PSY3110 Clinical Health Psychology

Staffing

Examiner: Jan Du Preez

Requisites

Pre-requisite: PSY3030

Rationale

This course explores the connection between how people think and behave and their physical and mental health. The connection between mind and body is bi-directional and multi-faceted. The ways in which people think or feel can benefit or harm their health in areas such as cardiovascular disease, chronic pain, coping with chronic disease, drug and alcohol use, fitness, or injury and disease prevention. People's physical health status can conversely affect their moods, attitudes to life, and both individual and social behaviour. This course will assist students to integrate their knowledge of psychology into the bio-psycho-social context of physical and psychological health, thus preparing them to acquire the practical and specialised knowledge and skills taught at postgraduate level.

Synopsis

This course will consider psychological factors involved in the area of health and disease from the theoretical perspectives of social psychology as they relate to behavioural change. It will discuss psychological research methods in their application to health. Students will examine health-related behaviours, such as coping with disease and pain, attitude to medical advice, smoking, diet, exercise, alcohol use, sexual practices, and injury prevention. Finally, future challenges facing psychology in its relationship to health will be outlined.

Objectives

Topics

Text and materials required to be purchased or accessed

Reference materials

Student workload expectations

Assessment details

Important assessment information

1. Attendance requirements:
   
   There are no attendance requirements for this course. However, it is the students' responsibility to study all material provided to them or required to be accessed by them to maximise their chance of meeting the objectives of the course and to be informed of course-related activities and administration.
   
   
2. Requirements for students to complete each assessment item satisfactorily:
   
   To satisfactorily complete an assessment item a student must achieve at least 50% of the marks available for the assessment item. Students do not have to satisfactorily complete each assessment item to be awarded a passing grade in this course. Refer to Statement 4 below for the requirements to receive a passing grade in this course.
   
   
3. Penalties for late submission of required work:
   
   Students should refer to the Assessment Procedure http://policy.usq.edu.au/documents.php?id=14749PL (point 4.2.4)
   
   
4. Requirements for student to be awarded a passing grade in the course:
   
   To be assured of receiving a passing grade a student must obtain at least 50% of the total weighted marks available for the course (i.e. the Primary Hurdle). Note that the Conceded Pass is not available in this course.
   
   Supplementary assessment may be offered where a student has undertaken all of the required summative assessment items but failed to achieve a passing Final Grade by 5% or less of the total weighted Marks.
   
   To be awarded a passing grade for a supplementary assessment item (if applicable), a student must achieve at least 50% of the available marks for the supplementary assessment item as per the Assessment Procedure http://policy.usq.edu.au/documents/14749PL (point 4.4.2).
   
   
5. Method used to combine assessment results to attain final grade:
   
   The final grades for students will be assigned based on the aggregate of the weighted marks obtained for each of the summative assessment items in the course.
   
   
6. Examination information:
   
   This will be an online examination. Students will be provided further instruction regarding the exam by their course examiner via StudyDesk. The examination date will be available via UConnect when the Alternate Assessment Schedule has been released.
   
   
7. Examination period when Deferred/Supplementary examinations will be held:
   
   Any Deferred examinations for this course will be held during the next examination period.
   
   
8. University Student Policies:
   
   Students should read the USQ policies: Definitions, Assessment and Student Academic Misconduct to avoid actions which might contravene University policies and practices. These policies can be found at http://policy.usq.edu.au.
   
   

Assessment notes

1. The due date for an assignment is the date by which a student must upload the assessment electronically. The onus is on the student to provide proof that they successfully uploaded the assessment, if requested by the Examiner.
   
   
2. APA style is the referencing system required in this course. Students should use the 6th or 7th edition of the APA Style Manual to format their assignments. The APA Style to be used is defined by the USQ Library's referencing guide. http://www.usq.edu.au/library/referencing
   
   
3. Reliable access to the internet is a requirement of this course as the course contains electronic submission elements. In order to avoid internet issues, on-campus students should upload their assignments electronically using the on-campus computer laboratories. External students who knowingly do not have reliable access to the internet should actively seek alternative internet access (e.g., Internet cafes, local libraries, or workplaces) for assessment submission. External students are able to use the on-campus student computer laboratories once access has been enabled. To be granted access, external students need to contact ICT and ask to have a student account enabled so that they can work on-campus. This needs to be requested at least one week before access is required
   
   

Other requirements

1. Students will require access to e-mail and have internet access to UConnect for this course.