Develop foundational skills in posing research questions appropriate for gathering evidence from the health promotion and public health fields.

Health Promotion and Public Health

The aims of this module are to enable students to:

1. Read published professional papers with confidence and to explore evidence from a range of different settings and experiences.

2. Understand the research process and develop the ability to compare, analyse and challenge evidence presented from a variety of sources.

3. Develop foundational skills in posing research questions appropriate for gathering evidence from the health promotion and public health fields.

1. Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:

1. Formulate a focused research question through the analysis of information gathered from policy/ research literature in health promotion and public health.

2. Devise an effective strategy to search one database for relevant research literature.

3. Provide a clear justification for the inclusion and exclusion of specific research designs to provide evidence of effectiveness or experience of a specific health promotion intervention.

2. Content of the Module

· The nature and policy influence of evidence on health promotion and public health

· Types of evidence

· Research paradigms, methodology and methods

· Integration of evidence with clients/patients/healthcare users values and expectations

· Ethical issues in research

· Identification and formulation of an answerable research question

· Finding evidence and sources of evidence

· Systematic approaches to identifying and retrieving research literature

· Critical appraisal of evidence: its validity, reliability, strengths and weaknesses

· Assessment of the relevance and significance of appraised evidence to health promotion

· Information technology: effective use of bibliographic databases

· Problem solving: finding answers (evidence) to questions

· Identifying inclusion and exclusion criteria for the critical review of research evidence for the effectiveness or meaningfulness of a specific problem/issue in health promotion

· Personal and professional development: the process of reflection on academic skills and using evidence to update and validate skills for life-long learning.

3. Learning Resources

The University Library

The University Library (www.uwl.ac.uk/library) offers students and academics resources and professional expertise to enable the effective discovery and use of information, supporting teaching, learning and research across the institution. We provide a wide print, electronic and audiovisual resources, and offer training and guidance on how to find, select and access these resources efficiently.

Locations

The Library currently operates in three locations:

The Ealing Site Library is at St Mary’s Road Campus
The Reading Site Library is on floor 9 of Fountain House

In the libraries there are areas to cater for different learning styles, including group study, individual quiet study, silent study, as well as a large number of PC workstations. Wi-Fi is available at all sites. UWL ID cards automatically make students members of the Library. Self-service machines and Help Zones are available at all sites.

The majority of the Library’s print resources for nursing, midwifery and healthcare are available at Paragon House and Fountain House.