Msc Health and Social Care

Programme Proposal

MSc Health and Social Care

Academic strategy

Relevance

The Distance Education Initiative (DEI) is a University-wide project to substantially increase online distance learning at postgraduate level. This Programme was approved by Principal’s Strategy Group in summer 2010. The aim of the DEI is to reachnewpostgraduate (including CPD) student audiences by a substantial increase in the number and breadth of courses and programmes offered by the University via online distance education. This will enhance the University’s reputation for modern, high quality education and will accommodate risks from visa limits and uncertain worldwide travel whilst developing staff skills and University services for the longer term.

Nine new Masters programmes and programme elements have been funded to date within the university, one of which is this proposed e-learning MSc Health and Social Care. The first three component pathways to PCG level within the MSc programme are:

Postgraduate Certificate in Health and Social Care - Children and Young People’s Mental Health: Ecological Approaches (three core courses)

Postgraduate Certificate in Health and Social Care - Dementia (three core courses)

Postgraduate Certificate in Health and Social Care (by selecting three core courses from any pathway, subject to delivery that semester – this will offer more choice as more pathways are added)

The initial constituent courses reflect existing specialist areas within the School with coursesavailable individually for CPD. Further pathway areas will be developed in subsequent years that will offer greater crossover between the initial two, for example Child and Adult Intellectual Disability has received DEI approval for development in year 2.

The Programme is aimed at those working with clients/patients and service-users in the above groups and those with an interest in these areas of health and social care. This will include practitioners, managers, service planners and commissioners in health, social care, social work or allied health professions. It will support the translation of theory and learning into practice to encourage research-minded practitioners.

The choice of the first three pathway areas in Year 1 with PG Cert exit routes are shown below:

1. PGC in Health and Social Care - Children and Young People’s Mental Health: Ecological Approaches

2. PGC in Health and Social Care- Dementia

3. *PGC in Health and Social Care

*As more pathways are added over time, this will increase the choice in year 1 for those taking the PGC Health and Social Care pathway, subject to courses being available in any given semester. This PGC is likely to be more attractive to potential students as the number of pathways increases.

At Diploma level the following option courses will be initially available within the Programme:

Critical reading in health and social care 1, new 10 credits, included in Board of Studies papers
Critical reading in health and social care 2, new 10 credits, included in Board of Studies papers)
Trauma and resilience in a developmental context, existing online course, 20 credits
Critical Psychology and Child Mental Health, existing online course: 20 credits
Personalisation: providing individual choice and control over support (approved by board of studies for face to face delivery, included in board of studies papers for online delivery, 20 credits)
Research methods in nursing and healthcare A (currently available in online format, 20 credits). MSc Students will submit a research proposal as part of this course in advance of their dissertation.
Dissertation (60 credits)

This will enable the award of PG Diploma after 2 years or MSc with the research based dissertation.

Further option courses at Diploma level are planned to include cultural competency and diversity, counselling skills and caring and emotional work.At least one additional research option, will be added as the programme develops. An appropriate research course must be successfully completed for all students progressing to MSc.

An online option course may be taken from elsewhere in the School, College or University at certificate or diploma level if appropriate and with prior approval of the Programme Director. This is consistent with wider DEI plans of promoting cross University working in an online context. Examples of appropriate courses may include:

GlobalAcademy: Pain Management programme which provides advanced pain management education for graduates in medicine, nursing, physiotherapy, psychology
GlobalAcademy: Non communicable diseases
LLM by Distance Learning: Law and medical ethics
SSPC: Global challenges (under development for September 2012)

Similarly, courses in the MSc Health and Social Care will be available as option courses to students in other Schools.

Complementarity with existing and planned programmes

The School currently offers a range of well developed taught and research postgraduate programmes across the wider health and social care spectrum. The proposed development fits with the Schools strategy and collective vision to promote students as independent learners within a supportive environment. The enthusiasm now amongst staff is to recreate this environment online by developing a range of health and social care courses. This will maximise the opportunity for cross School learning and collaboration extending and linking the current subject area groupings of interdisciplinary social sciences in health, counselling and psychotherapy, nursing and clinical psychology. This Programme also enables the School to take the next step in developing our established links to practice by supporting an international student group. We offer a commitment based on our learning context, course design, tutor role and availability of extended learning resources to develop a diverse global community within the School.

