What will I learn on this module?
This module offers 40-credits at level 7, is suitable for post-qualified nurses wishing to study the Community Specialist Practitioner (relevant for Adult Social Care Nursing, District Nursing and General Practice Nursing pathways). Frailty and multimorbidity is a significant challenge facing community nursing teams and each pathway faces significant challenges and complexity. As well as engaging in shared learning and integrated approaches to patient management, you will focus significantly on the issues facing your specific specialist role, identifying challenges, barriers and priorities for providing high-quality specialist nursing care within your fields of specialist practice.
As part of the Specialist Practice Qualification (SPQ), it will provide you with a range of contemporary specialist practice knowledge relevant to your field of practice (or pathway), skills and an evidence base for advancing specialist practice for caring for people living with a major health condition, multimorbidity and frailty. Throughout the module the approach will be supporting a personalised approach to care recognising the complexity and diversity of contemporary society. The impact of health inequalities will be acknowledged as will the importance of needs assessment at an individual, community and population levels.
In line with the Major Condition Strategy (2023) the six major health conditions in addition to frailty will be explored and will take a whole person approach recognising that people often live with multiple health conditions. The module will acknowledge that the six major conditions can affect all age groups, however they are more prevalent within the older population (those over 65) and as such the impact of ageing and living with multimorbidity and frailty will be a key focus. This will lead you to develop enhanced knowledge and skills relating to the care of older adults and those living multimorbidity and frailty.
The module will develop your knowledge and competence in caring for adults (including older adults) across health and life continua: from living well and primary prevention, secondary prevention, early diagnosis, acute illness, through to ongoing long-term care in progressive and advanced disease. You will gain an appreciation and understanding of significant issues at transitional points up to and including end of life care. You will further develop knowledge and understanding that managing the care for older adults, those living with multimorbidity, and frailty is a highly complex and skilled process. You will learn the essential elements that contribute to recognising, responding, and improving the care for older adults across their life span. Through the exploration of theories of ageing and by reflecting on professional values, attitudes, and behaviours you will gain understanding of how these can impact on care for adults.
You will understand the importance of being able to recognise, assess and respond to frailty, gaining an appreciation of the importance of the Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) and multidisciplinary team approach in the assessment, diagnosing, management and ongoing support for older people and their family, friends, or carers. You will develop your decision-making using evidence based therapeutic practice interventions to ensure that people receive individualised care and support based upon their need. As such models for shared decision making will be explored and will be a key feature to empower and enable people to be involved in all decisions about treatment and care choices with proactive management frameworks to ensure this.
You will develop skills in recognising disease trajectories and managing the complexities of care and achieving best outcomes for individuals living with multimorbidity and frailty across a range of care settings and care sectors. Your learning will be underpinned by contemporary policies and practice drivers, and you will explore how these impact on relevant governance structures and organisational boundaries. Working with key stakeholders in a collaborative way across health and social practice areas is essential to ensuring that a holistic approach to high quality care delivery for this client group incorporates physical social psychological and spiritual dimensions of care.
An integral part of your learning will be listening, understanding, and responding to the needs of the public and people who use health and care service including informal carers. Exploration of robust systems to share information across care sectors will ensure wishes and preferences are met and adhered to.
How will I learn on this module?
In this module you will learn through a combination of interactive lectures, seminars, workshops including innovative education-based simulation and directed study. This module utilises Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles in the design of teaching, learning and student assessment. UDL principles are designed to assist students to achieve and excel in their studies irrespective of their individual learning needs and as such UDL is designed to promote inclusive curriculum design. The module will be delivered at Northumbria University by lecturers who are specialists in this sphere of practice. As practitioners you will be expected to actively engage in the learning process, participate in group work and seminars and apply what is taught in the university to your practice setting. You will be encouraged to share your own expertise and debate practice issues with peers to further enhance learning and influence the care you provide to patients. Technology enabled learning and simulation will be enhanced through your interaction with the Electronic Learning Portal Blackboard Ultra (BBU) which will give you the flexibility to access the module materials and aids remotely. You will be required to actively engage in research rich learning through an enquiry-based approach to ensure authentic learning.
