Edexcel Level 3 BTEC Nationals in Health and Social Care

UNIT 29: APPLIED PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES FOR HEALTH AND SOCIAL CAREFor P3, learners need to provide evidence that they understand four pieces of keyresearch into the role of attachment in behaviour acquisition. Case studies could beused as the basis of evidence for this, with learners extending their evidence for M2,for which they have to explain the role of the four pieces of key research. D1requires learners to evaluate the contributions of the pieces of research, suggestingstrengths and weaknesses, and their overall contribution to current understanding.For P4, learners need to choose two specific behaviours and describe the role of theprincipal psychological perspectives in understanding these behaviours. Evidencehere may well link to that provided for other units within the programme, such asUnit 25: Coping with Change in a Health and Social Care Context or Unit 27: Dealingwith Challenging Behaviour, but learners need to be encouraged to present theevidence from a more psychological viewpoint, and extend it. The two behavioursmay well be linked, and learners should be encouraged to choose behaviours thatallow them to apply all the principal psychological perspectives. More detail isrequired for M3, with learners suggesting possible reasons or explanations for thechosen behaviours and explaining the roles of the principal psychological perspectivesin understanding them.For P5, learners need to extend this and use examples to explain the contribution ofpsychological perspectives to the management and treatment of the two chosenspecific behaviours. Learners should draw upon as many perspectives as possible,within the constraints of their choice of behaviours.For P6, a piece of writing is needed in which learners describe the contribution ofpsychological perspectives to the promotion of good practice in residential careservices. If appropriate, learners should be encouraged to draw upon their workplacement experiences for examples here, relating these examples to their classroomstudies, including the work of theorists. Case studies could be used to supplementsuch evidence.For D2, a significant piece of work is required. Learners need to evaluate thecontribution of psychological perspectives to the health and social care sectors,looking at strengths and weaknesses and linking theory to practice. This encompassesall the perspectives and the relative roles of each in terms of their contribution tohealth and social care. It will include the understanding of behaviour — in particularin relation to examples of specific behaviours and how they may be managed/treated. It could include consideration of the strengths and limitations of differenttreatments or therapies and discussion about the type of setting and specificbehaviour they could best help resolve. It will also include the provision of health andsocial care services, in particular residential care. Learners will need to relate theoryto practice and provide examples of the application of different psychologicalapproaches to care work. These examples should preferably be from learners’ ownwork placement experiences, though these could be supplemented by the use of casestudies. For example, learners could explain how the introduction of a humanisticapproach could improve the experiences of service users in a particular setting, orthe role of cognitive behaviour therapy in the treatment of mental illness. Learnersalso need to show that they understand the limitations of the different psychologicalapproaches. If successfully completed, this piece of work should also include therequired evidence for P2, P4, P5, P6 and M3, as well as potentially P3, M2 and D1.BN018467 – Specification – Edexcel Level 3 BTEC Nationals in Health and Social Care– Issue 1 – February 2007 © Edexcel Limited 2007377