Learning with us

If this is your first course, you may want to review the ‘Using FutureLearn’  short course for an introduction to learning with FutureLearn.

Course syllabus

• Week 1: The Psychological Impact of COVID-19
• Week 2: Steps to Take to Cope with COVID-19
• Week 3: What Next? Preparing for Life after COVID-19

Learning outcomes

• Improve understanding of the psychological impact of COVID-19 on wellbeing and mental health in society
• Develop knowledge of the impact of COVID-19 on me and those around me
• Improve my ability to apply knowledge around managing my own wellbeing and mental health during COVID-19
• Improve my understanding of the psychological impact of COVID-19 on my support network, work colleagues, and local community
• Engage with peers to create learning opportunities with others interested in mental health and COVID-19
• Reflect on the experiences of others regarding COVID-19

Course participants

We are excited to bring together a range of people with a multitude of experiences and perspectives on COVID-19 and mental health. We hope to learn together with mental healthcare service users, carers, families, health and social care workers, people in any workplace, and anyone from the general public. The content has a special focus on healthcare workforce issues and we look forward to learning socially as a diverse group.

Learning activities

The course combines a variety of interactive steps that include videos, case studies articles, discussions, and polls.

You will meet three people (played by actors) who will share their stories, from which we will consider the impact of COVID-19 and coping strategies.

We are very interested in your own experiences, which we encourage you to share through conversation on our discussion threads and polls. We will also provide some key information and articles throughout.

Considerate conversation

Almost every step has space for conversation and debate in the Comments area. While Discussion steps feature more focused conversational tasks, anyone can talk about material within each step’s Comments area.

We will regularly prompt you to share your thoughts and ideas with questions or suggestions at the end of a step. You can contribute to these conversations as and when you are able to. You might like to read  5 tips and tools for social learning on FutureLearn  to help you get the most out the platform’s social features. Before taking part, please read FutureLearn’s Code of Conduct.

If you see a comment that is deliberately sharing misinformation, or inflammatory, or that is otherwise inappropriate, please press the flag button beneath the comment for FutureLearn’s moderators to review.

The purpose of this course

This course is provided for personal use only and not for any commercial, professional medical, or business purposes. All content and opinions presented throughout this course are for educational purposes only and do not constitute the provision of professional medical or mental health advice.

You should not rely on the contents of this course, or other learners, in place of professional advice from a regulated mental health professional.

Approaching the learning and taking care of yourself throughout this course

The coronavirus pandemic is placing unprecedented mental strain on people around the world. You may be caring for someone vulnerable, struggling with finances, at risk yourself, or even grieving a loved one. All our lives have been affected.

We cover emotive topics and some of this may be difficult. You don’t need to complete each week all in one sitting, and do step away from the course or take breaks when you feel the need.

Please look after yourselves as you go through the course. A range of further resources for support can be found in the final step of Week 1.