SELF-C ARE AND THE DH
NHS LifeCheck – self-care online Empowering the socially-disadvantaged to manage personal lifestyle change Dr Sunjai Gupta Deputy Director, Head of Public Health Strategy and Social Marketing Branch Health Improvement and Protection Directorate, Department of Health, England
Maria Reeves NHS LifeCheck, Department of Health, England
As head of the public health strategy and social marketing branch at the Department of Health and part-time consultant psychiatrist at the Maudsley Hospital, I am greatly interested in the point where the two roles meet – namely the development of health improvement initiatives that involve a partnership between the public and patients on the one hand and health professionals on the other. I chaired the implementation group for the Expert Patient Programme, and have been involved in several White papers on public health. I am keen to see how elements of cognitive behaviour therapy and social marketing may be used by the government in creating formative tools, such as NHS LifeCheck, which facilitate behaviour change. Sunjai Gupta
Summary What measures should be taken to motivate socially disadvantaged individuals to
I joined the NHS LifeCheck team at the end of 2008, with a brief to use my experience in communicating with hard-to-engage groups to help shape each NHS LifeCheck product and subsequent media campaigns. I started my career as a journalist before moving into marketing and communications. Before working on NHS LifeCheck, I spent four years specialising in adoption and fostering in Kingston upon Thames, developing and instigating strategies for communicating with children and adults. Maria Reeves
embark on a programme of health-related behaviour change? How can a simple lifestyle quiz promote selfcare and reduce health inequalities? Could a website increase an individual’s capacity for change? How does NHS LifeCheck fit into a health professional’s toolkit and impact on PSA targets without increasing their workload?
© Journal of holistic healthcare
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Volume 6 Issue 2 Aug 2009
Introduction Sometimes it’s good to be ahead of the curve. To be in a position where critics are suggesting something is perhaps too modern, too experimental rather than claiming the government has missed the boat or not seized the opportunity. When the Department of Health launched the interactive website NHS Teen LifeCheck in June, The Times was amused by what it termed the, ‘relentless quest to make health care cool’.1 In fact, NHS LifeCheck is a good example of a health innovation. Four years ago, the government launched a consultation, Your Health, Your Care, Your Say.2 Those who responded, made it clear that they wanted to take more responsibility for their own health and wellbeing. And
three quarters of them identified regular health checks as a top priority to help them to do this. So, rather than making more demands on already stretched health professionals, the commitment made in the subsequent white paper Our Health, Our Care, Our Say 3, was bold and innovative. Services would be developed initially to enable three key age groups to assess and better manage their own health and wellbeing or that of their baby. Today, thanks to an intense period of development, testing, evaluation4 and refinement, members of the public can log on to NHS Baby LifeCheck, for parents and carers of 5–8-month-old babies, and NHS Teen LifeCheck for 12–15-year-olds. NHS Mid-life LifeCheck for 45–60-year-olds
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