Public Health

As AHPs work widely within public health, they work in health promotion, health protection and disease and ill health prevention. In the AHP model of Public Health there are four domains in which AHPs contribute to Public Health. The four domains and AHP activities are shown below. This list will vary by profession and is not exhaustive.

Formed in 2019, Our Dorset Allied Health Profession (AHPs) Public Health Strategy Group are AHPs, who are passionate about our role in public health. Our mission is to embed the UK AHP Public Health Strategic Framework across organisations and with AHPs in Dorset, to:

We come together to promote and work to contribute to the wider public health agenda.

We are also supporting other work across the system including the Health Inequality Agenda, prevention at scale, smoking cessation and MSK pathways.

If you are interested in joining the group please email carolyn.royse@dchft.nhs.uk.

Our future AHP workforce need to be more than excellent clinicians.  They also need an understanding of the diverse populations we serve here in Dorset including the social determinants of health and health inequalities. Expanding placement opportunities for our pre-registration AHP students in organisations such as public health teams and voluntary sector organisations will help expose students to a wider range of experiences as well as developing our overall placement capacity.

The opportunity to have part of a placement outside of a health or social care setting can help develop understanding of the wider determinants of health, health improvement, health protection and healthcare public health which in turn informs our practice and our services. Whilst currently public health and third sector placements are small in number there is real enthusiasm and commitment to develop placements that will give our future AHP workforce the skills they need to deliver personalised care.

Pubic health placements are one of the main strategic ambitions of the AHP PH steering group for Dorset.

If you are a student please contact your practice placement co-ordinator.

If you are a provider, we welcome any ideas to develop placement opportunities, please contact rachel.christian-edwards@nhs.net

The ten year plan highlights the need to tackle unequal outcomes and access. To provide AHPs with the skills and knowledge to impact on this aim The King’s Fund has worked with AHPs to develop a framework to support any AHP to think through and understand their contribution to tackling health inequalities, whatever their role. The framework details how AHPs can raise awareness, take action and optimise advocacy. The King’s Fund has worked with AHPs from across the UK to develop a framework to support any AHP to think through and understand their contribution to tackling health inequalities, whatever their role. The framework details how AHPs can raise awareness, take action and optimise advocacy.

AHP Health Inequalities Framework

Dorset ICS are also developing a Health Inequality Academy and there are lots of quick reads and information to build up your knowledge. (hyperlink)

The DISS allows access to health inequality insights in your communities in order to improve services.

To understand more about your service or specialty you can apply to access DIIS tool

To support you and your teams in public health activity we have created a resource section. If you have any public health case studies or QI projects you want to submit please email carolyn.royse@dchft.nhs.uk. We really want to shout about your success. (link to case Study section)

To support the delivery of our AHP public health vision Live Well Dorset have developed a suite of training to improve well being skills for yourself, for teams and healthy behaviour training to help people who use your services make healthy choices.

Delivered online, or face to face these training offers can be accessed via the Live Well website.

To find more AHP specific public health resources please access the Royal Society of Public Health (RSPH) AHP hub, where you will find profession specific resources, case studies, tools and links to training resources.

There is a growing interest in public health by AHPs and there is increasing priority and focus on prevention, NHS services have traditionally provided specialist treatment rather than prevention.

The shift towards prevention needs system and service wide leadership to embed this. HEE have developed a programme that is intended to support leaders and service managers to guide their teams through the process of re-designing services to support prevention.

Designed as a 5-step process, the programme provides a practical toolkit of useful resources to help individuals and teams identify their unique contribution and then implement quality improvement initiatives to transform services to have a prevention focus.

Training can be accessed through e-learning for health.

We would love to hear where AHP’s across Dorset are working in the four AHP domains of public health, or if you have used the public health toolkit to implement change in your service. The form below is for guidance only, with some points to consider, if useful.

Please email Carolyn Royse, Lead Orthotist, Head of Orthotics, In Patient Podiatry and Hand Therapy, at Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust: carolyn.royse@dchft.nhs.uk with your completed document.