Content and competences

Themes of the minor:

In this minor you will examine themes that are becoming increasingly important in health care, whereby motivational interviewing has been chosen as THE instrument to use with clients. Within the minor you specialize in supporting lifestyle changes and promoting positive health of clients. Being able to offer this support requires different knowledge and skills from a (healthcare) professional than merely transferring information and advice. In your communication and care plan you learn to really connect with your target group and thereby contribute to authentic, personal care. To achieve this, the minor focuses on the following themes:

Lots of practical assignments and contact with real target groups

During the minor, experiential experts, such as patient, practitioners, research scientists in the field of behavioural interventions or sports psychologists, will have their say. They will tell you about their experiences in healthcare and how they see the essence of behavioural change: How do people deal with consequences of disorders and what exactly do they do? What is the impact of environment on people? How complex is changing behaviour, both for the client as for you as a professional?

During workshops about coaching techniques, you will see how you can work from a person-orientated vision of supporting people. Independently you are going to coach someone in behavioural change outside the lessons (e.g. a client from a practice place, fellow student, family member or a roommate). This way you will experience on first-hand how difficult and important it is to really make a connection on an equal basis, especially if they are completely different from you. You will practice your coaching skills and you will experience what the process of coaching really includes.

During the minor you will work in a project group on a practice-orieplace/organization, choose a target group, do a target group analysis, and develop a health intervention in coordination with your place of practice, which you will finally test with the target group. This innovation project will ensure that the theoretical knowledge from the minor acquires a practical meaning. You will also practice your research skills and reporting.

Competences

The competences that you develop within the minor have everything to do with the interaction between a (care) recipient and (care) professional. The minor mainly revolves around these four competences: