PgCert Perinatal and Maternal Mental Health

There is a strong focus in the health and social care sector to provide improved services for mental health, with particular attention on maternal mental health. More than 1 in 10 women develop a mental illness during pregnancy or within the first year after having a baby. If untreated, these perinatal/maternal mental illnesses can have a devastating impact on the women affected and their families. In the UK, mental illness in pregnant and postnatal women often goes unrecognised, undiagnosed and untreated.

This Postgraduate Certificate (PgCert), which comprises of two 30 credits at level 7 modules, has been developed by a multi-professional team to reflect the often complex situations that health and social care professionals are addressing when caring for pregnant women and new mothers and their families in their practice.

The first of the two modules, Mental Health Recovery and Maternal Care considers the skills you will need to develop to recognise maternal mental health illnesses in pregnancy and during the first year of the postnatal period, to formulate individualised pathways for care and support, and manage potential risks and complications in order to promote positive birth outcomes for the women and her networks.

The second module Perinatal Mental Health and the Family will enable you to develop the skills to recognise the impact (short and long term) of maternal mental health on the development of the infant/child, to formulate individualised pathways of care/support and  manage potential risks and complications in order to promote positive birth outcomes.

You are assessed during each module where you consider a range of issues.  Typically these might include a significant incident from your practice area to critique and draw on the evidence base to consider; empowerment to support women's choices; multi-professional working and strategies for effective service delivery and drawing on your own professional knowledge.

PgCert Child, Adolescent and Family Mental Health

Young people's mental health continues to be a growing concern.

Evidence shows there is a need for professionals with specialised mental health skills working in hospitals, schools and within our communities across the country to use their expertise to improve the lives of children and young people in all types of mental health service with energy and passion.  This work extends to charities, users of services, their families and carers who play a vital and integral role in driving up quality, increasing understanding and combating stigma and discrimination. 

This course addresses the No Health Without Mental Health: Implementation Framework. implementation plan (DoH 2012).

Designed by a multi-professional team, this PgCert provides the opportunity for practitioners working with children to develop knowledge and skills to meet the challenges of the current health and social care policy and service demands.  

The PgCert comprises of two 30 credit module at level 7 that are delivered via distance learning.  The first of these two modules is Early Intervention in Child, Adolescent and Family Mental Health.  This module aims to enable you to gain a broad understanding of child development, a critical awareness of the determinants of emotional wellbeing in children and families, and an ability to apply these principles effectively in practice.  You will learn about what impacts on children and young people's wellbeing and how to intervene in order to improve long term outcomes when children and young people have mental health issues.

The second module is Enhancing Practice in Child, Adolescent and Family Mental Health.  This module aims to enable you to gain knowledge and skills in working with specific mental health disorders/issues in this client group, and effective evidenced based approaches/interventions that address these needs.  You will learn about mental health issues and disorders that can affect children and young people, interventions that can be offered, and how to promote mental health with this group. 

You are assessed during each module where you consider a range of issues.  Typically these might include a significant incident from your practice area to critique and draw on the evidence base to consider; the determinants of child development and wellbeing; effective evidence based interventions within a multiprofessional context to develop strategies for effective service delivery and drawing on your own professional knowledge working in partnership with children young people and their families.

Radiotherapy and Oncology

We offer 13 modules from our MSc Radiotherapy and Oncology programme under the London CPPD contract, covering a wide range of areas including Image Guided Radiotherapy, Expert Practice, Brachytherapy: Principles to Practice and Breast Cancer Radiotherapy. These modules are accessed predominantly by therapeutic radiographers, but also attract doctors, nurses and other professions involved in the oncology patient pathway.

Our modules encourage innovation and service development to meet the needs of patients and carers and demonstrate impact.  The ever-changing world of radiotherapy and oncology and regular consultation with our stakeholders helps us to continuously evolve and maintain the relevance of our modules. Assessments focus on developing our learners and are designed to be authentic learning experiences which will enable them to impact on practice and the service, effecting personal and workplace transformation.  The online learning environment encourages peer support, networking and sharing good practice, with the online activities incrementally guiding the learners towards the final assessment. We currently have learners from across the globe studying with us, providing a rich mix of experience, opportunities for networking and creating an active community for learning.

The team at Sheffield Hallam have a strong research focus. Our graduates have completed research projects on a wide range of topics including

• sexual dysfunction in men with prostate cancer in the Bahamas
• immobilisation for a range of treatment sites
• implementing a psychological assessment service
• developing the therapist head and neck clinical
• supplementary prescribing
• educational projects
• systematic literature reviews on a range of topics

Staff within this team also support students through proposal/ethics processes and in the completion and publication of research. Sheffield Hallam provides a rich and supportive learning experience and strives to support excellence in practice.