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PSYC3881: Promoting Physical Health and Wellbeing

Please ensure you check the module availability box for each module outline, as not all modules will run in each academic year. Each module description relates to the year indicated in the module availability box, and this may change from year to year, due to, for example: changing staff expertise, disciplinary developments, the requirements of external bodies and partners, and student feedback.

Type Open
Level 3
Credits 20
Availability Available in 2025/2026
Module Cap
Location Durham
Department Psychology

Prerequisites

  • 60 credits from Level 2 Psychology

Corequisites

  • None

Excluded Combinations of Modules

  • None

Aims

  • How can we make people healthier and improve their wellbeing? This module aims to allow the student to contextualise and apply psychological concepts, theories, and research to promote peoples physical health and enhance their wellbeing.

Content

  • This module considers how we can make people healthier and improve their wellbeing. You will learn about psychological theories and approaches that have been applied to promoting physical health and preventing disease in humans. You will also explore current understandings of the nature of happiness and human flourishing and how they can be applied to enhance well-being in yourself and others.
  • The module will also cover theoretical frameworks that promote behaviour change, enhance self-regulation or modify motivational processes, such as desires or craving.
  • The module will also cover related conceptual and historical issues in psychology, such as the question of whether addiction concepts should be applied to the study of eating behaviours.

Learning Outcomes

Subject-specific Knowledge:

  • Detailed knowledge of key theories and research in psychology and application to the design of behaviour change interventions.
  • Detailed knowledge of psychological perspectives for understanding and enhancing happiness and human flourishing, including current theory and evidence.

Subject-specific Skills:

  • Ability to review critically and consolidate understanding of a coherent body of psychological knowledge and apply it appropriately.

Key Skills:

  • Good written communication skills
  • Good IT skills in word processing
  • Ability to work independently in scholarship and research within broad guidelines.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

  • All modes of teaching are designed to promote critical evaluation of evidence and arguments, to adopt different theoretical positions, and to interpret empirical work in terms of its application to promoting physical health and wellbeing.
  • Knowledge and understanding is developed through the lectures, within-lecture interactive elements such as discussions, guided pre-lecture preparation, audio-visual materials, and reading lists.
  • The use of within-lecture group discussions / small group work will ensure that students are exposed to a range of different theoretical positions and encouraged to understand their applications.
  • The summative assessments will provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate their abilities to appraise and critically evaluate empirical evidence and theoretical claims, and to apply them to relevant real-world issues.
  • Students' knowledge and understanding of the subject matter of the module as taught and from further reading and their analytical skills, will be summatively assessed through examination.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

ActivityNumberFrequencyDurationTotalMonitored
Lectures221 per week2 hours44 
Preparation and Reading156 
Total200 

Summative Assessment

Component: AssignmentComponent Weighting: 30%
ElementLength / DurationElement WeightingResit Opportunity
Essay1500 words100
Component: ExaminationComponent Weighting: 70%
ElementLength / DurationElement WeightingResit Opportunity
Online Examination2 hours100

Formative Assessment

None.

More information

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