UDWELALI - BSc Wellbeing in Later Life (Top-Up)

The course is designed as a top up to a BSc Honours degree for those with a Diploma of Higher Education or Foundation degree in a relevant subject. This will encompass those working in the health and social care sector in a variety of roles particularly those in the third sector where services are increasingly outsourced. However, the course is deliberately more generic, not solely health and social care focused, in order to address challenges alongside a more positive model of older people and specifically the wellbeing agenda – so as not to restrict who might wish to undertake the course and onward employment.

The course will provide a solid platform for students to explore opportunities to develop in the service, management and/or policy areas. Students will also be able to develop their skills and explore opportunities towards particular sectors through core and option modules and especially the Project module. Undertaking the course will enable participants to examine key issues relating to the promotion of wellbeing and explore policy and practice perspectives, which will include choice, discrimination and empowerment of older people and communities together with prevention strategies and integrated public health initiatives.

Students will engage with theoretical concepts, policy and research through weekly classroom contact time combined with a range of resources and learning activities available through Weblearn. The core Wellbeing in Later Life module will adopt a critical pedagogy approach which is congruent with the rapid social, political and professional changes related to later life and the need for those working in this field to explore critically and make sense of the contested but often taken for granted dimensions of practice. This approach therefore aims to develop students as critical practitioners through exploration of a range of historical and contemporary perspectives drawing on a wide range of academic disciplines. Critical pedagogy also allows not only for a critique of current knowledge and practice but also for imagining and ultimately creating alternative, less oppressive realities. This allows for the construction of alternative knowledge and practice through a focus on lived experience.

The Quality Assurance Agency Subject Benchmark Statements for Health explicitly require health programmes to enable students to demonstrate ‘a reflexive and critical evaluation of factors affecting health and its representations’ and ‘an ability to engage actively in the discourses surrounding the concept of health’ (QAA 2008 p. 1). This critical thinking required by such evaluation and discourse will form the central plank of the teaching and learning activities, assessment and evaluation of the student experience within this core module.

The course aims to prepare participants to develop the necessary knowledge, skills, competencies and values to work effectively in a range of health and social care settings in addressing the health and wellbeing of those in later life. This will foster knowledge and understanding of the diverse factors influencing experiences in later life and of society’s response to ageing and develop the capacity to work with individuals and communities to enhance health and wellbeing.

The course provides the opportunity to:

develop students’ ability to debate critically the global, national and local context for policy and practice in promoting wellbeing in later life

analyse relevant policy and best practice initiatives and the implementation of these by a range of organisations and agencies

explore cultural, social and economic determinants of health and wellbeing in later life

develop knowledge and understanding of and competency in roles which support wellbeing in later life and healthy aging

suggest strategies for service improvement and development to promote health and wellbeing in later life

develop research and evaluative skills to underpin an evidence-based approach to their practice

The following learning outcomes incorporate and depend on systematic understanding of the key aspects of the knowledge base of Wellbeing in Later Life, including a coherent and detailed knowledge of some specialist areas in depth.

On successful completion of this course students will be able to:

deploy accurately established techniques of analysis and enquiry within Wellbeing in Later Life;

devise and sustain arguments, and/or to solve problems, using ideas and techniques, some of which are at the forefront of Wellbeing in Later Life;

describe and comment upon particular aspects of current research, or equivalent advanced scholarship, in Wellbeing in Later Life, recognising the uncertainty, ambiguity and limits of knowledge;

manage their own learning, and to make use of scholarly reviews and primary sources (for example, refereed research articles and/or original materials appropriate to Wellbeing in Later Life);

apply the methods and techniques that they have learned to review, consolidate, extend and apply their knowledge and understanding, and to initiate and carry out projects;

critically evaluate arguments, assumptions, abstract concepts and data (that may be incomplete), to make judgements, and to frame appropriate questions to achieve a solution - or identify a range of solutions - to a problem;

communicate information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialist and non-specialist audiences;

exercise initiative and personal responsibility, including decision-making in complex and unpredictable contexts;

undertake appropriate further training of a professional or equivalent nature

A variety of assessment tools are used on the course. These are used both formatively to provide feedback to students and summatively. These include essays, group presentations, reports and essays.

University Certificate: any 45 credits.

Reflective learning and personal development planning are an integral part of the course and will be facilitated by specific learning activities within core modules. The critical pedagogy approach underpins this by emphasising ‘pruning’ content to facilitate deep (rather than surface) learning and understanding, providing scope within learning activities for facilitating reflection and the development of assessments that require critical reflection.

Students will be encouraged in the initial stages of the course to set personal and professional goals and pursue them through the work in the modules especially the project and placement work. All modules assessments are designed to test students’ ability to link theory, policy and practice.

The course will provide a solid platform for students to explore opportunities to develop in the service, management and/or policy areas. Students will also be able to develop their skills and explore opportunities towards particular sectors through core and option modules and especially the Project module. During the programme we will have employment fairs and events with prospective employers for students. We will also have dedicated employment activities and support facilities to help students build their CVs and profiles to be ready for the job market.

If you take both housing module options (Homelessness and Housing Policy and Housing Issues and Housing Solutions), you'll be eligible for Charted Institute of Housing (CIH) membership upon successful completion of your degree.

You'll be able to work in a range of sectors related to older people. The course will provide a solid platform to explore opportunities to develop in the service, management and/or policy areas. You'll also be able to develop skills and explore opportunities towards particular sectors through core and option modules and especially the Wellbeing Project module.

During the programme we'll have employment fairs and events with prospective employers for you to take advantage of. We'll also have dedicated employment activities to help you build your CV and profile ready for the job market.

In addition to the University's standard entry requirements, you should have:

• the equivalent of 112 UCAS credits (56 Level 4 and 56 Level 5) in a relevant diploma such as nursing or health and social care, or a foundation degree such as public health and social care or health and social care
• GCSE English and Mathematics at grade C (grade 4 from 2017) or above (or equivalent)

Normally, no further credit is available from the Level 6 programme.

Applicants with relevant professional qualifications or extensive professional experience will also be considered on a case by case basis.

Nurses and practitioners from health and social care with substantial relevant work experience may be considered and are also encouraged to apply.

You should be able to demonstrate your knowledge base in this field with strong analytical abilities that are underpinned by academic skills, as well as high levels of organisation, motivation and IT skills necessary for independent learning.

All applicants must be able to demonstrate proficiency in the English language. Applicants who require a Tier 4 student visa may need to provide a Secure English Language Test (SELT) such as Academic IELTS. For more information about English qualifications please see our English language requirements.