| Unit name | Health and Social Care Research |
|---|---|
| Unit code | SPOLD2020 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | D/8 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Dr. Lart |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department | School for Policy Studies |
| Faculty | Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
The field of health and social care has long been characterised by diversity in the disciplines and epistemologies it contains. The key occupational groups within the field differ in the ways they perceive the purposes of policy, the means to achieve policy objectives and the most appropriate ways of evaluating policy and establishing truths. Current policies promote on the one hand, evidence based policy and practice, and on the other an increased role for both users of services and the wider public in decision making about policy. The Researching Health and Social Care unit is organised around three themes: 'need' and how different stakeholders perceive need, and the consequences of this for research policy and practice; 'evaluation', and the different approaches to evaluating policy; and 'issues' within the research/policy relationship in health and social care. Please note that 'health and social care' are here taken to mean general health provision and related social care, ie 'community care'. The unit does not examine child protection or general family welfare provision.
