Sydney School of Health Sciences
HSBH1013 Society and Health
Semester 2, 2025

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Assessment 3: Essay

The third assignment is a 1,500 word essay response to the question below to be completed by
you. Responses must be based only on the prescribed readings. Cite ALL prescribed readings
(all readings available in Canvas). Do NOT cite any other sources.

Rationale

The ability to write clear concise responses based on set readings is a skill requiring a solid
grasp of the topic. Students need to demonstrate their understanding of some sociological
concepts covered in the unit by applying these concepts to explain a particular health issue,
phenomena or inequity.

Details

Provide a clear and concise answer to the question below, using arguments and citing evidence
from the set readings prescribed for each question.

Educational Integrity / AI

Whilst your answers must be based on the set readings, they must be in your own words, ie,
paraphrased. When paraphrasing others be sure to cite the relevant reference to acknowledge it
is not your work/research/thinking. When you use the ideas/research/arguments of others in
your writing without using an in-text citation, eg (Kumar 2057) to acknowledge the intellectual
property of the author/s, that is a form of academic dishonesty. While the University knows that
the vast majority of students and staff act ethically and honestly, it is opposed to and will not
tolerate academic dishonesty or plagiarism and will treat all allegations of dishonesty seriously.

Please include the page number in in-text citations (even though this is not strictly part of the
APA style) - this makes it easier for markers to double-check if need be. Do not quote verbatim
(word-for-word) from the readings unless it is not possible to make the same argument in your
own words. If you must quote a small passage verbatim, use quotation marks to indicate they
are not your words as well as citing the relevant reference and page number, at the end of the
sentence. As a guide, the nature of this assessment means most sentences will likely have a
reference. NB: references pertain only to a sentence, not a whole paragraph.

Students are expected to use AI responsibly and must appropriately acknowledge its use.
Inappropriate use of AI to generate content is identified as a form of contract cheating under
the University’s Academic Integrity Policy.

To avoid academic integrity breaches when using AI:

• Follow assessment guidelines. For example, for all four assessments in this unit, ALL the
prescribed readings must be cited and ONLY the prescribed readings may be cited.
• Be cautious and critical: AI-generated content may include inaccurate information and
reflect biases from the training data. AI-generated content does not cite its sources.
Independently verify AI-generated content to ensure its integrity, accuracy and suitability.
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• Develop your writing and communication skills: Use AI to enhance, rather than replace,
communication and other skills you need to develop in order to succeed at and beyond
university. For example, using grammar- and spelling-checkers are a good way to improve
your writing, as well as your submission.
• Keep detailed records of all AI use including notes, drafts, AI inputs and AI outputs. If
you do use AI, keep track throughout your assignment process of all the ways you have used
generative AI (eg the AI tool/s used, the questions entered), and keep copies of generative
AI outputs as evidence of each step of your research and writing process, including how you
verified any AI-generated content to ensure its integrity, accuracy and suitability. Keeping
these records is important in case there is doubt about the accuracy of your
acknowledgement or in the event of any other academic integrity allegation.
• Acknowledge the use of AI: Never submit AI-generated content as your own work. If you
do use AI as part of an assessment, you should clearly acknowledge any and all use of AI
software and/or tools. This includes grammar- and/or spell-checker writing assistance tools
(like Grammerly) and reference generators (like EndNote). Reference all sources cited (NB:
AI tools like ChatGP and Cogniti do not cite their sources).
• Do not enter personal or sensitive information: Never enter information such as your full
name, birthday, address, health information or passwords. Do not enter copyright materials,
such as the Library's eResources or the University's proprietary teaching resources.

As per university guidelines, if you do use any type of AI tool in an assessment you will need
to include a statement at the end of your submitted work explaining:

• that you have used AI tools in completing the work
• which part/s of the assessment are your own and which part/s are AI-generated
• the name and version of the automated writing or generative AI tools you have used,
the publisher and the uniform resource locator (URL)
• a brief description of how you have used AI tools

The statement (which will not be included in the word count), should also declare the following:

1. You did not enter any confidential, private, or personal information or the intellectual
property of another person into any AI tool.
2. You have personally read and interpreted all sources you have cited.
3. All uncited ideas are your own original ideas (or general knowledge).
4. You take full responsibility for any inaccuracies, oversimplification, generalisation, or
bias present in your work.

Having no AI statement/declaration at the end of an assessment will be taken to mean that AI
tools were not used in the submission.

For more information on academic honesty/dishonesty, see the academic integrity pages on the
University website.

