- This Unit looks at the work of William Beveridge in reforming the field of social welfare after World War II. Particular attention is paid to the attitude towards women and immigrants to the United Kingdom.
- Interpersonal communication in health and social care services is by its nature diverse. As a consequence, achieving good or effective communication – whether between service providers and service users, or among those working in a service – means taking account of diversity, rather than assuming that every interaction will be the same. This unit explores the ways in which difference and diversity impact on the nature of communication in health and social care services.
- Why are so many people now turning to complementary and alternative medicine and why do approaches to complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) raise such controversy? This unit explores the following three key areas: ‘Why people use complementary and alternative medicine’, ‘Critical issues in the therapeutic relationship’ and ‘Ethics in complementary and alternative medicine’.
- What do we mean by ‘community’, ‘care’ and ‘welfare’? In this unit you will explore the meanings of these words in their historical and cultural settings. The unit does not discuss these terms exclusively in terms of social work practice so service users, carers or anyone interested in community care and the ways in which welfare services are provided would find this unit useful.
- This unit will explore how knowledge and beliefs about death and encounters with death affect people’s lives. It will also examine the concept of a ‘good death’ from an individual perspective in order to enhance the quality of dying.
- In many areas of health care, and especially in such areas as palliative care, increasing attention has been paid in recent years to patient autonomy, and the need to respect it. Autonomy has come to be seen as a very important aspect of the interaction between patients and those looking after them, and forms the basis for many ethical commitments, such as telling the truth to patients, and seeking their consent for health care interventions. In this unit we look at quite a wide range of ethical issues. They all have one thing in common, however: autonomy. Each of them is a pressing ethical issue because of our concerns about how best to respect patient autonomy, and about whether it should be ignored or overridden in certain cases.
- This unit is made up of four extracts related to social care, social work and the law. The extracts are stand-alone sections but follow on from each other to make up this unit. You will be introduced to five main themes that shape practice in the field of social care and social work. The aim of this unit is to enhance your understanding of the relationship between social work practice and the law.
- What do we mean by ‘wellbeing’ for young people? How is it shaped by social differences and inequalities, and how can we improve young people's mental and physical health? This unit will examine the range of factors affecting young people’s wellbeing, such as obesity, binge drinking, depression and behavioural problems.
- This Unit provides an overview of Open University Course Y156 Understanding Children. You will be introduced to the types of activities, tasks and assignments that you would be asked to undertake if you were to enrol on the course.
- Alcohol abuse, healthy living and Alzheimer’s disease all regularly hit the headlines. This unit will take a brief look at these issues and introduces you to the type of issues that you would be asked to examine should you wish to study OU course Y158 Understanding Health.
