University of Essex

HS186-5-SU-CO:
Advocacy, Activism and Resistance

The details

Year: 2023/24

Department: Health and Social Care (School of)

Campus: Colchester Campus

Term: Summer

Level: Undergraduate: Level 5

Status: Current

Start date: Monday 22 April 2024

End date: Friday 28 June 2024

Credits: 20

Last updated: 08 March 2023

Requisites for this module

Pre-requisites: (none)

Co-requisites: (none)

Pre and / or co-requisites: (none)

Prohibited modules: (none)

Key module (requisite for): (none)

Key module for

BSC B740 Nursing (Adult),
BSC B740CO Nursing (Adult),
BSC B742 Nursing (Adult) (Including Year Abroad),
BSC B742CO Nursing (Adult) (Including Year Abroad),
BSC B760 Nursing (Mental Health),
BSC B760CO Nursing (Mental Health),
BSC B762 Nursing (Mental Health) (Including Year Abroad),
BSC B762CO Nursing (Mental Health) (Including Year Abroad),
MSCIB770 Nursing (Dual Award in Adult and Mental Health),
MSCIB770SO Nursing (Dual Award in Adult and Mental Health)

Module description

Advocacy is a central tenet of the philosophies and practices of nursing. Drawing on the principles of social justice, this module encourages students to critically consider what it means to be an advocate for people who are seeking to access and use health services, and to explore strategies to constructively and actively resist those practices and policies that have detrimental consequences for groups of people.

Module aims

This module enables student to work in partnership with citizens and service users to appraise, challenge and, where appropriate, resist the political, professional and organisational assumptions and practices that can discriminate against, perpetuate inequalities in, and limit access to services and care for communities, groups and individuals.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of this module, students will be expected to be able to:

Critically analyse the consequences of discrimination and proactively challenge these when observed or reported.

Critically analyse approaches to advocacy and proactively work with others (service users, families. carers, organisations and other professionals) to ensure equitable access to healthcare and other services.

Interpret the consequences of legislation, public policy and health and social care policies based on people’s experiences and identify mechanisms that can be used to challenge public policy and influence policy change.

Demonstrate the development of political awareness and courageous, compassionate person-centred activism and solidarity with people and colleagues.

Demonstrate resilience and emotional intelligence and be capable of explaining the rationale that influences their judgments and decisions.

Module information

Principles of social justice
* Principles of intersectionality
* Participation models in health & social care
* Models of advocacy
* Practical approaches to supporting people to raise concerns and negotiate change
* Working with and supporting people and their families in partnership to develop agreed goals
* Critical analysis of the principles of health economics and resource allocation in health care organisations
* Models of disability and disability rights movements
* Identifying vulnerable groups in society and consider the barriers to their access to health and social care
* Tension between ethical and professional positions and conscientious objections
* Impact on the delivery of care of hierarchy, interprofessional rivalry and power differentials
* Understanding and working with moral distress
* Critical analysis of power relationships in health and social care

Learning and teaching methods

Lectures and flipped classroom Students will engage in interactive lectures that introduce and critically question the principles and concepts associated with social justice, advocacy delivered by keynote speakers, researchers and people with lived experience. Between taught days, flipped classroom and technology-enhanced learning activities will introduce digital stories that illuminate the experiences and perspectives of marginalised groups as they seek to access health and social care and other public services. Workshops People with lived experiences of using services will be supported to facilitate illustrative workshops. Opportunities to create lasting links with third sector and user-led organisations (ULOs) will be available. Students will be supported and encouraged to keep a reflective personal log of their experiences and observations during this module (non-assessed – voluntary).

