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PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
Awarding Body: Staffordshire University
Teaching Institution: Staffordshire University
Accreditation by Professional/
Statutory Body: Not Applicable
Final Awards: Not Applicable
Programme Title:
Certificate of Credit in Supporting self care (level 3)
Certificate of Credit in Supporting self care (level M)
UCAS Codes: Not Applicable
QAA Subject Benchmarking Group: Not Applicable
Date of Production: May 2006
Staffordshire University CPD Certificate
Contents
1. Programme aims
2. Programme outcomes
3. Teaching, learning and assessment strategies
4. Programme structure and requirements
5. Criteria for admission to the programme
6. Information on assessment regulations
1 Programme Aims
Continuous Professional Development (CPD) is: the systematic maintenance, improvement and broadening of knowledge and skill, and the development of personal qualities necessary for the execution of professional and technical duties throughout your working life.
The definition was created by the Construction Industry Council in 1986 and has been adopted as a base definition of CPD by 55% of professional associations. It is just as relevant to the NHS as other sectors.
The Staffordshire University Certificate of Credit in Supporting self care has been designed to provide a flexible framework that will enable participants to receive accreditation for developing professional knowledge and skills in order to meet the growing imperative placed upon all practitioners to maintain professional competence.
Initially, the CPD programme in Supporting self care has been launched with a series of targeted core workshops that can be delivered as in-house learning topic-based sessions for primary care teams in general medical practices led by a University approved facilitator (see Section 4).
2 Programme Outcomes
The learning outcomes for the Staffordshire University CPD Certificate of Credit (15 credits) in supporting self care at U/G Level 3 are:
1.Review, critically analyse and evaluate evidence of good practice in the promotion and support of self care by patients and the public
2. Demonstrate a systematic understanding and detailed knowledge and skills relating to supporting and promoting self care by patients and the public
3.Apply systematic knowledge and understanding to critically develop your self care action plan for a specified condition
4. Critically appraise your methods of communicating approaches to self care to patients and the public in your workforce
The learning outcomes for the Staffordshire University CPD Certificate of Credit (15 credits) in Supporting self care at M Level are:
1. Demonstrate a critical awareness of and critically evaluate contemporary issues in the promotion and support of self care by patients and the public
2. Demonstrate a systematic understanding of the knowledge and skills necessary to support and promote self care by patients and the public, their implications for the practice, patients and the public, and your responsibility to ensure the safety of patients
3. Demonstrate your ability and personal responsibility to incorporate new knowledge and understanding in the support of self care by developing your self care action plan for a specified condition through, initiative, originality and self awareness
4.Illustrate methods of communicating best practice in promoting and supporting self care in your workplace to patients and colleagues.
3 Teaching, learning and assessment strategies
The Staffordshire University Certificate of Credit in Supporting self care acknowledges the broad range of CPD activity available to the NHS. In approving and accrediting CPD activity we move from a narrow focus of conventional classroom based short courses to a more creative and innovative approach that acknowledges the broad base of acknowledged CPD activities within the NHS workplace and beyond.
The best and most cost-effective outcomes for patients in health care are achieved when everyone involved works together, learns together, engages in clinical audit of outcomes together, and generates innovation to ensure progress in practice and service. Team working leads to better detection, treatment, follow-up and outcomes for patients. To explore how health care teams might work together to evolve and maintain a practice team culture of self care, you can look at problem issues around supporting self care.
Further details of the teaching and learning strategies employed in the programme are detailed in sections 3.1 to 3.3 of the Student Handbook. The teaching and learning strategies are supported by a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). Comprehensive support material is available at the website www.wipp.nhs.uk. Students registered for the Staffordshire University Certificate of Credit in Supporting self care are supported by the module tutor with email contact (in addition to optional 3 x bimonthly tutorial meetings).
3.1 Learning Strategy
Where is student now?
To take stock and review their personal development needs through a structured personal development review approach internal to their NHS situation and application of the ensuing personal development plan (their own NHS template or one adapted from course example – see Student Handbook). This will identify and plan to address the gaps in their skills, knowledge and experience.
Where do they need to get to?
Having identified their individual development needs in the workshop sessions, they will interrogate the portfolio of CPD activities (see Section 4.4) to identify the appropriate activities that will meet their development needs in an organisational context – applying best practice in supporting self care.
How do we/they know they’ve got there?
They undertake a reflective learning assignment in order to demonstrate knowledge transfer, that is, that they have applied what they have learnt in practice to improve patient self care.
3.2 Work-based assessment for students registered for the Staffordshire University CPD Certificate of Credit in supporting self care
Completion of the level 3 version of the module will enable students to demonstrate a systematic understanding of knowledge and skills used in supporting and promoting self care by patients and the public. Students will be able to review, critically analyse and evaluate good practice in the promotion of self care by patients and the public, and will be able to communicate effectively their approaches to self care to patients and the public in their workplace.
This will be assessed by a work-based assessment for the University Certificate of Credit in Supporting self care (15 credits at U/G level 3) comprising:
- An individual reflective case study (around 3500 words) that complements the personal development plan and meets the criteria for level 3 work.
