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School for Cross-faculty Studies Liberal Arts

IP381 Health and Wellbeing Across the Life Course

Module Overview

The social determinants of health describe how elements of our lives, social factors and experiences help shape our health and well-being. The purpose of this module is to enable students to understand the relationships between our social lives (in family, work, education and community) and our health and well-being through epidemiological, sociological and demographic lenses. Moreover, while many people believe, or have feelings, regarding how our bodies and minds are shaped by our life experiences, it is important to be able to study the topic objectively and scientifically and in interdisciplinary ways.

In particular, this module will enable students to examine social predictors of health and well-being across the life-course. Students will first gain a deeper understanding of the meaning and measurement of health and wellbeing as well as an introduction to the concept of the life-course as it pertains to health and development. The course then moves through different determinants of health, such as work, class and income, families and caring and more across different integral points in the human life-course.

Module aims:

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

  • compare and contrast different theories and definitions of health and well-being and specifically in the context of life-course studies.
  • demonstrate an understanding of many of the social determinants of health.
  • evaluate evidence of social determinants of health from research literature and data.
  • understand and interpret statistical measures, data sources and scientific approaches to the study of social determinants of health.
  • apply appropriate research methods and skills in the delivery of assessments.
  • apply principles and applications of research project design, management, and evaluation.

  • communicate research findings.

  • mobilise quantitative and qualitative methods of analysis and interpretation.

  • understand strengths and limitations in research.

This is a Year 2 and Year 3 Liberal Arts optional core module.

Available to Year 2 and Year 3 students in the School for Cross-Faculty Studies, and Year 2 and Year 3 external students.

Module Leader: Dr Lauren Bird

15 CATS

Term 2 | 10 weeks

2 hour workshop per week

Please note: Module availability and staffing may change year on year depending on availability and other operational factors. The School for Cross-Faculty Studies makes no guarantee that any modules will be offered in a particular year, or that they will necessarily be taught by the staff listed on these pages

Example topics:

Please note that these topics are purely indicative, and that actual module content may differ.

  • What is health and well-being? How do we define, describe, and measure and how might it matter when definitions vary?
  • Social determinants of health framework and life-course studies
  • Social class, employment and working conditions
  • Social connections: families and children (including education, living conditions and diet and exercise)
  • Social connections: relationships and sex, friendship and community
  • Social connections: caring and contact and the end of the life course (including social contact, loneliness, and caring as work)
  • Living longer lives? Emerging science and demography at the edge of life
  • Treating health through a social lens, productive policies for the future
Assessments:

There are three assessments on this module:

Assessment Weighting Description
Understanding Evidence 40% critical engagement with scientific evidence
Poster Presentation 45% academic poster on social determinants of health
Abstract 15% abstract for the social determinants of health poster

Illustrative reading list:

  • Alasuutari, Pertti, Leonard Bickman, and Julia Brannen. 2008. The SAGE Handbook of Social Research Methods. London and Los Angeles, CA: SAGE Publications.

  • Arber, Sara, and Virpi Timonen, eds. 2012. Contemporary Grandparenting: Changing Family Relationships in Global Contexts. Bristol: Bristol University Press.

  • Bonner, Adrian, ed. 2018. Social Determinants of Health: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Social Inequality and Wellbeing. Bristol: Policy Press.

  • Lancet, The. 2020. "Global Health: Time for Radical Change?" The Lancet (British Edition) 396 (10258): 1129-1129.

  • Lewis-Beck, Michael S., Alan Bryman, and Tim Futing Liao. 2003. The SAGE Encyclopedia of Social Science Research Methods. Thousand Oaks, CA, and London: SAGE Publications.

  • Marmot, Michael. 2020. Health Equity in England: The Marmot Review Ten Years on. London: Institute of Health Equity.

  • Park, Alison, John Curtice, Katarina Thomson, Miranda Phillips, Elizabeth Clery, and Sarah Butt, eds. 2010. British Social Attitudes: The 26th Report. London: SAGE Publications.

  • Perry-Jenkins, Maureen. 2022. Work Matters: How Parents' Jobs Shape Children's Well-being. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

  • Vollset, Stein Emil, Emily Goren, Chun-Wei Yuan, Jackie Cao, Amanda E. Smith, Thomas Hsiao, and Catherine Bisignano, et al. 2020. "Fertility, Mortality, Migration, and Population Scenarios for 195 Countries and Territories from 2017 to 2100: A Forecasting Analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study." The Lancet (British Edition) 396 (10258): 1285-1306.

  • Wadsworth, Michael E. J., and Bynner, John, eds. 2011. A Companion to Life Course Studies: The Social and Historical Context of the British Birth Cohort Studies. London: Routledge.