Changing Behaviour, Promoting Health
| Code | School | Level | Credits | Semesters |
| BIOS3043 | Biosciences | 3 | 20 | Full Year UK |
- Code
- BIOS3043
- School
- Biosciences
- Level
- 3
- Credits
- 20
- Semesters
- Full Year UK
Summary
Food is only nutritious when it is actually consumed. This module introduces the concept that health outcomes can be improved through the modification of health behaviour. In the first semester, students will explore the psychological influences which determine dietary behaviour (such as the mind, learned response, social cognition, and motivation) and the sociological factors which dictate food choice beyond individual control (such as culture, health inequalities, food symbolism and socioeconomic limitations). Models of behaviour change will then combine the agentic and structural factors, as students explore the potential for changing behaviour in professional practice. In the second semester, students will apply concepts from behavioural science to the wider public health agenda, through the study of health promotion. Both individual and collective approaches to promoting health will be explored, with a particular focus on designing and evaluating evidence-based interventions. Students then work in multidisciplinary teams to develop a novel behaviour change or health promotion programme, to solve a public health nutrition challenge of their choice. Though the ideas explored are scientific and evidence-based, the study of social and behavioural science requires rigorous academic discussion and debate. Students will be required to scrutinise and challenge difficult questions, for which there is often no right or wrong answer. This is a highly interactive module, in which students are expected to actively contribute to class discussion and challenge their own preconceptions regarding human behaviour and society.
Target Students
Only available for BSc/MSci Nutrition, Master of Nutrition & Dietetics, BSc Food Science and BSc Food Science and Nutrition students.
Classes
- One 3-hour lecture each week for 9 weeks
- One 3-hour lecture each week for 10 weeks
Assessment
- 100% Coursework 1: Intervention Challenge
Assessed in both autumn & spring semest
Educational Aims
To consider professional and lay concepts of health and the contribution of behaviour to the burden of disease.To provide an introduction to fundamental concepts from individual differences, cognitive, social and developmental psychology and their contribution to the understanding of health behaviour.To provide an introduction to fundamental concepts from sociology (including social divisions, social inequalities, social structures and social practices) and their contribution to the understanding of health behaviour.To provide a sound theoretical underpinning for the process of changing health behaviour, and a critique of the evidence-base.To describe and critique health promotion and health education approaches, and to make some comparisons with programmes from other countries.Learning Outcomes
At the end of the module and with further reading students should be able:
1.To compare different concepts of health and consider the implications of these when tackling major health challenges.
2.To explain fundamental concepts of health behaviour from psychological and sociological perspectives.
3. To apply theories from sociology, psychology, public health, and health promotion to the process of changing health behaviour.
4. To design and evaluate a behaviour change intervention citing appropriate theory and evidence, employing a realistic project plan and appropriate evaluation tool.
5. To critical appraise behaviour change theories and evidence, work collaboratively with peer and self-direct their own learning.