PY0771 - Lifespan, Individual and Cultural Perspectives on Health Psychology

You will learn by participating in interactive lectures designed to provide breadth of conceptual knowledge across topics relating to lifespan, inter-individual and cultural perspectives on health psychology. Some lectures will be delivered by an external guest, where appropriate, in line with their expertise to enhance your learning. Seminars, in a journal club format, will enable more in depth discussion of specific aspects
of the module. You will be required to lead and participate in critical discussions of key contemporary research papers relating to the lecture content. This experiential aspect of the module will provide you with skills in critiquing research literature, which will form the basis of the module assessment. The assessment will require you to critically evaluate and synthesise a body of literature, via a systematic review, which will enable you to develop advanced skills in literature synthesis, critical evaluation and theory development. With respect to employability, these skills are essential to your development in careers relating to Health Psychology.

Resources will be available via the e-learning portal, including lecture slides, related supplementary materials, recommended and required readings. You will receive feedback from academic staff via discussion boards, seminars and tutorials. Materials will be provided to enable
you to explore a range of potential graduate employment pathways, self-employment and further study options. Further, information will be provided about online resources and local seminars and events related to the module content which will further enhance your learning and experience.

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. The reading list for this module can be found at: http://readinglists.northumbria.ac.uk
(Reading List service online guide for academic staff this containing contact details for the Reading List team – http://library.northumbria.ac.uk/readinglists)

Knowledge & Understanding:
1. Critically evaluate and debate current knowledge, theory and evidence relevant to our understanding of how inter-individual and lifestyle factors influence health and wellbeing across the lifespan.
2. Understand how evidence from empirical Health Psychology research can be applied to the development of models and theories to advance the discipline of Health Psychology.
Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:
1. Communicate effectively and disseminate information.
Personal Values Attributes:
1. Demonstrate curiosity and evidence of independent thinking to develop novel ideas.

Formative assessment:
Formative assessment takes place within the ‘journal club’ seminars. You will present and lead discussions based on a research critique of a contemporary empirical paper related to the module content. Informal feedback will be provided by staff and students.
Summative assessment:
The module assessment (100% of module mark) comprises a 4,000 word systematic literature review, which you will use to synthesise and critique a diverse literature base which will provide the opportunity for you to demonstrate your achievement of learning outcomes KU1, KU2, IPSA1 and PVA1.

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The aim of this module is to enable you to develop an insight into the developmental, inter-individual and cultural influences on physical health and wellbeing. The module is taught from a lifespan perspective, in that topics will be introduced and discussed in context of illnesses that manifest at different stages of the lifespan (e.g. obesity, dementia, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, sexually transmitted infection, etc.). This module will encourage you to critically evaluate the literature to develop an understanding of the complex pathways from inter-individual differences (e.g. intelligence, personality, illness perceptions, and sociocultural factors) to health and disease. In addition to interactive
lectures, seminars will follow a student-led ‘journal club’ format, which will enable you to develop skills in critically evaluating Health Psychology research. You will use these skills to synthesise and critically evaluate the research literature via a systematic review in the summative assessment. With respect to employability, these skills are essential to your development in careers relating to Health
Psychology.