UNISON Ulearn Northern Ireland

Belfast Health & Social Care Trust have just agreed to work in partnership with UNISON to run the Open University K101 Introduction to Health & Social Care for staff across the Trust. The course will start in September and information sessions are being held on July 21st and 22nd. The deadline for applications is Friday 8th August 2008.

The K101 Introduction to Health & Social Care is the updated version of the popular K100. Blocks of learning include

Who cares? looks at the range of formal and informal care, exploring the diversity and sensitivity of care situations
Working with life experience explores the impact of care needs and care services on people’s sense of identity and self-worth.
Diverse communities and resources for care asks how a community can respond to the needs of different groups of people.
People and places: contexts of care explores the settings where care takes place, exploring their physical, social and psychological impact and the extent to which they are enabling or disabling.
Making care safer? examines how care can go wrong and what individuals can do to try to prevent this.
The shaping of care services in the UK examines care policies at the national level.

This course will be supported by release from your employer, a UNISON Study Skills for K101 course and an exam preparation day. This course is first year university level, awards a stand alone certificate and contributes 60 credits towards a university degree. Previous participants on the course have included staff such as health care assistants, home care workers, staff from domestic services, admin, security, portering and catering staff. Some learners have used their study to help access places on the workbased nursing programme, others are working towards a degree and some just enjoyed the course itself. You can read more about how learners got on in the ‘Stories’ section of this website.

Information sessions will take place
21st July Ennis Room D Floor Tower Block BCH 10am – 11am
21st July Personnel Room 3rd Floor Bostock House RVH 12 - 1pm & 1 – 2pm

22nd July Training Room 2 Floor 2 McKinney House MPH 10 – 11am
22nd July Room 1 Central Dining Hall Knockbracken 12 – 1pm & 1- 2pm
22nd July Board Room, Mater Hospital 3 - 4pm

You can download an information and application pack here