Staff: Assoc. Professor J Elston.

Community development initiatives to gain improvements in the high rates of morbidity and mortality in indigenous communities are integral to the role of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers. They require the knowledge to negotiate the community dynamics and facilitate the determination and development of coordinated approaches to deliver effective and appropriate health care programs. The development of appropriate leadership styles and the ability to apply effective analysis, problem and solution processes in a complex cross cultural environment is an emerging priority for these health workers. This is reinforced by the increasing recognition of the role indigenous people need to have in effecting improvements in the health of their communities by undertaking leadership and professional roles in health services.

Learning Objectives:

  1. analyse and discuss the meaning of the term community in the indigenous context;
  2. analyse the factors that determine community empowerment/disempowerment;
  3. analyse definitions/models of community development;
  4. examine problem solving frameworks/models in indigenous community settings;
  5. analyse the issues relating to community participation, collaboration and consultation;
  6. identify appropriate mechanisms of community development in indigenous communities;
  7. discuss the characteristics of leadership and various leadership styles;
  8. determine appropriate styles of leadership to facilitate effective community leadership;
  9. discuss how community development approaches complement and support efforts to improve community morbidity and mortality rates;
  10. critically analyse a model of community development for implementation in one’s own community.

Assessment by participation (10%); reports (20%); practical projects (30%); examination (40%).