Does it replace an existing programme?

MSc Health and Social Care is a new Programme funded under the Distance Education Initiative (DEI).

Academic and quality assurance standards

The Programme adheres to the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) Guidelines for Preparing Programme Specifications. There is a specific focus to the programme. The learning and teaching methods are clearly stated with the intention of enabling students to achieve the learning outcomes and maximise their opportunity for career development.

In line with QAA Master’s Degree Characteristics (2010) for a taught degree there is a degree of independent study as part of all courses and especially the Critical Reading in Health and Social Care courses and the dissertation for MSc students. The following are indicative of the Programme’s characteristics:

To enable students to focus on a particular aspect of a subject in which they have some prior knowledge, interest or experience.
To enable students to undertake a research project linked to health and social care (after completing a credit bearing research course).
To enable students to become highly specialised in an area relating to their employment.

The MSc is at level 11 in Scotland and meets the QAA standards in terms of required characteristics of graduates. This includes knowledge, conceptual understanding, evaluation skills, ability to deal with complex issues systematically and creatively and demonstrated self direction gained by the student.

Resource issues

Student recruitment

The flexibility of an elearning programme using distance learning is expected to be appealing to those working in health and social care where shift work as part of residential care for children and older people is common. Potential students also extend to allied health professionals such as physiotherapists, speech and language therapists and occupational therapist who work with a range of client groups of different ages in different community and residential settings. Overseas students are expected to benefit for the same reasons plus the ability to discuss key issues on an international scale. The market for this programme is expected to be at both UK and international level where currently there is limited provision to develop a topic based specialisms within a health and social care environment. Marketing will emphasise the potential for practitioners to link their learning directly to their area of work or experience.

Demand on resources and how will it be met

As an online Programme there will not be pressure on office or teaching space for staff or study space for students. Different demands will be evident as electronic resources will need to be available via the course Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) and the library (relevant electronic journals).

Programme staffing

The Programme Director is Karen Watchman who took up post in October 2011. Funding within the DEI allows for a 0.6 and 0.4 lecturer posts in clinical psychology (backfill) and dementia respectively. The Programme Director will also take part in curriculum development and teaching on the dementia pathway. An administrative assistant will also be allocated to the programme, 0.2 in year one and 0.4 thereafter.

An E-Learning Developer post (0.6)is currently being advertised. This post holder will work closely with programme staff to ensure the transition of existing face to face courses to an online format plus take responsibility for the development of new e-learning courses as part of the MSc programme. The part time nature of the e-learning post reflects the relatively small size of the School and of the number of programmes to be developed initially.

The intention is for a dynamic programme of development, but at a manageable scale so that academic colleagues are able to support new students properly and ensure all receive an excellent student experience.Staff appointed will not only be part of the School but also part of the wider University DEI community. This will ensure a cohesive approach to online distance learning through joint working with colleagues in Information Services and other Schools. This will ensure that there is no duplication and that all development work is appropriate.

Marketing the course

Staff within the core team are in a unique position to market the Programme due to their existing UK and international collaborative work in the constituent pathway areas. Core Programme staff are known internationally due to publications and conference presentations. The School currently market and promote courses via social media such as a Twitter feed, LinkedIn and Facebook, this would also be used for the new Programme with the Twitter feed being sent directly to all those who follow ‘health and social care’ internationally. Meetings have been held with Theresa Valtin, CHSS Marketing Officer with a view to promoting the programme internationally in countries where there is interest in both child mental health and dementia in addition to the wider health and social care context. Taking into account current economic situations the countries identified are Australia/New Zealand, Canada/USA and China/Taiwan. Marketing will be in conjunction with relevant international office staff who operate in these areas. Care will be taken in the technological aspects of course development to ensure that firewalls in some countries and within some establishments in the UK (such as the NHS) do not prove problematic for students when accessing some online tools or resources.

The MSc programme will be listed on postgraduate search websites and we will pay for online advertising in the above countries and the UK. Media relations will be maintained both proactively to promote research and teaching and reactively. A meeting has been held with Edd McCracken (HSS Media) to this effect. This will be in response to health and social care news items or documentaries. In this way the School will develop increasing international expertise in this field which will further raise awareness of the Programme across the UK and overseas.

Resourcing and fees for academic year 2012/2013

This is at non standard rate PGT level 1 with information provided to the Fee Strategy Group with a recommendation by Helen Taylor for approval in November 2011. Confirmation to this effect is included in this paperwork.

