PHE and the RSPH have published ‘Everyday Interactions’, a toolkit and survey to support healthcare professionals record and measure their public health impact.
The findings from the survey of healthcare professionals showed that the majority (70%) believe protecting and promoting the public’s health is important.
Despite this fewer than one in five (19%) currently measure the public health impact of their day to day work.
The new toolkit will give healthcare professionals a way to record and collate their work so it makes an impact on public health.
‘It is very clear that the healthcare workforce already has a positive impact on the public’s health through their everyday interactions with patients,’ Shirley Cramer, chief executive of RSPH and chair of the Government’s Advisory Group, People in UK Public Health, said.
‘Our hope is that this resource will provide healthcare professionals with simple, quick and effective guidelines for recording and measuring the impact of their activities on the public’s health.
‘This will be invaluable in better understanding and demonstrating to commissioners and others the huge potential that exists to improve and protect the public’s health through brief interventions such as signposting.’
Toolkit
The report and toolkit was developed in close collaboration with representative bodies and individuals and is for dental staff.
The survey will cover four areas:
- Do – focuses on the brief intervention a healthcare professional might undertake with their patient or client, such as signposting to relevant services
- Record – this relates to what information the healthcare professional would record, such as categorising a referral and recording measurements, such as BMI
- Collate – is about capturing the data over a period of time for multiple individuals
- Impact – brings all of this together and captures the likely impact their service is having in a local area, as well as the national public health priorities that these interventions will impact upon.
‘All health and care professionals play a vital role in encouraging and supporting people to care for their own health and wellbeing,’ Viv Bennett, Public Health England’s chief nurse, said.
‘Nurses and midwives are developing their practice and services that promote and protect health and wellbeing.
‘This toolkit will enable them to record and measure the public health impact of care provided to individuals’ families and communities.’
