Welcome to Your Quarterly Newsletter from RSPH

The RSPH have moved!

On June 19th the RSPH moved from its Vauxhall head office and took up residence in its new building in the City of London. Our new address is now: John Snow House, 59 Mansell Street, London, E1 8AN, telephone number: 020 7265 7300. 

For further information on our move click here.  Please note, all Training Solutions courses will now be held at our new address, unless otherwise stated. If you have any queries please contact Gina Mohajer 020 7265 7327.

Encouraging Londoners to get Active – an Olympic Legacy

The London Mayor’s Sports Legacy Fund provides subsidies for training aimed at increasing the number of Londoners working and volunteering in sports and physical activity leading up to the 2012 Games. RSPH has been approved as a training partner and is providing two training courses as part of this project - “Understanding Health Improvement” and “Influencing Behaviour Change”.

Qualifying trainees can attend at a 75% discount on the normal rate (ie the trainee fee is £50 per day as opposed to the normal £200). Participants learn how an active lifestyle promotes good health and why behaviour change is so difficult for some people. They will also gain the practical skills to help people overcome these barriers and take part in physical activity.  The “Understanding Health Improvement” programme also has an option to gain a recognised level 2 qualification by taking a multiple choice examination.

In order to qualify for the discount in the cost of the training, trainees need to commit to 25 hours of voluntary work in the London area – either in sports or in encouraging others to take part in physical activity.

To find out more about this course, available funding and other programmes offered by RSPH, please click here call Nicolette Boustaoui on 020 7265 7325 or email sportforhealth@rsph.org.uk. 

Joint Strategic Needs Assessment – JSNA

The Royal Society of Public Health is working with HK Consulting to develop training, advice and consultancy support for local areas as they develop their health and wellbeing boards, enhanced joint strategic needs assessments and joint health and wellbeing strategies. HK Consulting specialise in strategic commissioning and partnerships between the NHS, local authorities and wider voluntary and private sector partners to drive improvement. Click on the JSNA document to read more. For further information on the JSNA visit www.rsph.org.uk/jsna

*We will be sending more exciting information about the work of the JSNA very soon*

Youth Health Champion – Bring Health into the Lives of Children

On May 24th the RSPH jointly held a national seminar with NHS North East Essex , in London to highlight the benefits of Youth Health Champions in schools and to demonstrate how other regions in the country could adopt the scheme.

Youth Health Champions (YHC) are students who are recruited and trained from local secondary schools to raise health awareness amongst their peers. Their role involves safe signposting to health services and offering support on issues including, smoking cessation, obesity, physical activity, sexual health, emotional wellbeing, drugs and alcohol. The aim of the programme is to reach out to children and educate them about health, in a way that is both innovative and appealing. Evidence suggests that people are more likely to seek advice from their peers. For this reason, Youth Health Champions are more effective at getting health messages across to other students and making a noticeable difference to health.

The seminar was very well received, with over fifty people attending from all over the country – clearly showing that there is a growing interest in the Youth Health Champion programme. Five YHC’s from Manningtree High school presented at the seminar, highlighting the benefits of the programme, in terms of personal development and the positive difference they have been able to make in people’s lives.

The RSPH has for some time been leading on the development of the national education and training pathways for health trainers and champions and believes YHC as having the potential to expand nationally and into more varied settings. To view a copy of the briefing report from the seminar, please click here.
To read a copy of the report click here  Briefing Report - Youth Health Champion

Making Every Contact Count
An introduction to the behaviour change competence framework

So many aspects of healthcare are concerned with preventable or avoidable conditions. But the cost of dealing with them is under pressure more than ever before. A key theme in the Government’s next White Paper will be the need to reduce these costs, and every healthcare worker has their part to play. Every contact with a patient is an opportunity to encourage healthier lifestyle choices. But tackling sensitive issues such as weight loss, smoking cessation or alcohol abuse requires expertise, confidence and knowledge, in order to deliver the message effectively.

Preventing avoidable conditions and encouraging behaviour change is an essential part of delivering an affordable health service for the future. Prevention is both better for the patient and cheaper for the provider. But do you and your team have the knowledge and skills to take this on?

Prevention and Behaviour Change: a competence framework
The RSPH is offering a new programme designed to introduce participants to this competence framework which has been developed by NHS Yorkshire and The Humber. It is designed for use at all levels of experience and provides a common approach against which skills can be assessed, either within a single programme or for an entire workforce.

This will enable individuals to identify gaps in their knowledge, Commissioners to address weaknesses in their provision, and Service Providers to offer exactly what is needed.

This is a one day introductory programme, designed for those with an interest in encouraging behaviour change in their community or workforce. It is intended for people who will be playing a part in the development of healthy communities, whether as a Commissioner, provider of service or a member of frontline staff. For further information or to book onto the course please contact Nicolette Boustaoui or by phone 020 7265 7325.

RSPH Training Solutions has also developed a unique suite of programmes called “Enabling and
Guiding Choice for Health and Wellbeing”. These include Influencing Behaviour Change and Behaviour Change in Practice. In addition we will be running master classes and workshops for senior managers. These suites will be available from September. To register your interest or for more information please contact Nicolette Boustaoui or by phone 020 7265 7325.

Let’s Talk About Sexual Health

RSPH Training Solutions is running a series of free seminars around sexual health and how to overcome talking openly about “sensitive” issues. The seminars are intended to raise awareness and help educate people about practising safe sex as well as how to offer support. The events which have been sponsored generously by Sanofi Pasteur MSD, have been hugely popular, with the first one, which took place on June 15th, being over subscribed.

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) compiled a report in 2008 called Sexually Transmitted Infections and Young People in the UK. It found that young people account for nearly half of all the STIs diagnosed in the UK despite only representing 12% of the population. The report also flagged up that rates of STIs are on an upward trend with many people still ignorant about the dangers of having unprotected sex.  Click here to read on.

There is clearly still a need for policy makers, schools, local governments and communities to educate people of all ages about sexual health and ensure that the right information and support is available and accessible for them.

Sexual Health and Young People – An Introduction

The RSPH Training Solutions are running an introductory course on Sexual Health and Young People on July 27th. For further information or to book onto the course please click here or email Nicolette Boustaoui by phone 020 7265 7325.

“ESOL for Health” Programme accredited by the RSPH  

Women who do not have English as a first language can find access to healthcare challenging at important stages of their lives. They may not be able to interpret, read or write the necessary English vocabulary and the UK healthcare systems may not be familiar to them. They may also benefit from additional basic Health information about healthy lifestyles, their anatomy and changes to their bodies which can take place at different times.

RSPH is pleased to announce it has accredited an “ESOL for Health” training programme developed by Joseph Chamberlain College, Birmingham, with support from Heart of Birmingham PCT.

The programme provides ESOL language knowledge for pre-entry, entry 1 and entry 2 levels. (ESOL being “English for Speakers of Other Languages”). At the same time, the vocabulary taught, and the scenarios used as the basis for the programme, are relevant to women’s lives – including modules relating to pregnancy, birth and child development, Healthy lifestyles, women’s health and carers.

Following a pilot study, the conclusions of an independent report has noted that learners have a marked increase in confidence in contacting health professionals, attending appointments on their won and explaining their concerns to professionals. The programme has a style sympathetic to the culture and position of immigrant women. Training utilises comprehensive workbooks, video clips, reading tasks and interactive activities. The programme will be available to others in the form of a comprehensive tutor package later this year.

Other organisations who would like their training programme considered for RSPH accreditation should contact the Accreditation Department at accreditation@rsph.org.uk 

Shaping a Quality Approach to Health Literacy in Primary Education - Seminar Overview 

A group of senior public health, policy and education practitioners from across many different sectors came together in June to discuss the importance of health literacy in primary education. This was a highly interactive event and well supported by all participants.

Professor Richard Parish, Chief Executive of RSPH, welcomed everybody to the session and conveyed the RSPH’s support for developing a practical approach to health literacy. He was joined by Dr Selwyn Hodge, Chairman of the Society, who explained why he has adopted health literacy as the theme for his chairmanship. He clearly articulated his personal passion for health literacy and the need to develop a high-quality practical approach to embedding the concept in primary school education.

After hearing from Andrew Carter OBE (head teacher and national adviser on head teacher leadership) about the role and purpose of primary education, the participants were encouraged to consider the many different ways of thinking about health literacy. This included decoding information, the acquisition of knowledge and tools, skills, keeping healthy and well, and personal development, nurturing. The challenge for participants was to discuss whether it was possible to articulate a practical definition of health literacy including some or all of these elements.

The concept of a health literacy ‘journey’ was also discussed, as were the key health, social, educational and economic benefits of early health education. It was agreed that our understanding of the meaning of health literacy and context determine our beliefs about its benefits and also how we as a society value it.

Participants were asked to suggest benefits under these category headings and propose additional categories, based on the following discussion questions:

a) What does your organisation believe are the benefits of early exposure to health education? Why?

b) Are you aware of any evidence or research to measure the impact of early exposure to information about health and well-being determinants on future health choices? Is your organisation involved in any work to determine or evaluate the benefits of health literacy?

The seminar then looked at the current policy context and the potential opportunities and challenges for health literacy in primary education:

i) The Health and Education White Papers
ii) Recognition of the need for joined up working on public health and education
iii) The Curriculum and PSHE reviews
iv) The focus on teacher quality and employment based training and teaching schools

Participants were also asked to consider the challenges in developing a national approach to health literacy at primary level as well as considering what health literacy projects are already underway.

The group finally agreed that going forward the immediate actions included the need to understand some of the policy drivers in more detail and evaluating the available opportunities and/or forming a campaigning alliance. A meeting was also suggested for early 2012 to look at progress. For further details or to contribute to our work in supporting health literacy in primary education please contact Nelly Araujo. 

Health Trainers in the new NHS

Ukoni Obasi is a Senior Health Trainer at NHS Berkshire West Health Trainer Service and his focus is to develop a National Association for Health Trainers and Health Champions. If you are interested in finding out more about this, please download the document  Health Trainers in the NHS  or contact Ukoni directly by email: ukonu.obasi@nhs.net or by phone: 0118 9551214.