MSc Clinical and Health Psychology / Course details

Year of entry: 2024

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Course unit details:
Illness & Health Care

Course unit fact file
Unit code	PSYC69852
Credit rating	15
Unit level	FHEQ level 7 – master's degree or fourth year of an integrated master's degree
Teaching period(s)	Semester 2
Available as a free choice unit?	No

Overview

This unit focusses on the experience of being unwell and needing health care, and how psychology has a role in ensuring people access appropriate care and manage their illness to achieve the best possible health outcomes. The course will consider the role of illness perceptions in responding to heath threats; factors influencing help-seeking; and how psychology can help people manage chronic illnesses and improve adherence and therefore treatment outcomes will be discussed. Students will have the opportunity to investigate an area relevant to the course in more depth, and develop research skills, in conducting this unit’s systematic review assignment.

Aims

The unit aims to:

Provide a strong grounding in understanding the experience of illness and receiving health care from a psychological perspective.
Drawing on theory and evidence, understand how psychological processes (e.g. forming illness and treatment representations) can influence (and be influenced by) response to illness, interactions with healthcare services and influence health outcomes.
Provide students with an understanding of long term health problems and the underlying mechanisms (psychological and biological) that cause and maintain symptomatology.
Develop students’ skills relevant to systematic reviewing: developing a protocol, searching the literature effectively, and synthesising relevant data.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course unit, students will be able to:

Understand the relevance of psychology to maximising health outcomes when patients and health care professionals respond to a patient’s health threat.
Understand the role of illness and treatment representations when a person is making sense of a health threat.
Critically evaluate evidence in understanding the patient’s response to health threats and the roles of health professionals in supporting patients seeking health care.
Develop a well-reasoned systematic review protocol and search strategy
Effectively conduct a systematic search of the literature.
Develop systematic review skills which will be beneficial in studying in other areas, and vital to future professional training (e.g. stage 2 health psychology training).
Develop a sympathetic understanding of how patients may understand and cope with health threats.

Teaching and learning methods

Teaching will be delivered over a 10 week period involving a mix of asynchronous materials and synchronous sessions. The synchronous sessions will be online or on-campus. Students will be provided with electronic resources on Blackboard including PowerPoint slides, published papers, reading lists and web links. Students will be encouraged to use a discussion board on Blackboard to discuss ideas with peers and staff and to ask questions.

Assessment methods

Systematic review protocol - 1,500 words (30%)
Systematic review; full write-up - 2,500 words (70%)

Study hours

Scheduled activity hours
Lectures	20

Independent study hours
Independent study	130

Teaching staff

Staff member	Role
Stephanie Lyons	Unit coordinator

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