Melissa Symonds
Senior Lecturer - Oncology
level:PO;top_up:false;international:false;foundation:false;clearing:false;full_time:false;part_time:false;start_month:November;location:Distance Learning
Perspectives on Illness and Care: Inequalities and Understanding the Service User Experience
Key Facts
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Duration
1 semester, part time
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Level
Post RegistrationPO
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Starting
November
NOV
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Part Time: £967 (20 credit module)
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Distance Learning
Updated 11/09/2026
Overview
The purpose of this module is to explore the personal, social, and cultural dimensions of illness and care from the perspective of service users, enabling students to develop deeper empathy, contextual awareness, and responsiveness in professional practice.
Highlights
- Module is delivered via convenient weekly online, real-time sessions, providing an accessible and flexible learning approach
- Sessions provide a structured opportunity for critical reflection on personal practice alongside engagement in continuing professional development (CPD) to support ongoing professional growth.
- Guided development of transferable digital presentation skills, enabling students to effectively communicate evidence, influence practice, and disseminate ideas for improvement.
- The module adopts an active, reflective, and practice oriented approach, enabling students to learn through engagement with real-world perspectives and to apply this learning in professional communication and care.
- Sessions typically incorporate interactive lectures and guided evidence-based discussions, in both large and smaller breakout groups along with independent reflective activities supported by guided self-study between sessions.
Entry Requirements
- Applicants must provide a copy of their Level 4 Nursing Diploma
- IELTS 6.0 overall, with a minimum of 5.5 in each band (or equivalent – (see our IELTS page)
- Be a UK Registered Healthcare professional
- Provide evidence of NMC registration (must have been registered for 12 months).
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What You'll Learn
This module centres on developing a deep, empathetic understanding of illness as a lived experience shaped by personal, social and cultural factors. It encourages students to critically explore how health inequalities, stigma, and marginalisation influence individuals’ access to and experiences of care.
Through engagement with service user narratives and understanding of the wider determinants of health, the module equips students to analyse the complex interplay between identity, relationships and care, while enhancing their ability to communicate effectively and respond to diverse needs in professional practice
- Examination of lived experience of illness, through narratives to understand how individuals make meaning of their health journeys
- Cultural beliefs, health literacy, and expectations of care
- Social determinants of health and health inequalities
- Stigma, discrimination, and the impact of marginalisation
- Communication styles and relational dynamics in care
- Working with families, carers, and communities through seeing the service user within their wider social world and developing the skills to work effectively and compassionately to support them
- Development of digital presentation skills and academic foundation academic skills.
- 3 November 2026 from 9:30am – 4:30pm
- 10 November 2026 from 9:30am – 4:30pm
- 17 November 2026 from 1pm – 3pm
- 24 November 2026 from 1pm – 3pm
- 1 December 2026 from 1pm – 3pm
- 8 December 2026 from 1pm – 3pm
It is suggested students be afforded the full day for study on each date.
Fees and Funding
2026/27 Tuition Fees
- Part-time: £967 per 20 credit module
Fees quoted relate to study in the Academic Year 2026/27 only and may be subject to inflationary increases in future years.
When assessing an applicant’s eligibility to pay home fees, we use the guidance provided by the UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA) which sets out the regulations that have been decided by the UK Government Department of Education.
Staff
