Start date:September
Institutional code:O10
UCAS code:Mental Health: MH93 Social Care: L511
Duration:2 years full time
Course type:Full Time
Fees per year:£7500
Additional costs per year:£50 for enhanced DBS
Delivery Method:Face-to-face via Lectures, Seminars and Tutorials
FdA Health and Social Care (Mental Health or Social Care)
The health and social care sector is vast and this course is a great opportunity for you to empower and improve the day-to-day lives of vulnerable people. You will gain the skills, knowledge and understanding to succeed. The course is linked closely to the UK Government’s health and social care agendas, so you’ll experience a balance of current policy, practice and academic training. Our focus is on supporting you to become a knowledgeable, compassionate, and person-centred care professional.
This work-based learning programme includes modules intended to bridge the gap between theory and practice to ultimately meet the skills necessary for the expanding health and social care workforce. You will complete two practice placement modules (in years 1 and 2) allowing you to develop a range of work-based skills. We’ll support you at every step as you learn how to reflect on your practice, develop your skills, collaborate across professional boundaries, use evidence from your placement to support your professional decision-making, and enhance your understanding of critical health and social care issues.
PZ1015 Study Skills and Lifelong Learning
This module is designed to help you develop the academic skills required for studying at university level, as well as the skills to enhance your learning for the rest of your life. The knowledge you gain during this module will apply to all modules on the course. Lifelong learning is now a requirement in all professions to ensure that we continue to develop and use the most up-to-date knowledge in our practice.
PZ1090 Foundations for Practice
This module is designed to help you start identifying the skills you have and the skills you need to move on in your career in the caring services. During your placement you will be working alongside service users, their families and carers, and skilled practitioners and you will enjoy the privilege of being invited into individuals’ lives. You will have the opportunity to consider what you have learned in class and how this applies in the ‘real world’ and you will be encouraged to think critically about yourself as a practitioner. You will also be introduced to ideas and theories of personal and professional development and you will have the opportunity to apply the ideas that work for you.
PZ1022 Communication and Collaboration
The module is designed for you to develop interpersonal skills for health and social care practice, enabling you to engage, develop, maintain and disengage from therapeutic relationships, through the appropriate use of communication skills. The module should help you understand the benefits of collaborative working in health and social care and will encourage you to reflect on your contribution to and impact on the support provided to clients and patients.
PZ1900 Introduction to Community Practice
The module aims to give students an introduction to community practice, in this instance defined as practice in any role that provides a health or social benefit to society. The module will enable students to make links between legislation, theory and practice and consider some of the important aspects of delivering community and care services.
PZ1816 Understanding Welfare Development
This module is rooted in the belief that a proper understanding of social policy and social welfare demands an appropriate historical dimension. The module will focus on the elements of continuity and change that have been significant in shaping both the general orientation of social policy and welfare developments in Britain. Attention is devoted to the way in which policies have reflected ideological commitments and the consequences of those developments for disadvantaged groups in society. The specific aims are to consider the interplay of the forces involved in the origin and growth of British social provision, and to develop an understanding and appreciation of the importance of a historical perspective in the study of social policy and social welfare
PZ2090 Supporting Professional Practice
Building on what you learned in year 1, this module offers you the opportunity to gain more experience of working with service users, their families and carers, as well as the professional staff who work with them. The idea is for you to critically consider the skills you have, those you need for future professional practice and what you can learn from your experience on placement.
PZ2035 Management and Leadership within Health and Social Care
The aim of this module is to support students to develop managerial and leadership roles within the health or social care sector.
SW2805 Researching Social Inequality
The module aims to develop students’ understanding of social inequality and relevant research thereon. This will involve exploration of different forms of social inequality, how they manifest and intersect. Particular attention is given to analysis of how social inequalities are researched and the impact of this on representation and understanding of social inequality. Social inequalities in the UK and globally will be engaged with.
SW2804 Developing Effective Relational Practice
The aim will be to improve students understanding of developing relational practice in relation to assessments and support planning and intervention. The module seeks to elaborate the students’ understanding of the theories behind participative practice. Students will be asked to explore the use of self is carrying out assessment.
SW2100 Mental Health and Social Care
To enable students to achieve a greater knowledge and understanding of the core concepts, issues, theory and research in the social care of people recovering from mental ill-health.
PZ1015 Study Skills and Lifelong Learning
This module is designed to help you develop the academic skills required for studying at university level, as well as the skills to enhance your learning for the rest of your life. The knowledge you gain during this module will apply to all modules on the course. Lifelong learning is now a requirement in all professions to ensure that we continue to develop and use the most up-to-date knowledge in our practice.
