ERIC Number: EJ1206049
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2018
Pages: 11
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-2331-186X
EISSN: N/A
Mapping Health and Work Provision in Healthcare and Business Degrees in England
Farrar, Peter; Zaidi, Ali
Cogent Education, v5 n1 Article 1496626 2018
Ill-health currently keeps a quarter of the UK's working age population out of employment, at a significant social and economic cost to both those individuals and the country as a whole. It is, therefore, essential that healthcare and business professionals have sufficient skills to manage the physical and mental health of their teams and support individuals to re-enter employment. This study looked at the extent to which six core health and work topics were included in the curricula and assessment of healthcare and business degree courses. It included a quantitative review of 221 healthcare and business degree programmes in England. This was supplemented with secondary analysis of existing literature on health and work education and qualitative interviews with course leaders in 38 universities. The study found that across all healthcare and business courses, there was relatively little explicit coverage of health and work topics in course curricula or assessment. When health and work was covered, most courses only included one health and work topic, and in some cases only a small component of a topic (such as managing stress, within the broader topic of self-care and resilience). The main reported reasons for this were a lack of space within curricula, little perceived demand from students and a view that some skills are best acquired in the workplace. There is a compelling need to promote the importance of work and health learning to both course leaders and students. Engaging regulatory bodies, whose degree standards play a major role in shaping course content, would also encourage Higher Education Institutions to prioritise health and work topics. There is also a need to conduct research with students to understand in more depth the health and work skills they acquire from their courses.
Descriptors: Business Administration Education, Foreign Countries, Health Services, Health Personnel, Physical Health, Mental Health, Employment, Work Environment, Course Content, Teacher Attitudes, College Faculty, Employee Absenteeism, Social Work, Graduate Students, Undergraduate Students, Course Descriptions, Medical Education, Dental Schools, Allied Health Occupations Education, Nursing Education, Counselor Training, Consciousness Raising, Health Promotion
Cogent OA. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: United Kingdom (England)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A