Referencing

Submissions must include a list of all sources cited. The reference list and citations must follow
APA7th referencing style – see https://libguides.library.usyd.edu.au/citation/apa7
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Word count

− The word limit for the essay is 1,500 words (with a +/- 10% leeway)
− In-text references are included in the word count.
− References in the reference list are not included in the word count.

Submission

The assignment is to be submitted electronically as either a .doc or .docx file through
Canvas, where it will be analysed by Turnitin, by no later than:

23:59pm EST on Sunday 14th September 2025

Assignments must be clearly marked with your student identification number (SID) but NOT
your name or other identifying details so the assessments can be marked anonymously.

Marking

Rubric

The essays will be graded against the criteria outlined in the marking rubric - see the marking
rubric in Canvas for more details on marking criteria and expectations.

Late Penalties

Written work submitted after 23:59 on the due date will be considered late. Please ensure you
give yourself ample time to account for unexpected hold-ups or technical difficulties. It is the
student's responsibility to ensure they submit the correct file on time and to the correct portal.
Any resubmitted documents uploaded after the due date/time are docked the same as late
submissions. Penalties for late submission will follow University policy as follows:

Number of days late
(including weekends)
Penalty

Example
1 to 10 calendar days 5% per day
For every calendar day up to and including ten calendar
days after the due date, a penalty of 5% of the maximum
awardable marks will be applied.
11 to 14 calendar days
Zero marks are
awarded for the
assignment
For work submitted more than ten calendar days after
the due date, a mark of zero will be awarded. NB: The
marker may elect to, but is not required to, provide
feedback on such work.

NB: It is compulsory that all set assessments are attempted in order to pass the unit. Failure to
complete any one of the set assessments will result in an automatic Absent Fail (AF) grade for the unit.



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Essay Question
In developed countries, chronic illness accounts for the bulk of the burden of disease (Habibis 2019:
328). Yet, the nature of chronic diseases means there is often limited medical knowledge about these
conditions, and most cannot be seen under a microscope thus are hard to definitively diagnose. This
results in long periods of uncertainty for patients about their health status (Habibis 2019: 333-4). These
days, an increasingly common way of coping with such uncertainties is the mobilisation of online
support networks (Habibis 2019: 334). Using Long Covid as a case study of online health activism
(Mendenhall 2025), explain (DO NOT JUST DESCRIBE) why people with Long Covid were forced
to advocated for medical recognition and treatment of this chronic condition, with particular reference
to the sociological concepts: contested illness (Habibis 2019: 330), lay expert (Habibis 2019: 328),
illness experience (Habibis 2019: 332-4) and stigma (Habibis 2019: 329, 334-5).
Compulsory Readings:

NB: - do not simply cut-and-paste this reference list into your submission as they may not be in APA 7th style or
may contain referencing errors ;-)
Habibis, D. (2019). “The illness experience: lay perspectives, disability and chronic illness” in J. Germov (ed.)
Second Opinion: an Introduction to Health Sociology. Melbourne: Oxford University Press: pp 325-344.
Roth, P. H., & Gadebusch-Bondio, M. (2022). The contested meaning of “long COVID” – Patients, doctors, and
the politics of subjective evidence. Social Science & Medicine, 292, 114619.
https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114619
Russell, D., Spence, N. J., Chase, J.-A. D., Schwartz, T., Tumminello, C. M., & Bouldin, E. (2022). Support amid
uncertainty: Long COVID illness experiences and the role of online communities. SSM - Qualitative Research in
Health, 2, 100177. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmqr.2022.100177
Emily Mendenhall; Long COVID and the Rise of Digital Patient Activism. Current History 1 January 2025; 124
(858): 9–14. https://doi.org/10.1525/curh.2025.124.858.9


Top Tips:

• Start by watching the HSBH1013 lecture on Planning & Writing Academic Assessments and revisit all the
HSBH1013 Lectures related to the essay topic.

• There are no short-cuts which won’t result in a lower mark, so make sure you dedicate enough time to this
assessment by starting early and breaking it into smaller tasks, as per the Planning & Writing Academic
Assessments lecture.

• Before you start, look closely at the marking rubric to see what is expected of you and what will earn marks.
NB: Marks are not lost but earned; you start with zero. Keep referring to the rubric as you write to ensure
you don’t lose sight of assessment criteria.

• To show the marker your understanding of the topic/s, don’t just list/name/describe/state but rather explain,
illustrate and back up your arguments with evidence. Probably the most common error in this assessment is
that students merely describe what without also explaining why. See step-by-step guide to arguments,
evidence and referencing in academic writing (on Canvas).

• Use the USyd Library online guide to APA7th referencing.



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