Learning objectives
At the end of the course, the student should have knowledge and skills related to the analysis of the social dimension which is implicated in both health and care processes. The student should also be able to:
1) understand and address the questions and challenges posed by the promotion of individual and collective health and well-being;
2) use and apply to the professional reality the knowledge derived from the social psychology of health;
3) develop autonomy of judgment and the critical sense of the aspects faced during the course;
4) expose and discuss critically the main theoretical models used in the study of social health processes
5) ability to critically analyze research findings in the field of health psychology
6) ability to adequately work with different professions which are involved in the care processes being able to maintain professional autonomy, engaging in interprofessional collaboration and mutual trust and respect.
Prerequisites
Basics of social psychology and the psychology of groups.
English: ability to read and understand scientific articles
Course unit content
The course will illustrate theoretical orientations, research paradigms and intervention strategies derived from both social and health psychology. Through the critical study of the research and theoretical paradigms on the social dimension of the processes which are related to individual and collective health, students will deal with, in addition to methodological and epistemological aspects, also issues related to stigma, stress and coping strategies, risk and the perception of risk and their connection with health behaviors, as well as issues about Interprofessional relations that characterize the modern approaches to health.
Full programme
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Bibliography
Essential books are:
Ricci Bitti, P.E., & Gremigni, P. (2013, a cura di). Psicologia della salute. Morelli teorici e contesti applicativi. Roma: Carocci [esclusi capitoli 13, 14, 15, 16]
Haslam, C. Jetten, J. Cruwys, T, Dingle, G.A., Haslam, A (2018). The new psychology of Health. Unlocking the social cure. Routledge: London and New York [Solo Capitoli 1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Further chapters and national and international research articles which will be defined during the lessons, and on the course page on the Elly platform.
Teaching methods
The course includes lectures, seminars held by experts (where possible), and individual detailed study by students, group work, reports and class discussions.
Lectures will be held on-site in compliance with safety standards, provided that further instructions on the ongoing health emergency are not implemented. Supporting material will be available on the specific, student-reserved platform (Elly) and may be include slide presentations, audio-video aids or video-recording of the lectures.
Assessment methods and criteria
Final examination will be both written and oral. The written examination is aimed at assessing the student’s theoretical knowledge, while the oral examination is aimed at the assessment of the autonomy of judgment, the critical sense and the ability to tackle the problems presented during the course.
Written examination is composed by multiple choice questions with four choices with one correct answer each. The written exam is passed if the student correctly answers 60% of the questions. This is understood as the presence of a minimum preparation by the student and, therefore, does not produce a numerical evaluation.
The evaluation of the oral exam follows these criteria:
1) Content skills, i.e. how much the candidate addresses the topic in detail: from 0 to 8 points
2) Expository skills, i.e. how precise is the language used by the candidate to expose the concepts: from 0 to 8 points
3) Argumentative skills, i.e. how consistent and logical is the concatenation of the concepts exposed: from 0 to 8 points
4) Dialogic skills, i.e. how much the candidate is able to discuss with the teacher about the contents of the exam: from 0 to 7 points.
The final mark will be given by the sum of the points obtained for each of the previously indicated criteria.
Other information
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