ERGOB1220 Inclusion, Belonging and Social Participation Course description

All people have a right to an active everyday life and to participate in society. Promoting this right is part of the occupational therapist's social responsibility. Public health emphasises the distribution of health challenges in the population based on causal connections and risk factors related to education, work and living conditions. Public health also emphasises elements affecting disease, illness, health and quality of life in the population at individual, group and society level, including the UN sustainability goals.

If people, for various reasons, do not have the opportunity to live an active and meaningful life with social connections, it can be detrimental to health. Social participation comprises inclusion and belonging at an individual, group and societal level.

In this course, students will work on a project that aims to develop an idea for an activity-based measure to promote inclusion and belonging for a vulnerable group in society.

Health management emphasises a fundamental understanding of how the health service is organised, of relevant legislation, strategies and goals for preventive and health promoting work in Norway.

The student must have been admitted to the study programme.

After completing the course, the student is expected to have achieved the following learning outcomes defined in terms of knowledge, skills and general competence:

Knowledge

The student

• can describe and explain factors with a bearing on illness, health and quality of life in groups or in the population as a whole
• can describe the epidemiological and demographical basis for public health work
• can describe the purpose, organisation and coordination of health and social care services, and is familiar with laws and acts of relevance to the services.
• can describe the UN Sustainable Development Goals and their significance to public health
• can describe the principles for user participation and resource orientation in local communities
• can assess and present inclusive and excluding factors that influence participation and sense of belonging in the big city
• can describe the three elements of evidence-based practice: research-based knowledge, experience-based knowledge, and the user’s needs
• can describe the levels in the knowledge pyramid, what characterises a scientific article (IMRAD), and can explain the difference between single studies and summarised research

Skills

The student

• can apply relevant legislation when arguing for equal services for different groups in a diverse society
• can apply occupational science and knowledge of human rights to argue for people's right to occupation and participation
• can plan and defend the use of activities to promote inclusion and belonging adapted to a user group in the big city
• can find, assess and refer to health promoting and preventive strategies, organisation and measures in light of the goals for sustainable development
• can reflect on ethical challenges related to public health work that aims to change behaviours
• can reflect on how and why the status of Sami as indigenous peoples affects the development of the health and social care services
• can develop precise questions and search for research-based knowledge
• can reflect on the cultural significance of activities for belonging in a local community

General competence

The student

• is capable of acting respectfully towards and building relationships with fellow students and with people in the city who are involved in the project work
• can critically assess health claims in the media

Work and teaching methods comprise digital learning resources, lectures, seminars, work and supervision in project groups and field studies in Oslo. On the basis of the field studies, the students will develop a project plan including a design of activity measures targeting towards a chosen user group. The students will work on the project plan throughout the course.

In order to be permitted to sit the exam, the following must have been approved:

• a minimum of 80 per cent attendance in scheduled teaching
• an individual reflection note that describes the group process and the student's own contribution to this, up to 350 words

Written project plan in groups of 4-6 students, up to 2,500 words

Resit exam: If the student fails the ordinary exam, he/she will be given one opportunity to submit a reworked version.

All aids are permitted, as long as the rules for source referencing are complied with.

Pass/fail

All answers are assessed by one examiner. An external examiner is used regularly, at a minimum of every third completion of the course. When selecting answers for external evaluation, a minimum of 10 percent of the answers shall be included, with no fewer than 5 answers. The external examiner’s assessment of the selected answers shall benefit all students.