Core 1: Better Health for Individuals is the first Module for Preliminary PDHPE. This module is the beginning of your growing understanding of the health status of Australia as well as beginning to understand that health is not just the result of the individual.

Better Health for Individuals examines the meanings of health, both technical and opinion, while also considering the relative and dynamic nature of health. It looks at the perceptions individuals have about health and the range of factors and behaviours that influence this, such as the media, peers, family and religion.

You will consider healthy behaviours and identify risk factors for lifestyle diseases. You will gain a deeper understanding of the determinants of health and the degree to which they can be controlled or modified.

Better health for Individuals will help you to view and understand that health is a social construct and as such some responsibility for health falls upon the individual, social and cultural groups, society structures, the government and more.

Finally, Better Health for Individuals will introduce you to health promotion, and allow you to explore the various approaches used in Australia. The question of responsibility around health promotion will be examined as well as the importance of the Ottawa Charter. You will investigate approaches and strategies that can assist individuals to achieve better health, and analyse the relationship between the principles of social justice and health.

In this module, you investigate the following critical questions:

• What does health mean to individuals?
• What influences the health of individuals?
• What strategies help promote the health of individuals?

You should understand and value how a wide range of factors interact to support an individual to achieve better health from your study of Better Health for Individuals. This understanding is further developed in HSC PDHPE core module, Health Priorities in Australia