Health & Social Care BA (Hons) (with Foundation Year)

The Foundation Year is a great opportunity if you have the ability and enthusiasm to study for a degree, but do not yet have the qualifications required to enter directly onto our degree programmes. A significant part of the Foundation Year focuses upon core skills such as academic writing at HE level, becoming an independent learner, structuring academic work, critical thinking, time management and note taking.

Successful completion of the Foundation Year will enable you to progress into the first year (Level C) of your chosen honours degree. Further details can be found here.

You will spend half of your time studying Introduction to Health and Wellbeing.

This introduces you to a broad range of issues, debates and theoretical perspectives that underpin Health and Wellbeing. You will study:

Approaches to Health and Wellbeing

You will consider the merits and limitations of a range of approaches to health and wellbeing including the biomedical model, the psychology of health and wellbeing and sociological approaches to health and wellbeing.

Equality and Diversity in Health and Wellbeing

You will then move on to focus more specifically on social divisions and inequalities in health and wellbeing. You will learn how factors such as age, gender, race, ethnicity, poverty, socioeconomic status and disability impact upon Health and Wellbeing at the individual and community level.

Key issues and debates in Health and Wellbeing

You will learn about some of the contemporary issues at the forefront of the subject. You will use your knowledge of different approaches to Health and Wellbeing and inequalities in health to consider the complexity of issues such as obesity, mental health and sexual health. You will explore the role of inequalities in ‘lifestyle issues’ moving beyond a focus on the individual to consider the many determinants of a range of non-communicable diseases. 

The other half of your time will be spent studying Introduction to Social Care.

This will give you a broad grounding in both the context and practice of social care. You will study:

Social and Psychological approaches to Social Care

You will be introduced to both psychological and social approaches as they apply to social care. You will explore cultural elements of modern-day social care including the social organisation of social care provision through institutions of care and care roles.  You will consider different schools of psychology and the critical features of various psychological perspectives.  You will consider how these psychological perspectives can be applied to the everyday practice of social care and in particular their application in working with service users

Values and Ethics in Social Care

You will explore and reflect upon your own value base before moving on to consider the differences and tensions between personal and professional values. You will consider central value questions of Individuality and Identity, Rights, Choice, Privacy, Independence, Dignity, Respect, and Partnership, value categories that govern the nature and effectiveness of care provision

Communication in Social Care

You will develop your understanding of different ways to communicate effectively. You will be introduced to various communication models and concepts. You will take part in a range of activities designed to develop your practical skills in communication.

Service user perspectives

You will develop an understanding of the range of groups who use social care services such as children and families, older people, people experiencing mental distress and disabled people. The service user and service provider group will deliver teaching sessions, providing unique and invaluable insight into service users’ perceptions of social care provision, its value and limitations.

You will spend one half of your time studying Explorations in Health and Wellbeing

Your second year will build on what you have learned in first year applying your knowledge to ideas around the Public Health, the promotion of Health and Wellbeing and researching Health and Wellbeing. You will study:

Public Health and Health Promotion: Theory and Practice

You will consider the history of Public Health and health promotion and explore how key drivers and priorities have changed over time. You will consider some of the key Public Health challenges we are currently facing and how these are being addressed. You will engage with a range of different theoretical approaches to health promotion, considering the merits and limitations of different approaches. You will complete a community-based health promotion project which will give you an insight into the reality of health promotion practice.

Researching Health and Wellbeing

You will develop your knowledge and understanding of quantitative and qualitative approaches to undertaking Health and Wellbeing research.  You will learn about research ethics as well as the process of critically reviewing previous research literature on a given topic. You will be supported to developing your own research questions, design research projects, and analyse research data. This will prepare you for the final year of study when you will undertake a dissertation

You will spend the other half of you second year studying Explorations in Social Care. You will study:

Policy and Welfare in Social Care

You will develop a broad and varied critical analysis of notions and models of care and welfare. You will examine the role of policy in shaping social care provision including the shift from institutional to community care and more recently to person-centred care. You will consider this in relation to key contemporary issues such as Domestic Violence and Dementia.

Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups in Social Care Settings

You will develop your knowledge of the legal framework that underpins safeguarding practice for a range of groups in society such as children, vulnerable adults and those with learning disability. You will consider how people and organisations work together to prevent and stop both the risk of and experience of abuse or neglect across care contexts and you will consider critically and reflect on the policies and practices that support this.

Community and Multiagency Working

You will gain insight into a range of theoretical concepts, methods and approaches applied within community work as well as tensions of professional power and accountability within community work approaches. You will also explore the importance of agencies working in partnership and the challenges and opportunities for multiagency working in social care.  You will consider this within the context of specific case studies such as multiagency working in services for adults with learning disabilities.

Work-based Learning

This will equip you with a range of tools and techniques essential for professional practice, together with a wider knowledge base which will support their transition into a relevant work placement.  Prior to your placement you will undertake a range of activities which will enable you to demonstrate your readiness for practice.  This will include, for example, the ability to work with others, to practice safely, to communicate effectively and be aware of the impact of culture, equality and diversity on practice. The work placement element offered at Level I will consist of minimum of 50 hours of work-based learning. Placements are available in a wide range of Health and Social Care settings.

You will spend half of your time studying Advanced Studies in Health and Wellbeing. You will study.

Contemporary Issues in Global Health and Wellbeing

You will consider a range of key debates at a global level.  You will extend your knowledge and understanding of health inequalities moving beyond the consideration of inequalities within societies to inequalities between societies and countries. You will draw upon your existing knowledge of determinants and will develop an in-depth understanding of determinants and social divisions that transcend national boundaries. You will consider a range of contemporary issues in global health and wellbeing such as: infectious and non-infectious diseases; global pandemics; the growing global burden of chronic disease; global mental health.

Health and Wellbeing across the life-course

You will consider the importance of the life-course as a framework for understanding Health and Wellbeing. You will explore how socially patterned health damaging exposures and health enhancing opportunities shape health and wellbeing outcomes. You will then move on to consider some of the key Health and Wellbeing issues and challenges at each stage of the life-course including prenatal health and Health and Wellbeing in: childhood; adolescence; young adulthood; midlife and old age. 

You will spend the other half of your time studying Advanced Studies in Social Care. You will study:

Management and leadership in Social Care

You will develop your understanding of the philosophy, principles and language of leadership within the social care work environment. You will consider the legal, policy and organisational contexts which shape management and leadership in the social care sector. You will critically appraise a range of leadership theories and styles and this will enable you to develop the knowledge and analytical skills required to function within leadership roles

Contemporary Issues in Adult Social Care

You will critically appraise the current state of adult social care across the various jurisdictions of the UK.  You will consider how adult social care has emerged as a distinct policy area in the UK and will critically explore in depth some of the key issues facing adult social care such as the funding of adult social care. You will spend time exploring the challenges to adult social care in the face of social and demographic change analysing, for example, how the social care workforce needs to adapt to ensure service met the needs of an ageing population.

Working with Children and Young People

You will analyse the contemporary context of children’s lives. Exploring how childhood is conceptually constructed, you will examine the social and economic context of children’s lives and the framing of the modern family. You will learn how modern divisions in society have particular impacts on children and young people. You will move on to explore ways of working with children and young people in in a variety of contexts, such as Looked After Children in fostering and adoption or young people in residential settings, as well as supporting families in the community.

You will also have the opportunity to study four Advanced Research Courses.

Advanced Research Courses

Advances research courses are offered on a range of topics each year within the School of Social Sciences. Each research course is led by an individual member of staff and is based upon their area of research interest and expertise. You will select four of these to study on topics of interest to you. Examples of topics previously offered include: learning disability; poverty and health; health inequalities; hate crime; LGBTQ+ health; migration; mental health; alcohol drinking practices; chronic illness; marginalised young people; Key themes in Social Work.