Bibliography

Shakespeare, T. (2014) Disability Rights and Wrongs Revisited. 2nd edition. New York, NY: Routledge. Available at: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/universityofessex-ebooks/detail.action?docID=1524194.
Charlton, J.I. (1998) Nothing About Us Without Us. Berkerley, CA: University of California Press. Available at: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/universityofessex-ebooks/detail.action?docID=224299.
Abbasinia, M., Ahmadi, F. and Kazemnejad, A. (2020) ‘Patient advocacy in nursing: A concept analysis’, Nursing Ethics, 27(1), pp. 141–151. Available at: https://journals-sagepub-com.uniessexlib.idm.oclc.org/doi/full/10.1177/0969733019832950.
Smith, L. and Lee, S. (2017) ‘Patient advocacy: breaking down barriers and challenging decisions’, Nursing Times, 113(1), pp. 54–56. Available at: https://search-ebscohost-com.uniessexlib.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=cul&AN=162686650&site=ehost-live&authtype=sso&custid=s9814295.
Salvage, J. and White, J. (2019) ‘Nursing leadership and health policy: everybody’s business’, International Nursing Review, 66(2), pp. 147–150. Available at: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1111/inr.12523.
Mahlin, M. (2010) ‘Individual patient advocacy, collective responsibility and activism within professional nursing associations’, Nursing Ethics, 17(2), pp. 247–254. Available at: https://doi-org.uniessexlib.idm.oclc.org/10.1177/0969733009351949.
Morley, G. and Jackson, J. (2017) ‘Is the art of nursing dying? A call for political action’, Journal of Research in Nursing, 22(5), pp. 342–351. Available at: https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/ws/files/192257391/Full_text_PDF_accepted_author_manuscript_.pdf.

The above list is indicative of the essential reading for the course.
The library makes provision for all reading list items, with digital provision where possible, and these resources are shared between students.
Further reading can be obtained from this module's reading list.

Assessment items, weightings and deadlines

Coursework / exam	Description	Deadline	Coursework weighting
Coursework	Adult Nursing (Colchester): Summative assignment		100%

Exam format definitions

Remote, open book: Your exam will take place remotely via an online learning platform. You may refer to any physical or electronic materials during the exam.
In-person, open book: Your exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer to any physical materials such as paper study notes or a textbook during the exam. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
In-person, open book (restricted): The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer only to specific physical materials such as a named textbook during the exam. Permitted materials will be specified by your department. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
In-person, closed book: The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may not refer to any physical materials or electronic devices during the exam. There may be times when a paper dictionary, for example, may be permitted in an otherwise closed book exam. Any exceptions will be specified by your department.

Your department will provide further guidance before your exams.

Overall assessment

Coursework	Exam
100%	0%

Reassessment

Coursework	Exam
100%	0%

Module supervisor and teaching staff

Supervisor: Mr Adrian Thackeray, email: athack@essex.ac.uk.

Teaching staff:

Contact details: colchesternursingqueries@essex.ac.uk

Availability

Available to incoming Essex Abroad / Exchange students: No

Available to Outside Option: No

Available to Audit: No

External examiner

Name: Dr Philip Charles Clissett

Institution: University of Nottingham

Academic role: Assistant Professor in Adult Nursing

Name: Mr Donald George Hamilton

Institution: London South Bank University

Academic role: Senior Lecturer

Resources

Teaching materials: Available via Moodle

Lecture recording: No lecture recording information available for this module.

Further information

Department website: Health and Social Care (School of)

Disclaimer: The University makes every effort to ensure that this information on its Module Directory is accurate and up-to-date. Exceptionally it can be necessary to make changes, for example to programmes, modules, facilities or fees. Examples of such reasons might include a change of law or regulatory requirements, industrial action, lack of demand, departure of key personnel, change in government policy, or withdrawal/reduction of funding. Changes to modules may for example consist of variations to the content and method of delivery or assessment of modules and other services, to discontinue modules and other services and to merge or combine modules. The University will endeavour to keep such changes to a minimum, and will also keep students informed appropriately by updating our programme specifications and module directory.

The full Procedures, Rules and Regulations of the University governing how it operates are set out in the Charter, Statutes and Ordinances and in the University Regulations, Policy and Procedures.

Module Directory

HS186-5-SU-CO:Advocacy, Activism and Resistance