TMA 03 Cut-off date: 16 February 2017 Word limit: 1000 words (Question 1: 300 words, Question 2: 300 words, Question 3: 250 words, Question 4: 150 words) (please note the word limit policy) Weighting: 30% (within TMA 03 there are four equally weighted questions, so each question is worth 25% of the total marks for this TMA) TMA 03 Questions (1) Outline the different forms that psychosis can take and compare medical (biological) and trauma explanations. (2) If a social approach to mental distress and mental health is used, what are likely to be its main features? (3) Find a website for a group or service in your local area that supports people experiencing mental health difficulties. Take a screenshot of the part of the page that tells you about the support they offer and paste it into your TMA document. Under the screenshot, put in the correct reference for the webpage. Then list at least three reasons why someone might find it difficult to access the support offered by this group or service. How might these difficulties be overcome? (4) In Activity 9.10 [ Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip) ] , in Learning Guide 9, you were asked to summarise an article in a way that either plagiarised the original materials or in a way that demonstrated good academic practice. Drawing on what you saw there, write some brief advice to a fellow student on how to avoid plagiarism when summarising something you have read. GUIDANCE Guidance You do not have to write an essay for this TMA. Instead, you need to show that you have understood some of the key concepts in Block 2 by writing two short answers. The two activities are related to skills you have developed in this block. The questions are not linked to one another. Questions 1 and 2 are about some of the concepts within the block. The short (300 word) answers mean they have to be concise. You should write these answers in complete sentences that link to one another and use references to show where your ideas and arguments have come from. Your introduction will be no more than a sentence which shows your tutor where your answer is heading but you do not need a formal introduction or conclusion. Questions 3 and 4 focus on some of the skills you have developed and can be answered with either connected sentences or with lists. If you use lists you are unlikely to need the full word count. Question 1 There is a useful range of material in Learning Guide 10 which you can draw on in order to outline the different forms of psychosis. In order to compare the biological and trauma explanations, Readings 10.1 and 10.2 are important. Reading 10.1 Biological factors [ Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip) ] provides a brief summary of attempts to understand schizophrenia from the perspective of medical biology. Reading 10.2 Can trauma cause psychosis? examines the possible links between trauma and psychosis, and, in particular, whether experiences of childhood and sexual abuse may be implicated in various forms of psychosis. Question 2 There is detailed discussion of social approaches in Section 12.4 of Learning Guide 12, and throughout that week’s material. You are likely to strengthen your answer if you contrast social approaches to mental health with bio-medical and psychological approaches, which are discussed throughout the block. However, if you do this, make sure your main focus remains on social approaches. Question 3 You can use any search engine and any search terms you think will work. However, you might like to start with ‘mental health support’ and the name of your local area. If you find a complex website, you may need to click through the links on it until you find the actual support they offer. The guidance on how to take a screenshot is in the Screenshots and images section of the OU Computing Guide. If the page you have pasted into your document is complex, make sure it is clear to your tutor which part of the page you are talking about. It is worth learning to take screenshots because it is both a useful general computer skill and because being able to do so will make it much easier for you to complete the EMA at the end of K118. You will find guidance on how to reference a website in the Guide to referencing K101 and K118 module materials, which you will find under Assessment resources on the module website. You will lose marks if you do not include a correct reference for the website you visited. To create the list, you need to think about what you have learned about the gap between experiencing a mental health difficulty and being able to access support. What practical barriers do people often encounter? What personal issues might make it more difficult? Then you need to think about ways in which these barriers could be overcome. It doesn’t matter how expensive or unlikely your solutions are, just that you think of ways around the barriers. Question 4 If you did not take part in Activity 9.10, you should do so now as it will make answering this question much easier because you will have direct personal experience of writing summaries. You may find that other students are also late coming to Activity 9.10, so you may still be able to take part in the ‘guessing’ part of the activity as well. If you cannot do this, you may be able to draw on comments from your tutor on previous TMAs, or on general study resources around plagiarism and writing skills, such as those found on the Help Centre website. Write your advice on how to avoid plagiarism in the same document as the rest of your TMA answers – not in the forum. Write as if you were advising a fellow student. LEARNING OUTCOME This assignment addresses the following learning outcomes: 1 Knowledge and understanding: 1.1 Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of current issues in mental health, health and wellbeing and ageing and later life. 2 Cognitive skills: 2.2 Develop arguments in your own words, while drawing on concepts and ideas you have read about. 2.3 Back up arguments using evidence, including statistical evidence, and other appropriate sources. 3 Key skills: 3.1 Communicate ideas and arguments in a logical and well-structured way. 3.2 Search for and evaluate information relating to care provision, including online information. 3.3 Develop your literacy, numeracy and digital and information literacy skills. 4 Practical and/or professional skills: 4.1 Show awareness of problems of access to care services and suggest ways to overcome them.