Course summary

This foundation year course offers you the opportunity for familiarisation with social care and study at the University of Wolverhampton before your regular education begins. The University of Wolverhampton ensures that core contexts for the course are introduced, as well as standards for undergraduate learning, fundamentals which are built on in following years and underpinned with key health & wellbeing knowledge. Supported by accomplished School of Society and Community staff, you will develop understandings of social factors in determining health and illness – in several facets of specialist care – and use this to inform your practical work. On graduation, you will be able to apply yourself to a wide range of professions, remaining mindful of ethics in your own practice and innovating in this important area. This considered course combines current health and wellbeing concepts with necessary knowledge for social care in practice. Our team of industry experts in the School of Society and Community ensure your education meets modern workplace standards, training research skills, methodologies and awareness of technology using our outstanding facilities. You will study in-depth issues informing health and wellbeing measures, including gender, background, law and community, learning effective ways to address physical, mental and social wellbeing. University of Wolverhampton graduates are renowned for their comprehension of subjects, skilful application of research and ability to reflect on their own practice. Social care and health and wellbeing are two major issues in society today. The Social Care and Health & Wellbeing degree offers you the chance to understand and analyse the complexities of these two key aspects of the social world. Our health and care needs are changing: our lifestyles are increasing our risk of preventable disease and are affecting our wellbeing, we are living longer with more multiple long-term conditions like asthma, diabetes and heart disease and the health inequality gap is increasing. In addition, the very terms ‘health’, ‘illness’ and ‘wellbeing’ are themselves contested concepts which are mediated by individuals, by society, by politics and by organisational systems and processes. People’s experiences of health and wellbeing are therefore both complex and multi-faceted. This engaging and values-led degree programme will enable you to understand and critically analyse the broad range of issues and concepts which affect the health of individuals, groups and communities locally, nationally and internationally; to consider ways of improving health and wellbeing which make best use of collective resources and develop your personal, professional and practical skills and capabilities. This will complement your study of Social Care because these issues often have a major impact on the lives of people who use Social Care services. Social Care is a key ingredient in meeting the future social challenges that we face as a society. It is critical to the decisions we make about how we care for and support one another. It seeks to influence key political and policy debates about how we distribute social and financial resources and how we answer fundamental questions relevant to contemporary society. The specialist award in Social Care and Health and Wellbeing is designed for those who want to develop a career within the expanding social care and health & wellbeing sector. Students can study specific populations, such as children and/or adults and to develop their understanding of critical contemporary debates. The course will equip you with knowledge and skills appropriate to a range of graduate jobs in the social care and health & wellbeing sector.