PZ1046 Mental Health Across the Lifespan
The module will focus on the key components of mental health and will aim to develop student’s knowledge of developmental, psychological and social issues that may influence an individual’s mental health. In particular, this module is provided in recognition of the diversity of the mental health workforce and the culture of involving service users and carers in influencing and improving mental health services.
PZ1000 Introduction to Anatomy, Physiology and Psychology of Health
The aim of this module is to enable the students to develop underpinning knowledge of the anatomy and physiology of the body and how this may be affected by illness, disease and injury. In addition, the students will be able to identify health and disease processes on diagnostic tests as relevant to their area of practice. The module aims to link the theoretical knowledge from the classroom to the practical or social environment and will explore the concepts of health and well-being from a medical and bio-psychosocial approach.
PZ1090 Foundations for Practice
This module is designed to help you start identifying the skills you have and the skills you need to move on in your career in the caring services. During your placement you will be working alongside service users, their families and carers, and skilled practitioners and you will enjoy the privilege of being invited into individuals’ lives. You will have the opportunity to consider what you have learned in class and how this applies in the ‘real world’ and you will be encouraged to think critically about yourself as a practitioner. You will also be introduced to ideas and theories of personal and professional development and you will have the opportunity to apply the ideas that work for you.
PZ1022 Communication and Collaboration
The module is designed for you to develop interpersonal skills for health and social care practice, enabling you to engage, develop, maintain and disengage from t erapeutic relationships, through the appropriate use of communication skills. The module should help you understand the benefits of collaborative working in health and social care and will encourage you to reflect on your contribution to and impact on the support provided to clients and patients.
PZ2090 Supporting Professional Practice
Building on what you learned in Year One, this module offers you the opportunity to gain more experience of working with service users, their families and carers, and the professional staff who work with them. The idea is for you to critically consider the skills you have, those you need for future professional practice and what you can learn from your experience on placement.
PZ2035 Management and Leadership within Health and Social Care
The aim of this module is to support students to develop managerial and leadership roles within the health or social care sector.
PZ2091 Evidence based Practice
The module will enable students to develop the skills to locate and appraise research and cultivate their knowledge of a topic from their professional discipline as a basis for future action.
PZ2033 Interventions in Mental Health Practice
The aim of this module is to equip students with a clear range of knowledge values and skills, all of which have been clearly demonstrated to be effective in meeting the needs of service users who experience serious mental health problems. The module will also enable students to understand policy and legislation relating to mental disorder, and the role of the law for service users with mental disorder or mental incapacity in relation to care and treatment.
This course will entail you working with vulnerable groups of individuals. This may include children, adults and families. In order to ensure that the University offers places on their programmes to suitable candidates you will be required to obtain a satisfactory Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service clearance (formerly termed CRB). Placements are to be completed in years 1 and 2. DBS clearance must therefore be completed prior to engagement with placements as you are expected to do 100 placement hours per year.
Please note that should your Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check prove to be unsatisfactory for the purpose of the course you have applied to, your offer of a place for that course may be withdrawn. If you are aware that your DBS check will disclose a previous conviction, please contact the course leader for advice.
Occasionally you may visit vocational speakers (e.g. children and families social workers).
The FdA programme provides you with the option to continue your study to the BSc (Hons) top-up in Health & Social Care.
Career options include probation service, management, paramedic, children’s services, social services, family centers as well as children’s homes, race relations officer, mental health advocate. This usually requires higher levels of study. Once the top-up is completed, students can apply for postgraduate courses in nursing, social work and related occupations.
At UCO there is a focus on student centred learning and working collaboratively with your peers, placement staff and lecturers so you can learn and develop to your full potential. Becoming an independent learner is encouraged throughout your time on the degree so you can take ownership of your studies. You will also have the opportunity to undertake work placements to enhance your experience and help you to develop new skills.
Teaching will take place through the approach of blended learning. This will consist of face-face teaching and online lectures/meetings. Additionally, there will be guest lecturers to support your learning.
Assessments are carried out through a range of creative format to meet a range of diverse needs and. This includes essays, case studies, open-book exam, online portfolios, reports, presentations and work-based learning which is evidenced through a Skills Log. This is beneficial to reviewing your development throughout the academic years when seeking employment.
The resources include a library centre, lecture theatres, simulated practices, as well as access to online resources and learning platforms.
The building is designed to house specialist teaching and research facilities. The resources include a Learning Resource Centre, lecture theatres, work-based placements and simulated practices, as well as access to online resources and learning platforms.