Course Summary

Mental health services have advanced enormously over the past decade, and practitioners who work with people with severe mental illness have faced major changes in service development and clinical practice. These developments, coupled with a demand for the ever more capable practitioner (Department of Health,

2004), have generated a need for training in evidence-based interventions to enable practitioners to make a real difference.

This course is designed to meet this need by offering mental health practitioners from various professional disciplines the opportunity to enhance their skills in working with people with serious mental illnesses and their carers. This is achieved through developing expertise in psychosocial interventions on a one-to-one level and in the context of the family.

It is strongly recommended that supervision arrangements are in place by the start of the course as the clinical supervisor will conduct the practice-based assessments.

The course has been developed in collaboration with senior mental health practitioners. It aims to equip mental health practitioners with the skills to work directly with service users with higher levels of need and is underpinned by the key principles and values of the recovery approach.

Why choose this course?

Psychosocial intervention offers a framework for best practice and is an essential component of a comprehensive and integrated service. It has a firm evidence base and is regarded by many mental health service providers as a core skill for practice. You will be engaged in practice for the duration of the course - on completion, you may wish to progress into the following areas: advanced practioner roles, practice development roles, consultancy, teaching and research and development.

During the course you will:

• Participate in a course with a strong skills development focus, which aims to improve the employment prospects of participants
• Study a course open to applicants from a wide range of mental health disciplines
• Benefit from delivery by an experienced interdisciplinary course team
• Experience an assessment scheme that focuses on activities that have direct and immediate relevance to the students' professional roles

Areas of study you may cover on this course include:

• Recovery
• Assessment and engagement
• Managing positive and negative symptoms
• Brief and solution-focused interventions such as anger and stress management
• Cognitive behavioural interventions
• Psycho-education
• Medication management
• Achieving concordance
• Staying well and minimising relapse
• Impact of illness within the family
• Stress vulnerability model
• Key principles for working with families
• Enhancing skills within the family: communication skills, structured communication skills, structured problem-solving, coping strategies
• Dealing with difficult situations in family sessions

PCXPI

Assessment

The assessment strategies are varied to maximize your potential to gain a good overall attainment. You will be guided to achieve success, with indication to your strengths and limitations. You will be exposed to a variety of assessment methods that have been designed specifically to assess skills development and demonstrate the learning outcomes of the individual units. These include assessments of practice, literature reviews, presentations and case studies incorporating reflection on practice. These will help to prepare you for a range of activities once you have completed the course.

Course Learning Outcomes

On completion of the course you should be able to demonstrate:

1. An approach to intervention which is service user and carer oriented, strengths based and recovery focussed.

2. A critical and reflective ability to appraise your own performance in the use of psychosocial interventions within your own practice.

3. Expertise in the use of a range of psychosocial interventions on a one to one basis and within the context of the family.

4. A depth of knowledge and systematic understanding of the theoretical frameworks and current evidence in relation to psychosocial interventions.

5. A capacity to independently evaluate relevant policy, research and practice in psychosocial interventions, synthesising information from a range of sources.

6. Autonomy in planning and managing the learning process and in reviewing and meeting your own professional development needs.

External Benchmarking

When developing this course the following key external benchmarking documents helped shape the curriculum document:

• National Service Framework for Mental Health (DH, 1999)


• NICE Guidelines on core interventions in the treatment and management of schizophrenia (NICE, 2002)


• National clinical guidelines from the National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health on core interventions for schizophrenia in primary and secondary care (NCCMH, 2003)


• The Chief Nursing Officers review of mental health nursing. (DH, 2006)


• Department of Healths publication on ten essential shared capabilities for the whole of the Mental Health Workforce. (DH, 2004)

Educational Aims

This course aims to:

• Foster the development of service user- and carer-centred values necessary in the care and treatment of people with severe mental illness


• Provide a supportive educational environment in which participants can apply the evidence based knowledge and skills acquired on the course in order to improve service delivery and outcomes for people with serious mental illnesses


• Facilitate the development of participants expertise in the use of psychosocial interventions


• Enhance participants capacity to independently evaluate relevant research and practice including the ability to synthesise information from a range of sources and the capacity to deal with complexity, contradictions and gaps in the current evidence base


• Facilitate the establishment of future learning and professional development goals

Student support

Students will have access to all student support services from with in the University. In addition to this, students will be allocated a personal tutor for the duration of their course. They will also have a supervisor while working in the practice environment. They will also have access to a BREO site that will give them further guidance.

Team working

The course offers the opportunity to work within multi-professional groups. Team working is promoted throughout the units in academic and practice learning environments. You will be actively involved in group work and be encouraged to develop relationships with staff and your peers that facilitate your learning.