You will benefit from a combination of integrated working with other pathway students exploring multi-disciplinary working as well as focusing on aspects pertinent to your pathway in pathway-specific tutorials, workshops and seminars. Simulation will enrich your learning experience and allow significant engagement with your pathway specific module materials.
How will I be supported academically on this module?
You will be supported by the module leader and module team who have specialist knowledge of frailty, multimorbidity, end of life care and caring for people with complex health and social care needs. The module team will provide formative feedback throughout the module delivery, and you will be allocated an individual tutor for academic support for the summative assessment. You will be able to access both library and student support services for study skills support as required through the eLP, helpline and email enquiry services, details of which will be available on the module site.
What will I be expected to read on this module?
All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. Online reading lists (provided after enrolment) give you access to your reading material for your modules. The Library works in partnership with your module tutors to ensure you have access to the material that you need.
What will I be expected to achieve?
Knowledge & Understanding:
You will systematically review and critically explore theories of ageing and the pathophysiology of ageing and frailty.
Critically explore personal and societal attitudes, values and beliefs which may impact upon people living with major conditions, to equip practitioners to embed a more personalised approach.
Critically examine a range of assessment and decision-making skills and consider service enhancement strategies.
Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:
You will critically analyse the contemporary evidence underpinning the care delivery and management of adults with frailty or multimorbidity up to and including end of life care.
Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural awareness, Ethics, Curiosity) (PVA):
You will appreciate the complexity of caring for people living with frailty and multimorbidity and critically examine and apply theory to practice settings.
How will I be assessed?
The formative assessment for this module requires the student to complete various exercises during the lectures and workshops.
Completion of the exercises will demonstrate the ability to:
Research and critically articulate differing types of evidence; discussing with peers and teachers the relevance of the evidence.
Work collaboratively within a learning community; presenting information to module peers in a variety of formats.
The student will be encouraged to seek formative feedback from both module tutors and peers before the summative assessment date which presents them with the opportunity to improve their evidence of learning through reflection and constructive feedback.
The summative assessment for this module requires the student to produce a 20-minute recorded video presentation. The assessment will contextualise and critically examine strategies that may bring about a positive change in practice for the person using health and care services and their carers. This will be relevant to your field of specialist practice. This will relate to their clinical practice area and be supported with a PowerPoint (or alternative) and comprehensive reference list.
Pre-requisite(s)
N/A
Co-requisite(s)
N/A
Module abstract
The module seeks to enable practitioners from a range of professional backgrounds and settings to develop knowledge and understanding of the complex needs of older people, those living with multimorbidity, and people living with frailty within the context of health and social care. You will develop competence in caring for adults across health and life continua and during significant transitional points: from living well and primary prevention, secondary prevention, early diagnosis, acute illness, through to ongoing long-term care to end of life. You will be enabled to deliver safe, effective, and person-centred care by the development of robust clinical decision making through comprehensive evidence-based assessments, including risk. You will be able to develop skills in the identification, assessment, and ongoing management.
Course info
Credits 40
Level of Study Postgraduate
Mode of Study 2 years Part Time
1 other options available
Location Coach Lane Campus, Northumbria University
City Newcastle
Start September 2025
All information is accurate at the time of sharing.
Full time Courses are primarily delivered via on-campus face to face learning but could include elements of online learning. Most courses run as planned and as promoted on our website and via our marketing materials, but if there are any substantial changes (as determined by the Competition and Markets Authority) to a course or there is the potential that course may be withdrawn, we will notify all affected applicants as soon as possible with advice and guidance regarding their options. It is also important to be aware that optional modules listed on course pages may be subject to change depending on uptake numbers each year.
Contact time is subject to increase or decrease in line with possible restrictions imposed by the government or the University in the interest of maintaining the health and safety and wellbeing of students, staff, and visitors if this is deemed necessary in future.
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