Health & Social Care

This exciting pathway offers a broad spectrum of study for you to consider a range of central scientific foundations of health and social care as well as end-of-life care. The Government’s End of Life Care Programme is committed to ensuring high quality care and increased choice to all adult patients in England about where they live and die, regardless of their condition.

The course has been developed to ensure that you have the opportunity to consider a range of central scientific foundations of health and social care. You have the opportunity to study modules specific to end-of-life care to encourage a deeper level of understanding and debate key issues relating to theory, concepts evidence and practice.

The course enables you to:

• develop a comprehensive and critical understanding of key concepts and principles across the health and social care sciences
• evaluate critically the contribution of and inter-relationships between the sciences underpinning health and social care
• draw on acquired knowledge to contribute to the development of contemporary health and social care.

What you study

Core modules introduce key concepts which underpin health and social care sciences and how you can apply them to context. These include health economics, sociology, health and social care policy, health psychology and evidence-based practice. You also study two specialist modules relevant to the field of end-of-life care. You will conduct your own research project. Appropriately there is significant interdisciplinary learning with some shared modules. The course enables you to:

• analyse the complexity of the dying process and the challenges these pose when caring for this group of patients including: sociological perspectives, communication, symptom management in the last 48 hours of life and aspects of service provision/delivery
• gain the the relevant knowledge and skills to challenge professional boundaries, confidently and competently negotiate change and to make active contributions towards end of life care practice and service provision for the overall benefit of patients
• critically examine the strengths and weaknesses of current care provision, developing new insights into future care delivery to meet the changing needs of patients and carers
• act as a positive role model, working efficiently and effectively within or alongside a multi professional team, motivated to respond proactively to the demands of your role, utilising problem solving skills to aid rational and reasoned decision making
• foster a sense of critical enquiry, which will enable you to contribute to the wider body of end of life care knowledge and evidence-based practice, and in so doing, continue to further develop life-long learning skills.

How you learn

A range of learning and teaching strategies is used, including lectures, student-led seminars and computer-based workshops. The development of key skills including presentation skills, ICT skills and collaborative working is a significant feature of the course and these activities take place in a variety of locations using both traditional teaching and learning methods and e-learning approaches. Active participation in class discussion and activities is encouraged. Face-to-face activities are supplemented with the use of electronic materials via Blackboard. Individual tutorial support is also utilised to support learning particularly in the Dissertation module.

How you are assessed

A range of assessment strategies is utilised within the programme to provide variety of experience, to challenge and extend you, to give feedback as a basis for advancement and as a measure of your learning and skill development. These include reports, oral presentations, assignments, projects and a dissertation.

Career opportunities

There are opportunities for those who currently work in the health and social care arena to facilitate career progression. There are also opportunities for those who wish to embark on a career in health and social care.

Entry requirements

Applicants should have an honours degree (2.2 classification or above).

For additional information please see the undergraduate and postgraduate entry requirements in our admissions section

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