Skills building seminar: Skillscamp: from soft skills to health for all

Abstract

Abstract Soft skill-intensive occupations will account for two-thirds of all jobs by 2030. [1] Soft skills, also known as “people skills” or “interpersonal skills” are personal attributes that enhance an individual’s interactions, career prospects and job performance. Those skills are of crucial importance for problem solving, teamwork, leadership development, mentoring, etc. They are also actively applied and broadly fostered in both public and private sectors as well as NGOs, social entrepreneurship, media, etc. These actors play an essential role in achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC) along with health inclusion and equity due to their contribution to public economy, involvement toward specific population and advocacy power. Key public health (PH) interventions require health professionals with strong soft skills. For example, a vaccination programme can be strengthened by health professionals who are able to address patients’ concerns about vaccination and explain its benefits. Having PH teams with a wide variety of perspectives, multidisciplinary backgrounds and skills, adds significantly to the improvement of provided services and medical results. The demand of soft skills requires contextually appropriate PH interventions, depending on the population’s needs, socioeconomic and societal structures. Hence, in order to solve the persisting problems and achieve actionable results, the intervention shall be tailored to fit the concrete target group. In order to reach Goal 3 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and particularly “health for all”, soft skills are essential to empathise and interact with social groups with specific needs. The workshop will address the challenges faced by medical professionals in the interaction process with three specific social groups. To optimise PH interventions in the most inclusive and equitable manner, adequate soft skills are required. Therefore, the focus will be on highlighting the skills which are essential to successfully perform PH interventions. Within the scope of the session, the necessary soft skills will be defined and analysed. Also, their application in the context of PH will be demonstrated and exemplified. The attendants will be invited to discuss real-life examples and have the possibility to exchange their own experience and expertise with each other. [1] Deloitte Access Economics “Soft skills for business success”, DeakinCo, May 2017 Key messages Soft skills are increasingly needed in achieving successful public health interventions. PH professionals need more awareness of the powers of soft skills.