Career Management Skills

The course is designed to facilitate expertise in the use of psychosocial interventions in the workplace and to promote inter-disciplinary working. It offers a student centred process for integrating personal, academic and career development plans. You are encouraged to undertake self assessment to identify your strengths, interests and development needs in relation to external criteria e.g. the requirements of your occupation or employing organisation. Through negotiation with your employer and personal tutor you will be enabled to identify the areas in which you feel you have achieved maximum success and have the ability to excel within. You will be actively encouraged to participate in the development of your career management skills and will take the lead on accessing the Centre for Personal and Careers development.

Career/Further study opportunities

Career:

On completing this course the students are likely to progress into the following areas:

• Advanced practitioner roles


• Practice development roles


• Consultancy


• Teaching


• Research and Development

Further study:

This course will facilitate the acquisition of skills to enable future PDP and identification of learning needs and opportunities. Each student will be encouraged to retain a reflective diary in relation to their own Continuing Professional Development (CPD). It is anticipated that this course will provide a platform for further postgraduate study. One of the routes currently available includes the MSc Health Studies course. However, it is also anticipated that this PGCert course will be developed into a full masters degree course.

Entry

Additional:

• An honours degree or the equivalent in terms of previous advanced study, research or professional experience


• Currently working as a mental health practitioner with people who are experiencing severe mental illness


• Applicants must be able to access clinical supervision from a practitioner who has expertise in psychosocial intervention. Suitable practitioners include clinical psychologists or advanced practitioners who have completed a postgraduate course featuring psychosocial intervention (eg family systemic therapy, cognitive behavioural therapy, Thorn programme)

UK students Undergraduate entry requirements

Standard entry requirements for Foundation degrees (FD/FdSc)

A foundation degree will be of particular interest if you have completed a Modern Apprenticeship, vocational A levels, BTEC National or equivalent.

Foundation degrees are also particularly suitable if you want to qualify while working.

• As a guideline, a typical offer would require you to obtain a UCAS tariff score of between 80-120 points, based on your level 3 studies.
• Students who require a Tier 4 Student Visa cannot apply for our foundation courses. For these courses the University of Bedfordshire is not able to sponsor Tier 4 Student Visa applications.

Many students studying for foundation degrees come to us through work-based routes so you can apply for a foundation degree even if you don’t have traditional academic qualifications.

We welcome applicants with relevant work experience.

Standard entry requirements for Undergraduate degrees (BA/BSc)

We will consider you as an individual and take into account all elements of your application, not just your qualifications. We are looking for both breadth and depth in your current studies as well as enthusiasm for the subject you wish to study.

The general requirement is one of the following:

• UCAS Tariff Score greater than 200, which should include either two A level passes or an AVCE Double Award
• An Access qualification
• Equivalent qualifications such as Irish Leaving Certificate, Scottish Highers, International Baccalaureate or BTEC National Diploma

Postgraduate taught courses

Postgraduate applications (MA/MSc) should be made direct to the University using the  standard University application form. There are some exceptions, please see individual course descriptions for details.

• UK/EU students application form
• International (non-EU) students application form
  

Students from the European Union

Entry requirements

As a general guide, to apply for a place on an undergraduate course (BA/BSc) at the University you need to have completed your high school education and have the required English qualification.

We have students from all the European Union member countries so we are quick to make decisions on most qualifications.

How to apply

International students

• Undergraduate applications (BA/BSc) can be made direct to the University or via our representatives in your home country. If you intend to apply to more than one university in the UK you should apply via UCAS. If you want to apply to the University of Bedfordshire only you should apply directly using our international application form (link below) or via our representatives in your home country
• Postgraduate applications should be made directly to the University using our international application form (link below) or via our representatives in your home country
• Healthcare, nursing and midwifery students Many of these courses are not available to overseas students due to UK immigration law in regard to bursary funding. Please contact international admissions to find out if you are eligible to apply
• BA Nursing Studies Level 3 (with or without Overseas Nursing Programme) is available to overseas students - please contact International Admissions by email at international-admissions@beds.ac.uk for further information

(Please note that applicants on a full student visa are not eligible for part-time study)

Course application form for international students

We recommend that you apply directly to the University where possible, as this allows us to offer the quickest turnaround time for your application.

• Course application form for direct applications [PDF]

How to complete your course application

Please read the Direct application instructions before completing the course application form.

Application forms for accommodation in the student halls at Bedford campus and Luton campus are available in the Student life section

Accreditation of prior certificated learning (APL)

APL is available for international students applying for undergraduate (Bachelor degree) study. Please do not use this APL form to apply for postgraduate courses.

