Ethics, Values and Equalities in Mental Health (20 credits)

This module explores issues in relation to ethics, values, and equalities in the field of mental health.  It offers the opportunity to consider some of the issues that are vital for the development of a more critical approach to mental health.

Learning outcomes are based on gaining a critical understanding of ethical issues in relation to mental health, mental illness, and mental disorder, and the evaluation of power, authority, discrimination, and social perspectives within mental health service delivery.

The module forms part of the Approved Mental Health Practice PGDip and is the first module that learners enrolled on that course take. However, it can also be taken as a standalone module and is open to a range of practitioners working in the mental health field.

During the module learners will participate in taught sessions, ethical debates, small group work and larger group discussions.

 

Content and delivery

The module is taught over five days across a two-week period, usually in January each year. During the module, learners will participate in taught sessions, small group work, and larger group discussions.

Learners are supported to reflect critically upon the contested nature of mental health and the debates in relation to ethics and values that this engenders.  

They are encouraged to interrogate contemporary mental health practice through the lenses of power, inequality, stigma, values and ethics.

Service user perspectives are key in developing new understandings which will prompt learners to consolidate and question their existing knowledge.

 

Assessment

Learners will produce a poster and deliver a five-minute poster presentation followed by a 20-minute question and answer session.  

The poster presentation will focus on an area of interest related to an ethical dilemma in the field of contemporary mental health.  

Learners must draw on concepts discussed on the module to explore their chosen area of interest by means of a visual presentation relating to ethics, values, and equality.

How to apply

For local authority and NHS applicants and those employed by private, voluntary or independent organisations: please contact your training department and complete an application form.

For independent applicants: please contact moduleadmissions@brighton.ac.uk to request an application form.