Students completing the M level version of the module will be enabled to demonstrate a systematic understanding of the knowledge and skills necessary to support and promote self care by patients and the public, implications for practice and practitioner’s individual responsibility to ensure the safety of the patients. Students will further be able to demonstrate a critical awareness and critically evaluate contemporary issues in the promotion and support for self care by patients. Students studying at this level will demonstrate ability and personal responsibility in incorporating new knowledge and understanding by the development of an action plan for the self care of a specified condition and will also illustrate methods of communicating best practice in promoting and supporting self care in their workplace to patients and clients.
This will be assessed by a work-based assessment for the University Certificate of Credit in Supporting self care (15 credits at M level), comprising:
- An individual written report (around 3500 words) that contains a personal action plan as an appendix to the written report produced as a direct result of the self care Team Action Learning Set. The report will complement the action plan and meet the criteria for Masters level work.
4 Programme structure and requirements
The objectives of the CPD programme are related to improving performance and the quality of patient care, enhancing career prospects, increasing the capacity for learning, encouraging participation and commitment to lifelong learning and being adaptable to, and prepared for, change in the NHS. Each CPD activity is organised in ‘Byte’ size workshops.
The award structure illustrated in the diagram in section 4.1 describes the routes for obtaining the Certificate of Credit in Supporting self care. There are 3 core workshops which are delivered in the NHS workplace by an approved NHS facilitator. All students must attend and complete these workshops and submit generic templates that describe the outcomes of these workshops. Please see student handbook for example of PDP template.
Students can either opt to gain CPD approval for their learning by going on to complete a total of 10 workshops (see Participant Handbook for further details of this option) or can register for the Certificate of Credit In Supporting self care which is offered as 15 credit awards at level 3 or level M. Registration is dependent on prior qualifications/experience.
If participants in the CPD workshops who receive a certificate of participation or nontransferable certification of University CPD approved activities (see Participant Handbook for details) decide retrospectively to register for a University Certificate of Credit in Supporting self care (level 3 or level M), they may do so, so long as they register within 6 months of completing up to a maximum of three half day workshops (9 hours approved CPD activity).
The NHS facilitator of problem-based learning for all health care teams who opt to organise their own in-house learning sessions in their workplaces, must attend and satisfactorily complete a University based training workshops or submit evidence of their competence. Satisfactorily complete, means conduct a team exercise using a problem-based learning exercise demonstrating facilitation skills, as verified by self or peer and tutor review and feedback.
The CPD Framework has been developed to ensure the flexibility demanded from Continuous Professional Development programmes. Each CPD activity is organised in ‘Byte’ size events. Each Byte size event has been approved as a CPD activity by the Faculty of Health & Sciences Learning, Teaching and Quality Enhancement Committee.
The Staffordshire University Certificate of Credit in Supporting self care is recognised as a 15 credit module (at U/G level 3 and at M level). Successful students may be able to carry forward these credits to other undergraduate or postgraduate programmes by following the University’s Accreditation of Prior (Experiential) Learning (AP(E)L) process - -depending upon specific award regulations
The Structure has been designed to provide flexibility and allows the CPD programme to be tailored to both the NHS organisation and the individual’s development needs.
4.1 CPD Award Structure
Diagram 1
University Certificate of Credit in Supporting self care
4.2 Personal Development Review (PDR)
The PDR as part of the annual appraisal in the NHS produces the PDP which is the basis of your CPD Plan and whilst that appraisal process will not be formally assessed in this award, underpins the CPD Programme. This is a specific opportunity to undertake a selfassessment to identify your development goals. These are not set in stone, but rather a basis on which to look for and take up relevant CPD activities from the approved University portfolio of supporting self care modules or other resources. The CPD programme has been launched with a series of training workshops in the workplace, and you can extend the CPD activities to include a range of modes and materials available for development activity in your own workplace so long as you have a facilitator who has been trained and approved by the University to deliver the programme. Whilst the CPD Plan can be tailored to your own personal training and development needs it is also designed through the approved University portfolio to focus on the identified training and development needs for your practice organisation.
4.3 Workshops
Integral to the CPD activity is the University Supporting self care programme. Each of the 12 workshops has been approved as a CPD activity.
Each Topic based workshop has been designed to be practical and relevant to your work and the skills, knowledge and experience gained can be applied immediately in your practice. Refer to student handbook appendix 1 for details of the 12 workshops.
4.4 CPD half-day problem-based learning workshops for 12 Topics relevant to supporting self care
Please see Student handbook for more information about the expected outcomes for the 3 core training workshops.
5 Criteria for admission to the programme
The CPD programme is intended to be inclusive to all staff within the health care setting and therefore staff can choose appropriate CPD activity for their level and role within the practice team. This will include doctors, nurses, pharmacists, practice and other primary care managers, allied health professionals, administrative and clerical staff and others. Students registering for the University Certificate of Credit in Supporting self care (at Level 3 or M) will have appropriate qualifications/experience.
6. Information on assessment regulations
Information regarding all University regulations including assessment can be found in the Student Handbook or the award regulations detailed on the Staffordshire University website.