Health and Mental Health: Practice and Policy

This unit investigates social work practice in health and mental health. In this unit you will explore the construction of health and wellbeing by engaging with various perspectives and knowledge bases. Through independent and collaborative learning, you will further develop your knowledge of mental health issues and skills for social work practice within diverse work settings. The approach in this unit is specific and practice oriented, providing knowledge about health and mental health policies, services, frameworks and interventions. In the tradition of critical social work practice, this unit recognises the layers of oppression often present for people who have been, or are at risk of marginalisation due to their experiences, and provides a basis for recognising and responding to these factors.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:

1. Investigate structural and intersectional factors that shape what is meant by good health and mental wellbeing;
2. Evaluate a range of policies and frameworks that influence the provision of and access to health and mental health services;
3. Analyse health and mental health issues from a variety of perspectives including practitioners, service-users, families, and care-givers; and
4. Integrate knowledge of social work practice frameworks and approaches that are consistent with contemporary, inter-disciplinary health and mental health service expectations.