Course summary

Health Psychologists apply psychological knowledge and skills in clinical and community settings. They contribute to the prevention of illness and the promotion of health and wellbeing. They design and implement interventions to improve the experience and outcomes for those who are ill or disabled and for their carers – as well as helping to shape the policies and systems which affect healthcare. Our BPS accredited Health Psychology MSc adopts a critical and holistic perspective on the experience of health and wellbeing, recognising the importance of social, cultural and economic factors. The significance of these factors has been highlighted during the COVID-19 crisis, where we have witnessed the importance of social support networks and economic assets to the physical and mental wellbeing of different demographic groups. The pandemic has also shown the impact of national policy and community focus on the health of frontline workers themselves. In this course, we equip students with the skills and expertise to work within the broad and growing field of Health Psychology. Our design adopts a perspective that health occurs within multiple nested contexts, and that whatever the issue, multiple actions are necessary at multiple levels. Modules address the experience of ill health, individual factors in health, and community factors in health. This situates understanding from the perspective of the client, rather than the bystanding expert. Supported by numerous partnerships with community and voluntary sector organisations, in addition to NHS health psychology services, our ethos includes an underpinning commitment to social justice, and a recognition of the potential of health psychology to contribute to transformative action. To find out what our current staff and students are up to, feel free to follow us on Twitter: @HealthPsychUoG For more information and to apply for the Health Psychology course, please visit the course page at www.glos.ac.uk/Postgraduate