Health risks

Overview

Click on the links above for teaching schemes, activities and web links and other resources related to this topic.

Introduction
It would be possible to teach most of this section directly using questions from the text book.
There are good opportunities to introduce Causal Links ideas. Risk is also a significant part of Module 2 and many of the skills and concepts are common to the two modules.

Timing
6 hours

A suggested route through the topic

1 Setting the scene

• 12.4 a,b,c can be covered here
• Discussion of risks they are exposed to and ordering them. (see activities page)
• Exercise on different risks and costs of reduction
• Discussion of a media story which exaggerates a correlation giving the impression that a cause had been discovered.
• SATIS 16-19 unit 32 perception of risk
• Exercise using risk data for calculations

2 Established risk factors
Causal links b,c,d covered here

• Examine evidence for link between smoking and lung cancer plus data in text book.

3 Heart disease

• This expands the understanding of Causal Links to less clear-cut relationships
• SATIS 16 - 19 unit 8
• Discussion on evidence of correlation between diet or exercise and heart disease and the difference between correlation and causation. Information in textbook.
• Calculation of their personal risk of heart disease, Nuffield Science in Practice - working in occupational health p139 -142).

4 Areas of Uncertainty
Useful way to cover Causal links 12.3 e and f.

• Discussion of a topical issue such as vCJD or passive smoking and reasons for uncertainty over the level of risk. Students can contribute list of other variables which might have influenced epidemiological results and suggest whether these have been controlled for.
• Analysis of published data on risk which contains obvious bias, such as passive smoking or sugar and health, comparing information from health promotion sources and from the industry. http://www.official-documents.co.uk
• Importance of sample size. Get students to survey 10 other students each and draw conclusion about what percentage in the institution smoke, compare results on board. Then pool results of 3 groups and compare results. What is minimum sample size likely to give consistent results?

Decision making about risk
Risk c,d,e

• Refer back to vaccine or medicines to discuss trade offs between different risks such as side effects of medicines or vaccines, for example the risks and benefits of the MMR vaccine or recent information on risks of tamoxifen.