10,000 learners and counting: psychology module hits a major milestone

10,000 learners and counting: psychology module hits a major milestone

10,000 more health, social care and third sector staff now have essential skills to help people make and maintain positive changes to their health and lifestyle.

This significant milestone was achieved by completing the NES MAP (Motivation, Action, Prompts) of Health Behaviour Change module.

NES Chief Executive Professor Karen Reid said:

“Prevention and early intervention are more important than ever to tackle health inequalities and reduce demand on services. Things like physical activity, healthy eating, taking medication regularly and stopping smoking are vital to better health.

“We provide accessible, practical learning for health and social care professionals to help people make and sustain positive changes.

“Thousands of learners have already completed the module, showing its value in everyday practice.”

What are learners saying?

A social worker described the module as:

“Practical, realistic, can adopt a 'keep it simple' approach, no need to overly complicate the situation. It's a smart approach.”

A nurse who completed the module said:

“These frameworks highlight the importance of understanding individual readiness, systematically planning interventions, and identifying barriers to promote and sustain health behaviour changes effectively.”

What do staff learn? 

Developed by health psychologists in 2019, the MAP eLearning module introduces three key routes to behaviour change in real-life settings:

• building motivation
• turning motivation into action
• supporting meaningful and sustainable changes

Learners can also build on their eLearning with interactive practice and skills development at workshops, delivered nationally by NES and locally by approved MAP trainers. These workshops help staff apply behaviour change techniques into everyday conversations and care.

Who is the resource for? 

The resource is aimed at health, social care and third sector organisations who can support behaviour change. This includes a wide range of roles, for example:

• Allied Health Professionals
• Community Link Workers
• Mental Health Professionals
• Consultants
• Nurses, and Midwives
• Social Care Workers
• Pharmacists
• GPs
• Dentists
• Ambulance staff
• Early Years Practitioners
• Health Visitors

Want to know more? 

The MAP of Health Behaviour Change module is free to access on TURAS Learn for all health, care and public service staff in Scotland.

You can find more information on behaviour change on the NES website or contact us at psychology@nes.scot.

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