leaflet and written exposition

The assignment should be on depression

There is 2 parts to the assignment the leaflet and the exposition

Part 1: Information Leaflet

You have been asked by a national mental health charity to produce an information leaflet about one mental health condition of your choice. In your leaflet you should address the following:

a) The extent to which stigma exists in relation to the chosen condition and example measures taken to address stigma

b) The extent to which psychological models understand and respond to the chosen condition (formulation and one intervention)

c) The contribution and impact of the service user movement to the chosen condition

Part 2: Written exposition

The written exposition should take the form of an academic piece of writing which constitutes a critical consideration of the evidence supporting each section of your information leaflet.

References

Leaflet: this is aimed at the general public so does not need in-text citations. Any images used should be referenced in your reference list at the end of the exposition.
The exposition should include in-text citations.
All references should be included in the reference list at the end of the exposition.

Guidance on the different parts of the assessment

Guidance on writing an information leaflet

Information must be presented in an accessible format using plain English and convey key messages and relevant background information. Information leaflets use terms and avoid technical jargon and abbreviations.

Key Considerations

Design and Layout: The design and layout of the leaflet should help the reader to navigate the information:

Headings should stand out from the main text and be consistent.
Use colour judiciously: avoid too many colours, and ensure good contrast is maintained between fore and background.
The layout should be on A4 landscape with either 2 columns side by side, or 3 columns.

Make text readable:

Use a large enough font: 12pt minimum.
Use a clear font.
Use short paragraphs.
Put sufficient white space between paragraphs.

Highlight key points:

Use bullet points to identify key messages.

Group relevant information together:

Keep related information on the same page.
Order information so that it flows logically.
Avoid repeating information.

Content

Use plain English:
Avoid jargon: translate information into lay terms.
Use colloquial English.
Use short sentences.

Once you have the content sorted, some final formatting checks

Reordering text to make logical sense
Increasing paragraph space before and/or after paragraphs to provide more white space on the page
Increasing font size, or changing font type or colour, to increase legibility
Refining formatting of tables, headings etc
Adjusting image size to fit page widths better
Altering margin sizes
You may need to use next page breaks to move text onto new pages so that it is grouped better.

REMEMBER: no in-text references are required for the information leaflet. All references for the leaflet should be included in the reference list at the end of the exposition.

Guidance on writing an exposition

Expectations

The main expectation for the exposition is that you engage with the evidence base on your chosen topic area in a critical manner. I also want you to take a strong position in relation to the option chosen, don’t sit on the fence! For example;

is stigma still a problem today, is it decreasing or increasing?
What can psychology offer in comparison to psychiatry in relation to how experiences are understood and responded to? What is the evidence base to support non-pharmaceutical interventions such as Meta Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (MCBT), Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT), narrative therapy or voice dialogue approach?
Focussing on one service user movement, how has it impacted on the experience of individuals with your chosen condition? Does it function as a support group or is it more political? Is there any evidence of its impact on service users (positive or negative)? Has it empowered service users and if so how and in what ways? How can this service user movement progress to have a greater impact for individuals?

How to Approach the Task

Think about you the different sections of the assessment brief carefully. Take the time to choose your condition. Different conditions will offer slightly different arguments and perspectives. For example anxiety and OCD seems to be more widely accepted and discussed by society than schizophrenia. Some conditions like depression have a stronger biochemical evidence base than personality disorders. You will need to think carefully about how and in what ways conditions differ. Why are some more acceptable than others? How have the societal norms around different conditions shifted? Considering the assessment brief, what are the key issues in relation to your chosen condition and where do you sit in relation to the them?

Then search the literature – thoroughly! I will have given you a lot of resources on Moodle, but at level 6, for the higher marks, you need to be doing some independent reading, which means reading widely. Having gathered some resources, think about how you can organise your articles into a coherent order in terms of sub-areas, findings, argument/position. This organisation of the material is an important part of the process of constructing your arguments; as it will provide the framework for your exposition. Investing time in searching the literature and organising it into core arguments will save you time when you start to write, as well as making a stronger exposition.

The main body of your exposition needs to be structured into the different themes of your argument. Synthesise your resources around these different themes. As you summarise the articles, make sure that you link them together. For example, comment on whether one study’s findings are consistent with another’s, or if they suggest different explanations for findings. You should avoid just presenting the review as a series of individual articles without any comment or analysis linking them together. Again for the higher marks, synthesise your articles into your arguments. Don’t describe one study after another, as this will limit your marks.

If it helps you to structure your exposition, you may use subheadings in this piece of work, but you do not have to. It’s up to you.

At the end of your exposition, write a conclusion summarising your main arguments. Your conclusion should not just reiterate arguments, you should also make a strong statement about the debates within the area and the potential impact on future services/service users/clinicians. End strongly, leaving the reader with a good impression will help you get a higher mark!

References:

While you may use background information from books and websites, your main sources should be journal articles that have been published within the last five years I have not specified the number of references that you should include, because this forms part of the assessment. At this level, you are expected to use your own judgement to decide how best to use sources to support your argument. All references must be written in the current APA style.