Postgraduate Degree Programme in Health Promotion

WELLBEING SERVICES/Tampere, Kuntokatu 4

Director of education Marja-Riitta Heikkinen
Principal lecturer Varpu Lipponen

The title of the graduating students of Postgraduate Degree Programme in Health Promotion is either Master of Health Care or Master of Social Services. The degree is comparable with equivalent degrees in other EU countries.

The extent of the degree programme is 90 credits (cr) and the education lasts for 2 years.

Eligibility

Curriculum
In the postgraduate degree programme curriculum, professionalism and expertise are seen as connected, expanding and advancing processes. The basis and centre of the curriculum is formed by the thesis (30 cr), mainly implemented as action research and supported by the course contents, methods and tasks.

The degree programme studies consist of:
Advanced professional studies (55 cr)
• either health promotion of chronic and geriatric patients (10 cr) or promotion of health and wellbeing in occupational health care (10 cr)
• Management in social services and health care (30 cr)
• Research and development (15 cr)
Thesis (30 cr)
Elective studies (5 cr).
Teaching methods

Competences developed
There are two options in the Postgraduate Degree Programme in Health Promotion, health care of chronic and geriatric patients and occupational health care.

Health promotion is either health promotion of chronic and geriatric patients or promotion of health and wellbeing in occupational health care, research and development know-how, management know-how, wellbeing know-how and ethicality of action. Graduates of the degree programme have deep, extensive and multidisciplinary knowledge on the state of wellbeing and health of aging and long-term patients or working-age population and the skills to critically evaluate and make decisions to promote health and wellbeing.

Know-how on health promotion includes the skills needed to independently, critically and in an evidence-based manner implement, lead and evaluate activities, processes and research and development projects that support promotion of health and wellbeing in the demanding expert tasks of social services and health care.

Management skills include the ability to develop service entities and their effectivity in accordance with the social and health care political objectives in cooperation with multi-professional networks as well as the ability to apply different managerial models and methods to generate good and economical service entities in changing operational environments. The prerequisite for this is internalisation of health promotion values, which guides the development of strategic know-how.

Professional status
The objective of the degree programme is to educate experts of either health promotion of aging and long-term patients or occupational health care for social and health care organisations to work as developers and/or superiors of work communities. Graduates of the degree programme have special expertise in management, research and development of social and health care in addition to the expertise in either health promotion of aging and long-term patients or occupational health care.

Structure of degree programme and key contents |

The education is based on the principles of lifelong learning and the student has the main responsibility for the progress of his/her learning. The bases of learning are future management skills in social and health care, development needs of the field and learning needs of the student.

Learning is seen as information formation process in diverse operational environments. Learning is connected to action and experience to which the student gives the meaning. Openness, equality of interaction, support of development of expertise and leadership and support of development of cooperation between different cooperation parties relate to teaching and guidance.

The thesis forms the centre of the studies and it is supported by the course contents and methods. The thesis and learning tasks develop new operational practices for social and health care services and their management. The subjects of the thesis and learning tasks are based on the development needs of working life. Development of expertise and leadership emphasise ethicality, research, evidence-based action, management skills, mastery of technology, internationality, innovativeness and entrepreneurship.