Educational aims
This degree is designed to enable you to develop a sound and critical understanding of policy, theory and practice in public health and wellbeing. It will provide you with an opportunity to engage with the challenges facing professionals, service users and policy makers in the UK today. Studying for this degree will enable you to:
- develop your knowledge and understanding of the historical and contemporary contexts in which public health and wellbeing takes place
- develop a sound and critical understanding of key theoretical concepts and debates that underpin public health provision and help to promote wellbeing
- develop your awareness of the diversity of needs and practices of different client groups and the need to work across boundaries
- develop the skills required for assessing current practice, for influencing and empowering others and bringing about change
- develop the skills to use research evidence to improve health and social care practice and to become an independent learner.
Learning outcomes
The degree provides opportunities for you to develop and demonstrate knowledge and understanding, qualities, skills and other attributes in the following areas:
Knowledge and understanding
On completion of this qualification, you’ll have knowledge and understanding of:
- the development of public health from its 19th Century origins in the UK to the present day, in the context of health and social care
- the contemporary ethical, cultural, political, legal and social context in which public health takes place and its contribution to personal and social wellbeing
- critically understanding the key theories, concepts and principles that underpin practice in public health its contribution to personal and social wellbeing, including the significance of service-user perspectives in the context of health and social care
- recognising the diversity of values needed for practice in public health to promote wellbeing.
- understanding the role of research in underpinning public health.
Cognitive skills
On completion of this qualification, you’ll be able to:
- critically review a range of situations in public health in the context of health and social care and assess the appropriateness of different interventions
- critically evaluate evidence from research and discuss its application to public health practice
- make appropriate use of a range of sources of information and use them to sustain an argument or develop new insights
- recognise the social processes associated with the promotion of health and wellbeing, and the creation of inequalities
- critically reflect on the experiences of health, wellbeing and social care from your own and others’ perspectives.
Practical and/or professional skills
On completion of this qualification, you’ll be able to:
- apply underpinning principles, concepts and theories in public health to inform and critique public health practice situations
- identify different approaches to public health service provision and critically evaluate strategies for improving public health practice and service provision.
Key skills
On completion of this qualification, you’ll be able to:
- communicate with others in a clear and articulate manner, using appropriate styles for different audiences
- identify, interpret and manipulate information from a wide range of sources, including numerical and statistical information
- manage your own learning through identifying learning needs, setting objectives, responding to feedback and monitoring progress through critical reflection.