| CODE | PSY5641 | ||||||||||||||||
| TITLE | Core Placement 1: Health Psychology - Behaviour Change | ||||||||||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 05 - Postgraduate Modular Diploma or Degree Course | ||||||||||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 7 | ||||||||||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 10 | ||||||||||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Psychology | ||||||||||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | The first semester: Placements will be offered in different health-settings, dependingon availability of supervisors. These settings may include Mater Dei Hospital, Dar Kenn Ghal Sahhtek, Karen Grech Rehabilitation Hospital, Mount Carmel Hospital or Community clinics, just to mention a few. Students will have the opportunity to work within specialized services targetingspecific patient groups including Nephrology, Diabetes and Endocrinology, and with respiratory, Cardiac and Surgical cases They may also work with clients who have chronic health conditionsthat are comorbid with mental health problems, including but not limited to anxiety, addictions, trauma and depression. The placement is of a one-year duration. This means that students will have the opportunity to practice with a given population for one year before being offered a different placement in the second year. The students will have an introductory session prior to commencing their placement in eachservice with the aim of preparing students and providing them with informational training materia. The first weeks will be spent observing and shadowing a psychologist/related professional working with adults diagnosed with several health-related conditions, conducting assessmentsand delivering psychological interventions. As well as a practical workshop on psychotherapeutic interventions (35 hours). And will have the opportunity to observe the application of Health Psychology Theory to patients diagnosed with Psychiatric illness. The trainees will have the opportunity to observe psychologistsand other health care professionals working with patients with addictions. Students will have theopportunity to observe psychologists working with clients diagnosed with other psychological disorders and to shadow their work as part of the multidisciplinary team in ward rounds. During each placement trainees will spend a minimum of 8 hours per week on site engagedinsupervised practice, with an additional one hour per week of direct supervision. They will alsohave two hours of group supervision per fortnight. Study-Unit Aims: This placement is aimed at enabling participants to develop the professional characteristics pertaining to the role of the health psychologist through exposure to the day to day work of a health psychologist in an onsite clinical setting. The students will be expected to become familiar with the main theories and research linked with Health Psychology and chronic illness as well as psychological disorders and to integrate the theoretical models to evidence based practice. The students will adopt an evidence based approach to assessment and intervention. They will be expected to more familiar with the key psychological issues linked with chronic illnesses and will be expected to develop an attitude of care and respect for all patients diagnosed with several conditions. Through the tutorials, the students will learn to adopt a reflective approach to working with patients. The placement will also expose them to the role of the multidisciplinary team and thus the students will develop a holistic framework taking into account the collaboration of different professionals within the team. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Identify and analyze the key psychological factors associated with the psychological adjustment and clinical outcomes of patients diagnosed with chronic and acute illness; - Describe and analyze the different types of patient groups seeking psychological support from health psychologists working in a hospital setting; - Describe and evaluate the ethical standards linked to the Health Psychology profession; - Describe and evaluate the relevance of psychological tests and assessment measures administered by Health Psychologists; - Describe and evaluate the key psychological models which are adopted by health psychologists working with patients suffering from addiction; - Analyze and interpret the key psychological issues addressed by Health Psychologists in a mental health institution; - Describe and evaluate the role of a Health Psychologist within a Hospital Setting. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Demonstrate adequate skills in a broad range of Health Psychology work including assessment, formulation, intervention, evaluation and reporting particularly related to children and adolescents; - Demonstrate critical reflection and reflexivity in and on their practice; - Integrate Health Psychology theory with practice; - Demonstrate adequate skills in effective report writing for clients in health settings; - Demonstrate skills in the positive use of supervision for the benefit of clients and professional self development; - Demonstrate good organizational skills such as record keeping and time-management; - Demonstrate ethical and professional skills to work with other psychologists and other professionals; - Evaluate the role of Health Psychologists in the placement setting. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: - Forshaw, M. (2022). Health Psychology in Clinical Practice, 1st Edition, Routledge. - Sheldon, B. (2011). Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Practice in Health and Social Care, Routledge. - Harris, R., & Hayes, S. C. (2019). ACT made Simple, New Harbinger Publications. - Rollnick, S., Miller, W., & Butler, C. (2022). Motivational Interviewing in Health Care> The Guildford Press. |
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| ADDITIONAL NOTES | Pre-Requisite qualifications: B. Psy (Hons) | ||||||||||||||||
| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Placement, Seminar and Tutorial | ||||||||||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Roberta Attard Daniel Mercieca Pamela Portelli (Co-ord.) |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2025/6. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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