DCU Home | Our Courses | Loop | Registry | Library | Search DCU
<< Back to Module List

Module Specifications.

Current Academic Year 2024 - 2025

All Module information is indicative, and this portal is an interim interface pending the full upgrade of Coursebuilder and subsequent integration to the new DCU Student Information System (DCU Key).

As such, this is a point in time view of data which will be refreshed periodically. Some fields/data may not yet be available pending the completion of the full Coursebuilder upgrade and integration project. We will post status updates as they become available. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Date posted: September 2024

Module Title Assessment & Support Planning:Process & Practice
Module Code NS459 (ITS) / NUR1103 (Banner)
Faculty Science & Health School Nursing, PsyT & Comm Health
Module Co-ordinatorBriege Casey
Module Teachers-
NFQ level 8 Credit Rating 10
Pre-requisite Not Available
Co-requisite Not Available
Compatibles Not Available
Incompatibles Not Available
Repeat examination
Students will re-visit case studies/practice reports and based on feedback and reflection, will identify and discuss areas for improvement in their assessment and support planning practice
Description

This module enables students to develop knowledge and skills necessary to undertake effective assessment and support planning with people experiencing or at risk of homelessness. The module consists of a mixture of lectures and seminars focusing on processes and practices of assessment and support planning and is designed for staff who work in the homeless sector

Learning Outcomes

1. Discuss the value and purpose of holistic needs assessment and support planning among people who are at risk of becoming homeless and those who have become homeless.
2. Undertake assessment and support planning, including risk assessment and risk management, using frameworks appropriate to the homeless and housing sector services.
3. Display ability to establish positive and productive relationships with service users and inter-agency staff that contribute to effective assessment, support planning and supportive interventions
4. Demonstrate an ability to plan and progress goals and evaluate support based on presenting information and evidence and in collaboration with service users and other relevant individuals/groups
5. Articulate knowledge of challenges to effective assessment, support planning and interventions, on an intrapersonal level, on an interpersonal level and at a systems level
6. Display skill in working with resistance (motivational interviewing) and managing factors that contribute to a lack of engagement/progression among service users of homeless agencies.



Workload Full-time hours per semester
Type Hours Description
Lecture21No Description
Seminars21No Description
Independent Study208Including learning in practice, online learning and assignment work
Total Workload: 250

All module information is indicative and subject to change. For further information,students are advised to refer to the University's Marks and Standards and Programme Specific Regulations at: http://www.dcu.ie/registry/examinations/index.shtml

Indicative Content and Learning Activities

Context of holistic needs assessment and support planning
Contexts and needs of people who are at risk of/experiencing homelessness as discussed in international, national and sectoral publications, action plans and policies, and other relevant evaluations and reports. • Concepts of holism and collaboration • Principles and guidelines of Holistic Needs Assessment and other relevant frameworks pertaining to assessment, collaborative support planning and supportive interventions. Recording and reporting structures and systems (e.g. PASS)

Foundational knowledge for holistic needs asssessment and support planning
Legislative responsibilities and best practice in relation to data protection, confidentiality, information storage, information sharing. • Appropriate statutory, voluntary and community services that support care interventions with people at risk of/experiencing homelessness and means of referral/ access.

Process and practice of assessment and support planning
Methods and processes of information gathering and analysis, goal setting and planning, delivering and evaluating support interventions • Risk assessment and risk management practice • Interagency working with statutory, voluntary and community agencies involved in support interventions with people at risk of/ experiencing homelessness. • Advocating with/for service users in the context of support needs

Self awareness and communication skills
Communication skills associated with assessment and collaborative support planning; at client level (therapeutic communication skills) and interagency level (negotiation, brokerage skills) • Practicing and developing self awareness in assessment, support planning and supportive intervention processes • Nature and purposes of appropriate physical and psychological boundaries in maintaining professional relationships with service users and colleagues • Influence of intercultural issues in self awareness, boundaries and communication behaviour • Accessing and using professional supervision and support mechanisms

Challenges to holistic needs assessment and support planning
Understanding and working with resistance and other factors that contribute to a lack of engagement/progression among service users of homeless agencies • Motivational Interviewing skills and strengthening commitment to change • Identifying and addressing challenging behaviour using approved guidelines and protocols in the context of assessment, support planning and supportive interventions

Assessment Breakdown
Continuous Assessment0% Examination Weight0%
Course Work Breakdown
TypeDescription% of totalAssessment Date
Professional PracticeUsing a practice case study report, students reflect on their own skills in client holistic needs assessment and support planning60%Other
Practical/skills evaluationStudents assess their own performance in identifying needs and suppport planning/motivational interviewing through roleplay and personal reflection40%Other
Reassessment Requirement Type
Resit arrangements are explained by the following categories:
Resit category 1: A resit is available for both* components of the module.
Resit category 2: No resit is available for a 100% continuous assessment module.
Resit category 3: No resit is available for the continuous assessment component where there is a continuous assessment and examination element.
* ‘Both’ is used in the context of the module having a Continuous Assessment/Examination split; where the module is 100% continuous assessment, there will also be a resit of the assessment
This module is category -
Indicative Reading List

  • Government of Ireland: 2021, Housing For All Strategy, https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/ef5ec-housing-for-all-a-new-housing-plan-for-ireland/, Government of Ireland,
  • Teixeira, L. & Cartright, J.: 2020, Using Evidence to End Homelessness, Policy press,
  • Cokersell, P.: 2018, Social Exclusion, Compound Trauma and Recovery: Applying Psychology, Psychotherapy and PIE to Homelessness and Complex Needs, Jessica Kingsley, London,
  • Leavy, J.S.: 2018, Cross-Cultural Dialogues on Homelessness: From Pretreatment Strategies to Psychologically Informed Environments, LH Press,
  • Tsemberis, S.: 2015, Housing First: The Pathways Model to End Homelessness for People with Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders, Hazelton Press, 978-161649649
  • Leavy, J.S.: 0, Pretreatment Guide for Homeless Outreach & Housing First: Helping Couples, Youth, and Unaccompanied Adults, LH Press,
  • Mayock, P, Sheridan , S & Parker, S.: 2015, The dynamics of long-term homelessness among women in Ireland, Dublin Region Homeless Executive, Dublin,
  • Miller W.M. & Rollnick S.: 2002, Motivational interviewing: preparing people for change, Guildford Press, New York,
  • Mc Garvey, D.: 2018, Poverty Safari: Understanding the Anger of Britain's Underclass, Picador,
  • Greenwood, R.: 2015, Evaluation of Dublin Housing First demonstration project: summary of findings, Dublin Region homeless Executive, Dublin,
  • Poole, H.W.: 2017, Homelessness and families, Broomall Publications, California,
  • Zlotnick C: 2014, Children Living in Transition : Helping Homeless and Foster Care Children and Families, ebook, Columbia University Press,
  • Bhugra D: 2007, Homelessness and mental health, Cambridge university Press,
  • Kissoon, P.: 2015, Intersections of displacement: refugees' experiences of home and homelessness, e book, Cambridge scholars publsihing,
  • Morewitz S. J.: 2016, Runaway and homeless youth: new research and clinical perspectives, Springer,
  • Williams J.C.: 2016, "A roof over my head": homeless women and the shelter industry, 2nd, University press of colorado,
  • Grover, C: 2013, Crime and Inequality, Routledge,
Other Resources

None

<< Back to Module List