Health Protection Module Handbook Level 5 Semester 1, 2025-26

Module Handbook for Health Protection

Level of study: 5

Number of credits: 20 credits

Course/s the module belongs to: BSc (Hons) Public Health

School: School of Nursing, Midwifery, Allied and Public Health (NMAPH)

Semester/Trimester of delivery: Semester 1

Who is the module for This module is a core module for second year students on the BSc (Hons) Public Health

Brief module summary: 

The module aims to develop students’ knowledge and understanding of public health protection measures.

It will examine how the public is protected from biological and environmental-chemical and radiological hazards in the United Kingdom. It will further examine the control of communicable diseases locally, nationally, and globally.

Module Aims: 

1. To facilitate students’ critical knowledge and understanding of the biological, chemical and radiological risks to health. 
2. To facilitate student’s critical knowledge of national and international measures to manage and control communicable disease. 
3. To critically examine the contribution of public health protection measures.

Module learning outcomes 

1. Demonstrate an understanding of hazard and risk with respect to biological, chemical, and radiological hazards.
2. Evaluate the processes of risk assessment, risk communication and risk management within the context of health protection. 
3. Evidence an awareness and understanding of the principles of epidemiology and its application to health protection. 
4. Understand and analyse current strategy, policy and public health measures for protecting health.

Overview of learning and teaching activities on the module:

Lectures will be used to provide theoretical constructs, and contextual overview of the challenges of protecting health, and steps taken to facilitate good health whilst mitigating risk. The lectures seek to engage students and will be interactive, where possible, building on guided independent learning.

The purpose of the seminars is to offer an environment for debate, hive-mind activities and problem solving as a collaborative activity. Both seminars and guided independent learning provide a framework for students to take responsibility for their own learning and academic achievement by clarifying issues and developing critical thinking.

Indicative schedule of delivery:

Session	Indicative Content	Independent Study Activities
25th September 2025	Introducing the module and core concepts	Create a Pebble Pad – instructions are on blackboard On your PebblePad provide a succinct definition written for a member of the public, with a reliable evidence source about how infection is spread: Bacteria, Virus, Reservoir of Infection, Direct Transmission, Vertical transmission, Indirect transmission, Airborne transmission
2nd October 2025	Managing risk	On your PebblePad provide a succinct definition written for a member of the public, with a reliable evidence source: Hazard, Risk, Risk Assessment, Risk Communication, Vulnerable person, Susceptible person Find out about the Union Carbide, Bhopal incident state the hazard, what went wrong, who was affected, and how the risk could have been managed to prevent the incident – resources on Blackboard
9th October 2025	Introducing epidemiology	Read: UK Health Security Agency On your PebblePad: provide a succinct definition, written for a member of the public, with a reliable evidence source: Outbreak Epidemic Distribution Epidemiological Determinants: Agent Host Environment Incidence Prevalence Surveillance
16th October 2025	Global microbiological risk	Read: Taking the sting out of new and emerging health threats – UK Health Security Agency Read: Travel health and the growing risk of antibiotic-resistant STIs like gonorrhoea – UK Health Security Agency Consider the structure and organisation of this blog. How does it reflect your learning to date? Could it be useful in planning your assessments? On your PebblePad provide a succinct definition, written for a member of the public, with a reliable evidence source: Outbreak Epidemic Pandemic Vector-borne
30th October 2025	Vaccination	Visit the Oxford vaccine project – spend time watching videos and exploring about a vaccine that is of interest to you. Why do you think this website exists? Read: UK doctors re-examine case for mandatory vaccination | The BMJ Which side of the argument are you on? Why? On your PebblePad provide a succinct definition, written for a member of the public, with a reliable evidence source: Vaccine Hesitancy Herd Immunity Infodemic
6th November 2025	Health Screening	Look at Health Matters: Improving the prevention and diagnosis of bowel cancer – UK Health Security Agency. Consider:  Is this information relevant? Who does it target? Possible reading Barriers to breast and cervical cancer screening uptake among Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic women in the United Kingdom: evidence from a mixed-methods systematic review | BMC Health Services Research | Full Text On your PebblePad provide a succinct definition, written for a member of the public, with a reliable evidence source: Screening False positive False negative Health Literacy
13th November	Chemical Risk	Read: Amesbury nerve agent incident: Answering your frequently asked questions – UK Health Security Agency. This is an example of a health communication about a public health risk. This was treated as an outbreak. How helpful do you think the information is to people who were concerned. Does it tell them how to manage their own risk? Watch: the Salisbury poisoning drama, which is a true story. Consider how the Public Health Director and police managed the incident On your PebblePad provide a succinct definition written for a member of the public, with a reliable evidence source: Chemical hazard COSHH Endocrine disruptor Asbestos Microplastics Nanoplastics Forever chemicals
20th November 2025	Radiological Risk	Read: What you need to know about UV (ultraviolet) radiation – UK Health Security Agency – how is the risk and managing that risk presented. How does this compare to the activity you did in class? Find out about Alexander Litvinenko – this was treated as an outbreak, even though he was poisoned with polonium 210? Why do you think it was treated as an outbreak? On your PebblePad provide a succinct definition, written for a member of the public, with a reliable evidence source: Radiological Hazard Electromagnetic fields Ionising radiation Non ionising radiation UV radiation
27th November 2025	Food safety	Visit FSA and read about outbreaks and recalls . Do you think this scheme effective? Now spend some time looking around the consumer section – is this information useful. Should more people know about it. How could we increase awareness?
4th December	Health protection in the UK: Think local, act global	Read: Global health – what it means and why PHE works globally – UK Health Security Agency Consider how this relates to the issue of AMR. No other-directed study as this was done pre-class in week 1.

