Our new leadership development course has been evaluated and is good to go. Peter and I are looking forward to seeing what comes next!
Check out the details here.
“Mistakes are always forgivable if one has the courage to admit them”
CASP Train the Trainer 2018
I do love CASP TtT and have been reminded of that fact after three absorbing days in Oxford facilitating the 2018 course.
Teaching statistics and evidence based practice can be scary so we try to make it fun. We ask our participants how confident they are on day 1. Usually the answer is ‘not very’. Then we discuss educational theory, play interactive games, teach difficult concepts in different ways and give people a safe space to try it out getting supportive feedback. We ask about confidence again on day 3 and, almost always, see an improvement. The attendees are more confident at the end than they were at the start and we have seen them go on to teach, bring CASP tools to others and use CASP skills in their work. I was a participant first (many years ago) and am still teaching now!
Telling good evidence from bad is such an important skill for anyone working in public health or healthcare to have. We often start a session by asking the question why? What happens if we don’t use good evidence to make healthcare decisions?
Well, these sorts of thing happen. We tell people there might be a link between the MMR vaccine and autism, vaccination rates drop and kids die. We take decades to introduce clot busting drugs immediately after heart attacks and grown ups die. There are many more examples.
So CASP teaches decision makers, knowledge professionals, pharmacologists, junior doctors, midwives, medical publishers, surgeons, healthcare commissioners, (anyone really), how to tell good evidence from bad, and how to pass that knowledge on.
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this course and it has been deeply satisfying to see our participants grow in confidence. It feels as if they came with the passion to make a difference and we have given them a few tools to make that job easier.
I am looking forward to the next course. Maybe we can run one for you.....
Visit the CASP website for more information.
Current projects
Enjoying the sun?
We are!
JYA is very busy at the moment but we've taken a few minutes to update our website to tell you what we're up to.
Have a read and get in touch if you want to be involved or find out more.
“Work is love made visible. And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy.”
Assessing Health Needs in Zomba District Malawi
I have just returned from 3 weeks in Malawi working with the Sparkle Malawi Foundation on their health needs assessment and strategy.
https://sparklemalawi.org/
Sparkle provides pre-primary school education, meals and some clinic services to vulnerable families in villages around Zomba where the major health needs are malnutrition, peri-natal conditions and a range of infectious diseases including HIV.
Making the best use of the donated funds is an important goal so the needs assessment will help the Board of Trustees prioritise where to invest next such as expanding the current clinic building or developing an outreach service for villagers furthest from a formal health clinic. Malawi as a country struggles with funding and management of health care so non-government organisations are a critical part of delivering the Malawi goal of essential care for all.
It was great to see hand washing facilities and safeguarding training on site and meet with the clinic staff monitoring the growth of the children. Common ailments such as diarrhoea can quickly escalate so Sparkle has developed excellent links within the health district to enable speedy referrals into a clinic or hospital.
The children are starting to learn English which will hopefully give them a good start when they reach the Malawian educational level where all lessons are in English.
As always, there are things which could be improved such better farming practices, increased range of foods provided and more first aid training but the team on site are working super hard, learning loads and giving the children an amazing opportunity to grow and develop in a happy and well managed environment.
Plans for 2018
2017 was a year of change for me. Leaving PHE in the summer was a big step but it has given me the time and energy to pursue some other avenues and improve my overall wellbeing. More of that later.
This year I have plans to continue working with the PHE Screening QA Service. I thoroughly enjoy being out in the field visiting hospitals and working with such a wide range of amazing professionals. The best bit is witnessing those “light bulb” moments when peer to peer conversations provide a safe space for NHS providers to reflect on what they do well and what they could improve.
Voluntary work has been something I’ve missed in the hectic last few years so I am pleased to be able to work with a small, international charity, Sparkle Malawi. Sparkle provides vulnerable children in Malawi, with sustainable education provision and health support. I am looking forward to using my public health skill set to help the trustees measure real improvements in relevant outcomes for local people.
I will be working on my own projects this year including an exciting opportunity to work with a community healthcare social enterprise to pilot an innovative model of workplace wellbeing support.
And lastly, back to personal wellbeing. I have become a qualified yoga instructor. This has had a huge impact on my mental and physical wellbeing and I am struggling to combine my deep need for an evidence base before I commit to anything, with the absolutely amazing changes a strong yoga practice has brought! I feel a bit of an evidence review coming on…..watch this space.
“To keep the body in good health is a duty, otherwise we shall not be able to [] keep our mind strong and clear.”
In summary, I am nice and busy but please do get in touch if my public health skill set suits your needs.
Chairing QA Visits
I am really lucky to have been asked to chair Screening Quality Assurance Visits across the country in the next few months. I love this activity, it means I get to work with the highly professional QA teams and a wide range of professional and clinical specialists. Everyone wants the same thing which is to help and support NHS Screening Programmes to improve and celebrate their successes.
So, I'll be going to London, Chiltern, Kent, Rotherham, Bolton and Cumbria.
For more information on the quality assurance of screening check out:
https://www.gov.uk/topic/population-screening-programmes/screening-quality-assurance
Off to Holland
I am now an ex-PHE employee and just about to set sail for the Netherlands to get my yoga teacher training done. I am looking forward to being able to focus on one thing for a whole month but know that when I come back I'll be looking forward to picking up some Public Health work as well.
So - August and September - yoga, October onwards back to Public Health!