Use the APL form to tell us about any non-standard qualifications and/or work experience you have that you think should be taken into consideration with your application. `

The APL form should be submitted at the same time as the course application form.

We regret we are unable to process APL forms from students who have not submitted a formal course application form.

• APL application form for International students [100Kb] updated 041007

What next?

Return your completed application to:

University of Bedfordshire
International Admissions
Park Square
Luton
Bedfordshire
LU1 3JU
United Kingdom

Contact International Admissions

T: +44 (0)1582 489326 (non-EU Students)
F: +44 (0)1582 743469
E: international-admissions@beds.ac.uk

Awarding institution

University of Bedfordshire

Teaching Strategy

The units available to you offer a range of different teaching strategies in order to meet the learning needs of a diverse range of students. This ensures that all students have the opportunity to learn in an environment that suits their learning style. The strategies include lectures, seminars, group work, e-learning, workshops, discussions / debates, games, role play and enquiry based learning. Skills development will occur primarily in the practice setting through practice based learning and supervision.

Learning will take place in a variety of environments including:

• Classroom


• Work place


• Library learning spaces


• Social Spaces e.g CETL

Professional, Statutory and Regulatory Body Accreditation

N/A

Students with disabilities

Students will have access to Student Services and will be encouraged to actively seek any assistance they require in order to have needs met in relation to a disability they may have. Students will be able to access further advice and support from the Disability Advice Team.

Skills Development

Communication

To help with the development of this you will:

• Work collaboratively with your personal tutor and peers


• Communicate effectively both verbally and in writing to achieve the outcomes of your assignments


• Show accurate and fluent use of language in presenting information


• Collaborate and foster inter-professional working practices in the practice environment

Information Literacy

To help with the development of this you will:

• Use recommended databases to access information


• Produce written and verbal assignments


• Carry out effective internet and database searching and referencing

Research and Evaluation

To help with the development of this you will:

• Independently evaluate policy and research relating to psychosocial interventions and service user and carer needs


• Synthesise information from relevant sources

Creativity and Critical Thinking

To help with the development of this you will:

• Apply theoretical concepts to practice and respond to problems that expand or redefine existing knowledge


• With guidance, plan and implement psychosocial interventions with service users, their families and the multi-disciplinary team


• Autonomously synthesise information and propose new hypotheses or ideas


• Design an educational resource to address the information or learning needs of a service user and his / her carers

Improving learning and performance

The course teams strategy for engaging you in your own learning and development and for making you more aware of how you learn, is as follows:

• You will be encouraged to participate in active discussion and offer feedback on course content to determine whether this met your learning needs


• You will be given formative and summative feedback on your continuing development and will be encouraged to reflect on your progress. This will engage you in the process of using assessment feedback


• You will develop autonomy in planning and managing the learning process and in reviewing and meeting your own learning needs


• You will be supported by a personal tutor who will act as an educational resource


• Study skills will be developed throughout the course

Progress files

A progress file will be kept on each student on the PGCert Psychosocial Interventions. This will take the form of a summary of the progress made towards meeting the learning outcomes identified in the units. This will be implemented through the personal tutor system. You are encouraged to keep and update regularly a reflective work diary to monitor your progress. You will have the opportunity to review this intermittently during the course and will be expected to use extracts from the diary to illustrate skills development within the summative assessments. The diary will also enable you to evaluate your progress upon completion of the course and to identify scope for further professional and personal development and for career progression.

Professional standards

Professional attitudes are important to enable engagement in the world beyond the University. It is expected therefore that you will adopt behaviours and attitudes that reflect a sense of professionalism in how you approach different learning opportunities and situations. In return the course team will respond positively towards this. The student and staff are therefore expected to do the following:

Student

• Be punctual for session and tutorials


• Respect the learning environment and others in the group


• Inform the course lead or personal tutor if you are unable to attend a class or tutorial meeting


• Take the lead in your learning and development


• Follow university policies and procedures especially in relation to the writing and submission of assessments


• Adhere to the code of practice of your professional organisation (eg NMC, GSCC)


• Use consent forms for audio/video recording any intervention sessions with service users or carers

Staff

• Inform the student in advance if you need to cancel a session or tutorial


• Respond to email within 5 working days unless on leave


• Ensure assessment results are published on the expected date


• Promote a learning environment that facilitates mutual respect

Strategy for developing and embedding the professional standards

Students will be introduced to the concept of professional standards in their induction programme and will have the above outlined to them.

Adherence to these standards will be monitored by the course leader who will liaise with the unit leaders. If there are any issues that need to be addressed the personal tutor will be informed who will document this in the progress files and contact the student to discuss the issues further. The student will be offered support to address the issues. However any persistent non-adherence to these professional standards may result in the student being discontinued from the course.