RSPH Health and Wellbeing Awards 2013: recognizing the contribution of health promotion to public health

Abstract

The contribution of health promotion to public health continues to be significant, and each year, the Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) provides organisations with an opportunity to demonstrate good practice in health promotion and make initiatives whose work too often goes unrecognised more visible.The RSPH Health and Wellbeing Award has at its heart the principles of the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion.1 We are essentially looking for organisational commitment to health improvement through clear top-level leadership, robust strategies that tackle a wide array of health promotion issues - including health inequality - and development of an appropriately trained workforce with the capacity and capability to deliver health improvement related outcomes on the ground.This year, the Award winners have clearly demonstrated they are improving the health of the population at various levels. The commitment, innovation and professionalism that these organisations have shown is truly exceptional, and below we provide readers with a short overview of their achievements.WORKPLACE HEALTHEffective workplace health promotion programmes which are worker-centred have the potential to significantly benefit employers, employees, their families and the organisation's clients. This year, two RSPH Award winners have presented commendable case studies in this area.The first is the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), the world's largest professional union of nurses and health-care support workers with a membership of over 400,000 and 850 staff in the United Kingdom. The RCN wholeheartedly believes that investing in the health and wellbeing of staff is key to its overall vision of improving the health and working environment for all its membership. Since the start of the implementation of their Health and Wellbeing Programme (2008), RCN has seen its lowest ever sickness absence rates (2.3%) and highest ever staff engagement levels (85%). In 2012 and 2013, the RCN was named in the Sunday Times as one of the Top 100 Companies and Best Companies to Work For, rated as high as 14th in 2013. The RSPH Award for the RCN was given in recognition of its commitment to employee health and wellbeing through its health-promoting initiatives in the workplace.Similarly, Derbyshire Community Health Services NHS Trust (DCH) recognises the importance of staff health and wellbeing, and of the consequent benefits in health promotion for patients and their carers. As one of the largest specialist community services providers within England, with 4,400 staff who manage 1.8 million patient contacts each year, DCH is implementing a series of workforce health and wellbeing initiatives as part of their Pathfinder Trust Project. These include an Occupational Health Service, a Resolve Counselling Service, a Health Promotion Service and a Workforce Health and Wellbeing Team with 35 workplace Health Champions actively promoting good health within the organisation. The Award for DCH relates to its investment in promoting health among its workforce and the impact this has had upon staff wellbeing and attitudes to health, which underpins a high-quality health service for their target communities.THE NHS STILL HAS A ROLE IN PUBLIC HEALTHDespite the shift of public health provision to local authorities, Award winner Liverpool Community Health NHS Trust (LCH) understands that there is still a crucial role for the NHS to play in public health. LCH's team is made up of around 3,000 staff - 80% of whom are practising health professionals delivering community health services to people in their own homes, in over 100 locations including health centres and clinics, five Walk-in Centres and intermediate care bed-based services within the acute sector. The opportunities to influence a cultural shift in thinking and behaviour in the population through the Trust workforce are huge, and the Trust strongly believes that Every Contact Counts to maximise opportunities to improve the health and wellbeing of individuals, families and communities. …