BSc (Hons) Health & Wellbeing (Top-Up)

Climate change is becoming a major health threat of the 21st century. This module outlines the implications for health from an array of perspectives which are embedded within the concept of Environmental Management. This module will help you to develop an understanding of sustainability and the environmental impacts in relation to health. You will explore how climate change threatens human health both directly and through the reduction in biodiversity, how healthcare organisations can better deal with these issues and how we and the public can be encouraged to engage with this important agenda and move from being part of the problem to becoming part of the solution. You will be introduced to, and critically examine, the basic principles in environmental management, current global policies linked to climate change and the term sustainable development.

This module explores health and wellbeing issues in a contemporary global context. The module will equip you with a critical understanding and working knowledge to analyse the impact of globalisation on health, using in-country and between country comparisons. You will be introduced to the process of globalisation with its spatial, political, economic, cultural and cognitive dimensions and the subsequent influence of these on the determinants of health, inequalities and health perceptions in different populations. The module examines the theoretical pathways to explain such inequalities and considers how researchers are attempting to identify the influence of people’s individual characteristics (composition) or the place where someone lives (context) when analysing the reasons for globally patterned health inequalities. This includes specific issues such as urbanisation, ageing, migration, multi-cultures, conflict, and the changing patterns of global health. You will have an opportunity to study global health actors (such as the World Health Organization), to look at wider agencies involved and to evaluate the effectiveness of the actions being taken to improve health globally. Throughout there is an emphasis on developing you to work in an increasingly connected world with diverse communities.

In the continually changing health and social care environment it is imperative that all staff are able to adapt and review how they understand and undertake leadership and management within their roles. Leadership in the health and care sectors is considered to be ‘shared’ and ‘distributed’, requiring the efforts of staff at all levels to maintain high quality care and to deliver change and improvement. However, leadership is challenging. It requires a complex set of skills - from motivating and engaging others and working collaboratively to dealing with uncertainty and supporting colleagues. This module will support you to develop an in-depth understanding of leadership and management in contemporary health and social care contexts, whilst considering your own role and future development. You will explore both the theoretical background to leadership and management and the practical skills which required to be an effective leader. You will leave with greater insight into your own leadership style and your impact on others, how to engage others to bring about change and improvement and a deeper understanding of how all those involved in delivering care/services can take on leadership roles.

This module provides you with the opportunity to develop theoretical and practical knowledge of a range of research methods of relevance to your degree discipline. This knowledge will then be drawn on in order to compile a research proposal (incorporating an appropriate data collection instrument) for a ‘real world’ project.

Gender refers to the characteristics of women, men, girls and boys that are socially constructed. This includes norms, behaviours and roles associated with being a woman, man, girl or boy, as well as relationships with each other. As a social construct, gender varies from society to society and can change over time. Beyond biological and physiological differences, gender roles, norms and behaviour have an influence on how women, men, girls and boys access health services and how health systems respond to their different needs. The different and often unequal abilities of women, men, girls and boys to protect and promote their health require recognition so appropriate health interventions can be planned. Gender is an important determinant of health in two dimensions: 1) gender inequality leads to health risks for women and girls globally; and 2) addressing gender norms and roles leads to a better understanding of how the social construction of identity and unbalanced power relations affect the risks, health-seeking behaviour and health outcomes of men and women in different age and social groups. This module explores concepts of gender, masculinity and femininity applied to health issues, considers the usefulness and relevance of binary categories such as male/female within contemporary societies and looks at the implications for those providing care and support.

Law and ethics in health is a fascinating area to study, dealing with some of the most contested and controversial issues of our time. In a changing moral climate, debates about abortion, about stem cell research, about withholding treatment or about assisted dying are very much alive and attract considerable political, media and public interest. There are also challenging ethical and legal questions about psychiatry, about capacity issues in relation to treatment decisions, about the allocation of scarce medical resources, about autonomy and public health, and many other issues. This module will provide you with an understanding of how law and ethics apply when working in health and care settings. It will give you an appreciation of relevant legal and ethical issues, terminology, sources of law and the ways in which law and ethics work in practice.. You will explore the philosophy and principles of ethics and look at the legal requirements of safe practice, using case studies to help you apply this knowledge. You will have the opportunity to deliver a coherent and reasoned solution to resolve a specific dilemma in a healthcare setting in the summative assessment.