Referencing system: We use the Harvard referencing system please refer to the Student Course Handbook for full details.

Pay & Get Instant Solution of this Health Protection Assignment by UK Writers

Order Non Plagiarized Assignment

Assessments: 

Summative assessment Type	% weighting	Deadline for submission of work and where assignment should be submitted	Date for return of mark/grade and feedback and where they will be returned	Minimum pass mark for assessment task.
Digital Assignment	100%	14th January 2026 – Submitted to PebblePad with a 2pm deadline	4th February 2025 – Via Pebble Pad	40%

Assessment brief:

Using the format of UK Health Security Agency Blogs as inspiration produce three 1000 (equivalent) word blogs in your pebble pad. Each blog will a specific named and contemporary biological, chemical and radiological hazard. 

Additional Instructions (you must meet these to pass)

1. The blogs should each address an understanding of hazard and risk, utilise epidemiological data or principles. 
2. At least one blog should show an evaluation of the processes of risk assessment, risk communication and risk management in relation to the chosen topic 
3. At least one blog should analyse current strategy, policy and public health measures for protecting health. 
4. You should produce a glossary to support your blogs. This will be part of your guided study time each week. Please ensure that concepts and technical terms you use in your blog are explained in the glossary, in addition to the key set as guided study.

Guidance (following these will ensure a strong level 5 pass)

5.You can support your writing using infographics, hyperlinks and contemporary information from a range of academically reliable sources. If you refer your reader to other resources using hyperlinks, please ensure that your blog post is sufficiently comprehensive, that the reader does not need to go to follow the link to understand your post.

6.Please use a range of high-quality evidence. This can be from course reading or identified from the primary literature or reliable web pages such as NIHR, NHS, HSE, UKHSA, OHID websites.

7.You should provide a reference list formatted according to Harvard convention shown in cite them right. However, you can also use hyperlinks in the body of your work to direct the reader directly to these readings.

8.AI can be used only to produce infographics from data you have collected or to produce images that represent your blog. NOTE: You are not permitted to use AI to generate the blog. Where you use AI, you must declare it (please refer to the section below)

Topics that might be of interest to students in preparing the assessment:

Biological		Chemical	Radiological
Anti-Microbial Resistance (AMR) Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) Measles HIV Malaria Influenza		Air Pollution – Particulates Arsenic Asbestos WHO 10 chemicals of concern	Radon Gas UV light Ionizing radiation X-Rays Electromagnetic fields
Specific target groups	Travellers to foreign destinations Migrants Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Groups Infants and Children Women between 25-64 Pregnant women Workers – Occupational exposures Specific ethnic groups e.g. people from sub–Saharan Africa People living in specific places such as prisons Patients Older people MSM Teenagers
The blog assessment	You could use the same group for the three blogs: illustrative examples: 1. People travelling for their holidays e.g. Tick-borne disease (such as Lyme Disease) (biological) UV radiation from the sun (radiation), and carbon monoxide poisoning (chemical) risk for camping 2. Pregnant women e.g. listeria foods (biological) ionising radiation at work, exposure to particulate matter (chemical) 3. Adolescent females e.g. HPV (biological) Use of tanning beds (radiological), cosmetic dermal fillers (chemical) 4. Parents with pre-schoolers e.g. measles (biological) ingestion of household agents (chemical) electromagnetic fields (radiological) However, it is not essential to use the same group or any of these topics

At CCCU all assessments require a declaration regarding the level of GenAI use.

Under CCCU’s Academic Integrity Policy unacknowledged inclusion of GenAI is considered academic misconduct. See the Academic Integrity and Misconduct webpages for more information. 

Please select the most appropriate statement from the choice below and insert it at the start of your work:  

a.No GenAI was used in the preparation, planning or creation of this work. [AIAS Level 1] 
b.I acknowledge the use of outputs from [insert the name of generative AI tool(s) used] in the learning, preparation, planning or proofreading of this work. [AIAS Level 2] 
c.I acknowledge collaboration with [insert the name of generative AI tool(s) used] in this work, and the inclusion of outputs in modified form. [AIAS Level 3] 
d.I acknowledge [insert the name of generative AI tool(s) used] as partner(s) in the creation of this work. [AIAS Levels 4&5] 

Referencing GenAI

If your assessment is rated at levels 2, 3 or 4, you are required to reference where you have used GenAI outputs in the body of your work. For guidance on how to reference GenAI in your work see Cite Them Right 13th Edn, or later. You can use the textbook.

You can speak to your module tutor, module lead, subject Librarian or Learning Developer [job titles subject to change] for more guidance on the use of GenAI in your learning and assessment.  

Reassessment information: the text below is for all handbooks

Some students may not pass an assessment first time and will be invited to take reassessment for the module, following a decision from a Board of Examiners. Do check the Your Guide to Assessment and Award Processes and seek advice from your Personal Academic Tutor if this is the case for you. Your module team will offer support in preparation for your reassessment. 

In this case, the nature of the reassessment will be:

Original assessment	Reassessment type	Deadline for submission of reassessment, and where it should be submitted
Digital Assessment	Please represent your work, having addressed the original feedback	w/c 20 July 2026 via Turnitin by 2pm

This handbook should be read in conjunction with other sources:

• Student Course Handbook: for course academic information applying to all modules