Week 3 Wrap: Homelessness, Family Care, and the Social Determinants of Health

Dr Ros Prichard

Welcome back everyone to our Weekly Wrap. Before we dive into this week's big topics, let's take a quick moment to look back at Week Two, where we identified the stages of growth and development and looked at some of the major Australian health priorities.

Neha Kapoor

That is right, Ros. And this week, in Week Three, we are shifting our focus to contemporary families and caring for families across the lifespan. We will be exploring family assessment, the social determinants of health, and the impact of homelessness on family dynamics and development.

Ethan Clarke

Plus, we'll introduce the details for your upcoming Task Two assessment. It is a massive week, so let us get right into it, starting with some data about what family and housing look like in Australia today.

Dr Ros Prichard

Speaking of that, I was looking at the latest Census data last night and it absolutely, um, it just , it really challenges what most people think when they hear the word homelessness. We, we, tend to picture, you know, someone sleeping rough in a park, but ... but that is actually only six percent of the people experiencing homelessness in Australia. The number in 2024 was one hundred and twenty two thousand people struggling for a place to sleep on any given night. And Neha, one in seven of those is a child under twelve.

Neha Kapoor

It is a devastating statistic, Ros. When you think about it, almost one in four, twenty three percent, are young people between twelve and twenty four. And as community nurses, we have to consider that the vast majority of these cases are hidden. We are talking about forty seven thousand people living in severely crowded dwellings, couch surfing, in boarding houses, or they are crammed into tiny, temporary crisis accomodation.

Ethan Clarke

Yeah, and in our tutorials this week, we are also talking about why we assess families and not just isolated individuals. When a patient walks into a clinic, they do not exist in a vacuum. The family is their primary health provider, really. I mean, look at what we call the core functions of a family. They pool economic resources, they protect physical health by organizing shelter and nutrition, and they create the cognitive and psychosocial space for people to actually grow.

Dr Ros Prichard

Exactly, Ethan. It is a system. We looked at the nuclear family, the parents and kids, or the extended family with the grandparents and aunties, and some of the trade offs. An extended family might have more hands on deck for child care, which is a massive strength, but it can also mean crowded houses and strained finances. As nurses, we have to assess the whole situation to understand what support is actually there or, um, what is missing.

Neha Kapoor

And when structural forces like the housing crisis hit, they really impact family structures. You feel so, so powerless as a clinician if you do not understand the broader social determinants. For single mum Jasmine, in that ABC story this week , having to split up her family caused immense emotional distress. And then you have someone like Jason in the same report. He was sleeping rough, and when he finally got into stable temporary accommodation, he said something that really stuck with me. He said, you know, it gives you that security, you are safe, and you can finally unwind and go, right, I do not have to fight for survival every second of every day.

Ethan Clarke

That fight for survival, that is a physiological state. When you are constantly on edge, your nervous system is flooded with cortisol and adrenaline. You cannot self regulate. You cannot manage a chronic illness or help your kids do their homework when your body is stuck in a constant, low grade panic because you do not have a secure door to lock at night. Housing is not just a building. It is the ultimate physical protective mechanism for human health.

Dr Ros Prichard

And that brings us right back to what Sir Michael Marmot was talking about. Health and illness follow this step by step decline as you go down the socioeconomic ladder. It is not just about genetics or whether you can afford to see a doctor. The World Health Organisation data shows that the social determinants of health, the conditions in which we are born, grow, live, work, and age, are the key determinants when it comes to predicting health and life expectancy.

Neha Kapoor

It's true, Ros. In class this week, we also looked at the Black family case study, to see how we can actually support the family unit. They have a four year old son, Troy, who has Down syndrome, and they are feeling incredibly stressed and guilty. They feel like they are neglecting their other two children because Troy needs so much hands on care. As nurses, we can make a difference by connecting them to systems of support. We do not just say, oh, that is hard. We connect them to organizations like Down Syndrome Australia.

Ethan Clarke

Yes, because those organizations offer real, practical lifelines. They help families navigate the NDIS, they connect them with local support networks, and they offer phone consultations. It is about bridging that gap between the clinical diagnosis and the social reality. And speaking of practical steps, we need to talk about Task Two, because it is coming up fast in Week Eight, and students are already asking about it.

Dr Ros Prichard

Good idea, dont panic about Task Two guys. It's a narrated PowerPoint presentation, and it is highly doable. You just need to choose a recent media article, from twenty twenty four to twenty twenty six, focusing on a health promotion topic at a specific life stage. You prepare a single PowerPoint slide, record a maximum five minute narration inside Canvas, and complete a one thousand word summary template. And remember to use APA 7 for your citations referencing in your summary sheet.

Neha Kapoor

It is a great assessment because it makes you apply what we've been learning about. For example, you could take a News story about a youth homelessness intervention and look at it through the lens of adolescent development or mental health. You are taking a real world media story about a health promotion activity, and using the social determinants of health to explain how this can affect development for these young people, and how the intervention is designed to speak directly to that developmental group.

Ethan Clarke

Plus, you can pick a life stage and a program that really interests you to take a deep dive on. Bring your media ideas to class next week, and we will help you map them out.

Dr Ros Prichard

Before we finish, we wanted to respond to a few useful Task 2 questions raised by students this week, starting with referencing.

Neha Kapoor

Yes - thats right Ros - Some Morton Bay students were wondering about this, and we can confirm that you do not need to place references on your PowerPoint slide. You could add in text citations here, but include your full APA 7 reference list on your Summary Sheet, using the reference section provided in the template.

Dr Ros Prichard

We also had a question about what it means to link the different parts of Task 2.

Ethan Clarke

Yeah- Linking ideas is a key academic writing skill - Its part of learning to synthesise ideas. Think of it as creating a clear chain of connections. Start with your media story. Explain how it relates to a current health topic, identify the developmental life stage involved, and explain the relevance of the media topic to a developmental theory. You will also apply a relevant health-promotion principle and explain how it is demonstrated in the story.

Neha Kapoor

The important thing is not simply to name each element. Briefly explain the relationship between them, using the questions in your Summary Sheet to guide you.

Dr Ros Prichard

So, keep returning to your chosen media story and make each connection clear: media story to current health topic to developmental life stage to developmental theory to health-promotion principle.

Dr Ros Prichard

We also need to clarify an issue with the Week 3 quiz. Some students who completed the quiz earlier this week were initially given access to only one attempt, although the Course Outline states that students may complete three attempts, with the highest result counted.

Neha Kapoor

Fortunately guys, this has now been corrected, and all students have access to up to three attempts. If you completed the quiz earlier and would like to try again, you can now return to the quiz and use your remaining attempts. Your highest result will be the one that counts, so retaking the quiz cannot reduce the mark you have already achieved.

Dr Ros Prichard

And to make sure no one is disadvantaged, the quiz will now remain open until Wednesday 12 August 1pm. Apologies for the confusion and big thanks to the students who brought this to our attention.

Dr Ros Prichard

Finally, thank you for the positive feedback on the weekly podcast so far. It is very much appreciated, and we are really pleased that you are finding it helpful.