Basics of Practical Data Science for Health & Social Care

This course provides a hands-on introduction to data science using the R programming language, tailored for health and social care practitioners. It is designed to equip learners with the fundamental skills to work with real-world data, from loading and preparing datasets to exploring, visualising, and interpreting insights relevant to health and social care.

Participants will be guided through setting up a Posit Cloud account to use RStudio and working with publicly available datasets. The course covers essential programming concepts, data manipulation techniques, and visualisation methods using ggplot2, with a strong emphasis on ethical considerations in data use. Through practical examples and case studies, learners will develop confidence in applying data science skills to analyse health and social care data effectively.

By the end of this course, participants will be able to independently explore, clean, visualise, and interpret datasets, supporting evidence-based decision-making in their professional practice.

Course image, 2025 by Freepik

By completing this course, learners will be able to:

• Set up a Posit Cloud account to create a project in RStudio, load, manipulate, and explore health and social care datasets.
• Clean and prepare data for analysis by applying key data wrangling techniques.
• Create clear and effective visualisations using ggplot2, incorporating geoms, aesthetics, faceting, and themes.
• Interpret and communicate insights from data visualisations to inform health and social care decision-making.
• Recognise ethical considerations when handling health and social care data, ensuring responsible and secure data use.

This course is for health and social care professionals who work with data. No prior coding experience is needed - just an interest in learning practical data skills using R.

To take part in this course, you’ll need:

• A laptop or desktop computer
• A good working knowledge of English
• A stable internet connection

We also recommend using two screens when completing coding exercises alongside tutorials, but this is optional.