UNISON Ulearn Northern Ireland

Targeted at: Any member
Duration: 20 weeks but no regular class
Qualification: Open University 10 credits

This is part of the Open University’s Openings programme which aims to introduce new people to the Open University, helping to develop study skills, knowledge and confidence. It is particularly useful for members who work shifts and cannot commit to a regular timetable, or members who have dependent care responsibilities which makes it difficult to attend classes. Each Openings course lasts a maximum of 20 weeks and is supported by regular telephone contact with a tutor. Each learner will receive a core text, the course guide, one audio CD, one DVD and the assignment book and will work at their own speed. Learners will submit two assignments and can earn 10 credits for successful completion.

The Course

This course invites you to probe beneath the surface of the term ‘health’, a word we tend to use unquestioningly without paying much attention to its meaning. By exploring some of the key issues that dominate current concerns about health – including obesity, alcohol abuse, smoking, stress at work, and HIV/AIDS – the course considers how complex health is and the many factors that play a role in shaping our experience of it.

A central feature of the course is its exploration of health from four different levels or vantage points: those of the individual, the family, the locality, and wider society. The starting point of the course is the individual’s experience of health: the personal factors that influence how healthy we are. You’ll then move on to examine the ways in which people’s health is shaped by their family, by their local environment (including schools and housing), and by the wider society in which they live. At each level, you are invited to focus on the influences on health at that particular level and at the interventions that can be made to improve health and well-being.

Drawing upon sociology as well as biology and psychology, the course offers a multi-disciplinary perspective on health, and insights into the contributions of different academic disciplines. Through activities and assignments, you are encouraged to develop your study skills and build your confidence, so that by the end of the course you’ll be able to ‘pull together’ the story of two major health issues of our times: stress at work and smoking-related illness.

The broad-ranging nature of this course means that it will be of interest to you even if you’re not a health professional or involved in the health sector through your work. This is a course for anyone with an interest in health: parents, teachers, volunteers, senior citizens, trade unionists.

This new Openings course is of direct relevance to anyone considering taking Understanding Health and Social Care (K100). It will also be useful preparation for those planning to study for a Foundation Degree in Health.

Courses run from February, June, September & November. You must be registered at least two weeks prior to course starting. If you are interested in this course, please download an expression of interest form.