Subject
Health & Social Care
Exam Board
Edexcel - click here for information
For more information contact Head of Department:
Mrs K Winwood - kwinwood@stedmunds.org
Brief introduction to subject:
This award is for learners to gain a nationally recognised vocationally specific qualification to enter employment in the Health and Social Care sector.
About 3 million people work in health and social care. Health care roles include doctors, pharmacists, nurses, midwives and healthcare assistants, while social care roles include care assistants, occupational therapists, counsellors and administrators. Together, they account for nearly one in ten of all paid jobs in the UK. Demand for both health and social care is likely to rise, so they will continue to play a key role in UK society and the demand for people to carry out these vital roles will increase.
What our students say
"This subject will help me to get into the career I want." "I can decide later which direction to go in the future as this covers so many different options."
Course Requirements
English - Grade 4
Maths - Grade 4
Unit 1
Health and social care practitioners need to develop a knowledge base for working with people in every stage of their lives, and they need to know how their own experiences relate to health and wellbeing. Although it is generally accepted that there may be deterioration in health with age following adulthood, medical intervention means people are living longer and have better life prospects. This unit will develop your knowledge and understanding of patterns of human growth and development. You will explore the key aspects of growth and development, and the experience of health and wellbeing. You will learn about factors that can influence human growth, development and human health. Some of these are inherited and some are acquired through environmental, social or financial factors during our lifespan. You will learn about a number of theories and models to explain and interpret behaviour through the human lifespan. In this unit, you will explore the impact of both predictable and unpredictable life events, and recognise how they impact on individuals. You will study the interaction between the physical and psychological factors of the ageing process, and how this affects confidence and self-esteem, which in turn may determine how individuals will view their remaining years. This unit is externally assessed. It covers aspects of human growth and development through the different life stages. This content will serve as an introduction to health and social care needs and so will sit at the heart of the qualification.
The unit will be assessed through one examination of 90 marks lasting 1 hour and 30 minutes.
Unit 5
For you to be able to provide the care and support that individuals need, it is important that you have a good understanding of the principles behind providing quality care and support. This unit introduces you to the values and issues that need to be considered when planning care and support that meet the needs of an individual in a health and social care environment. In this unit, you will learn about the values and principles of meeting care and support needs and look at some of the ethical issues that arise when personalising care. You will examine factors that can impact the professionals who provide the care and support, and the challenges that must be overcome to allow access to good quality care and health services. You will explore the different methods used by professionals across all care services. You will reflect on these methods when you consider the importance of multi-agency working in providing a package of care and support that meets all the needs of individuals. To complete the assessment task within this unit, you will need to draw on your learning from across your programme. This unit will be useful if you are intending to pursue a career in social care or healthcare, for instance as a social worker or health visitors, practice nurse or occupational therapist. The unit will also be invaluable if you wish to progress to higher education, to degrees in areas such as health and social care management, social work and nursing.
Unit 2
This unit will help you to understand what it is like to work in the health and social care sector. When working for an organisation in this sector, you will have important responsibilities that you need to understand and carry out. These include maintaining the safety of and safeguarding individuals with health and social care needs, making sure that you properly handle their personal information and preventing discrimination towards them. You will need to understand how you will be accountable both to these individuals and the regulatory bodies that represent people who work in the health and social care sector. It is necessary for you to understand how your work will be monitored when you carry out a specific role such as nurse or social worker
This unit will be assessed through one examination of 80 marks lasting 1 hour and 30 minutes.
Unit 11
An important aspect of working in the health and social care sector is to have a good understanding of the ways in which psychological development occurs in order to effectively meet the individual needs of service users. Having knowledge of the key concepts and ideas enables you to understand the ways in which development and behaviours occur. In this unit, you will learn about the different psychological perspectives that have been put forward and how these approaches have influenced thinking and practices in meeting and supporting service user needs. You will explore some key ideas that will give you a good understanding of how the mind develops, and the factors that influence development and behaviours. This knowledge is useful in developing your understanding of how these perspectives have formed the basis of different techniques to manage behaviours, and the therapeutic and other interventions used in the health and social care sector.