PG Cert£2814
PG Diploma£5628
MSc£8450
CPD (20 credit)£938

The fee reflects that this is an online, distance learning programme with considerable support from teaching and elearning staff. There is no distinction in fees between home and overseas students. As the Programme is available online there are no constraints over class size in terms of teaching rooms. There are no additional programme costs.

Why this Programme is of benefit

There is a strong demand for advanced multi-disciplinary education that is directly related to practice in health and social care. None of the Programmes available elsewhere offer the combination of pathway options, exit awards, online education and international options that form the basis of the current proposal. This suggests that we would be well placed to compete effectively in this market.

Market information

Anticipated student numbers

Anticipated enrolments are as follows (based on similar programmes, knowledge of current strategic demands and priorities in relation to training needs and enquiries/expressions of interest):

Year 1 (2012/13):

Part-time students = 20

CPD students (20 credits each) = 20

Year 2 (2013/14):

New part-time students = 40

Continuing part-time students = 10

CPD students (20 credits each) = 30

It is assumed that some students will exit with a 60-credit PG Certificate in one of the Health and Social Care pathways, with others completing the MSc over two or three years of study. The numbers on the main programme and for CPD are expected to increase annually with associated increase in staffing resources and available courses. The programme is entirely online with no visa requirement, thus there is no impact from UKBA rules.

Competitor programmes and fees (2010/2011 fees)

There are a range of postgraduate courses in the UKoffering health and social care at postgraduate level. Primarily they are campus based with a focus on a specific aspect of this area of work throughout the programme for example:

University of NottinghamSchool of Nursing. This campus based MSc is aimed at nurses and has component courses that include renal care, critical care, palliative care and cardiac care.

Fee £3,375 for home/EU students and £11,420 for overseas students

KingsCollegeLondon - primary health care

Northumbria - research methods health and social care masters

Teesside - commissioning in health and social care

Glasgow Caledonian – falls prevention in health and social care

Sheffield Hallam – health and social care leadership

Liverpool John Moores – service improvement and NHS modernisation agenda

Bradford – health and social care management

How is the proposed Programme different?

Our Programme includes courses that do not currently exist in this flexible online combination elsewhere nationally or internationally.The overall Programme at Masters Level, rather than only focusing on a specific issue or client group as is available elsewhere, offers a wider, transferable approach to a range of health and social care services. Within this we offer the flexibility to specialise in year 1 if preferred. This is compatible with the changing economic climate and job markets that increasingly see health and social care as an integrated service.

There is a paucity of postgraduate certificate courses focusing on children and young people’s mental health in the UK, at odds with the popularity of this subject area at Edinburghand the high rate of applications to the School. The proposed Dementia PGC incorporates older people with intellectual disabilities as a focus area in addition to older people generally. This only exists at Edinburgh at postgraduate level and offers a crossover link to a future pathway in Child and Adult Intellectual Disability; something else that is not currently available at PGC level in the UK or internationally.

This programme offers a flexibility not seen elsewhere that enables students to develop their own pathways as appropriate to their needs and work place requirements.

8. Funding and resource implications

The Programme is fully funded for year one and part funded for a further two years through the Distance Education Initiative. It is expected to be entirely self funded after this three year period. It would be considered non viable if this were not the case.

9. How the programme fits into school plan

At School level, the proposal is consistent with the aims of increasing the number of postgraduate and international students, encouraging collaboration within the School and between Schools and developing the volume and range of provision of online programmes and CPD courses.

The proposal is based on the strategic targets outlined in the University Strategic Plan 2008-2012 and the College Learning and Teaching Strategy. It will: facilitate students as independent learners, explicitly develop communication, research and enquiry skills, develop a supportive and collaborative online community of practice, utilise collaborative approaches to learning and assessment and feedback approaches based on identified good practice. The project also explicitly includes the development of staff skills in elearning. Its courses will be attractive to a wide range of staff groups many of whom will be returning to formal education or studying online for the first time. It will therefore also contribute to the University goals of engaging with the wider community as well as building strategic partnerships and collaborations with a wide range of organisations. Its graduates will be highly employable and have the ability to enhance the quality of service provision in their workplace, both of which are consistent with the goals of the University in relation to the 21st century Edinburgh Graduate.