Annual Report 2018
1.4K Twitter tollowers
261 Facebook likes
Social Media
4,835 tweets
18 tracks
Podcasts
559 plays
Eve Listeners from 37 countries 12 Events per year
Ov 50 atten per
Over 24k users per year
Website
1197 registered users
over 10k views per year
Ebulletin
ents
ver 00 ndees r year
Over 66k page views per year
678 views on live streams per year
Readers from over 25 countries
Most read edition: Childhood Obesity
Contents INTRODUCTION 3 1. OBJECTIVES FOR 2017 / 2018 3 2. ADVISORY GROUP/ REFERENCE GROUP/ LOCAL CHAMPIONS 4 3. MEMBERSHIP 5 4. WEBSITE 5 5. GOOD PRACTICE TOOLKIT AND DATABASE 5 6. CONFERENCES, SEMINARS AND EVENTS 6 7. COMMUNICATION & ENGAGEMENT STRATEGY 13 8. FUTURE PLANS 13 9. FURTHER INFORMATION 14
Introduction Public Health Network Cymru continues to go from strength to strength. Despite the prevailing climate of austerity and diminishing resources both the excellent work of the team and the superb support of our members has allowed us to continue to provide a high quality range of support as evidenced by the feedback from our partners and members. The strength of the network lies in the collective expertise, experience and engagement of our members and we continue to see that demonstrated both through the events we have facilitated and the excellent contributions we regularly receive for our popular ebulletins, podcasts and website features. The democratic empowerment model we have adopted has meant that the members themselves have shaped the events we facilitate, the capacity building we seek to offer and the developments of the website and other services we provide. And as always, it is this enthusiastic active engagement that drives us forward. However to ensure we are meeting the needs of our members and developing the network in an effective and engaging way we engaged a colleague from the research division to conduct a comprehensive evaluation that was conducted through the summer of 2017 and published in March 2018. This indicated we are providing a valuable and valued service with a lot of positive feedback. However, there are areas that we need to improve on or develop further and the team will be focusing their energies on addressing these issues over the coming twelve months.
Objectives for 2017/18 Public Health Network Cymru aims to create a network of interest for all those working on public health issues in Wales with quality timely advice, information and support. Its objectives are as follows: • To provide and maintain a dynamic, engaging and attractive web portal that provides instant access to comprehensive public health information, current and emerging news items, video feeds, research and evidence briefings and communities of interest. • To help inform and support public health policy development and best public health practice through a range of quarterly topical events including seminars and conferences. • To promote and support good public health practice through the development and dissemination of a downloadable online good practice toolkit and database. • To respond in a timely manner to new and emerging public health issues with Interactive forums and the opportunity to participate in online communities. The remit of the network includes: • Providing support and guidance to the wider public health workforce. • Organising and promoting regional and national events on themed public health topics. • Producing and disseminating e-bulletins to registered members of the network. • Developing and maintaining a series of databases to support practitioners in their ongoing public health development. • Promoting and supporting good practice in public health initiatives
Advisory Group, Reference Group and Local Champions An Advisory Group was established to oversee and guide the work of Public Health Network Cymru. The multi-disciplinary group represents the Network’s members, and aims to encourage people to work more collaboratively in Wales. It consists of representatives from across sectors, disciplines and geographies that have a role to play in improving the health of the population in Wales. ‘Terms of reference’ and ‘statements of commitment’ are in place for the members of the group and were agreed and ratified at the inaugural meeting on 24 March 2016 and reviewed in February 2018. The Advisory group meet quarterly and are a valuable sounding board for the team, ensuring we maintain our focus, meet the needs of our members and continue to evolve and improve. The original call for volunteers for the Advisory Group highlighted the enthusiasm and range of interests and experience amongst members that could never be fully exploited from the Advisory Group alone and so a wider ‘Reference Group’ of members has also been established. They provide a cohort of broad experience and knowledge that the network team can tap into when members have questions or need advice that falls outside their professional expertise. Both groups have been valuable in helping us shape and inform the development of the network. Details of the Advisory and Reference group members can be found at: http://www. publichealthnetwork.cymru/en/about-us/public-health-network-cymru-advisory-group/ An important new aspect of the network is the role in supporting and promoting the work of members at the local level and in order to optimise the connections at this level a number of member volunteers were recruited to act as ‘Local Champions’. Their role is to act as a conduit for the network channelling information back to the network team so that it can be shared more widely whilst also cascading information from the team back into the local area.
Membership Public Health Network Cymru was launched in May 2015. Since then the number of registered members of the network continues to increase with over 1162 members on 31st March 2018. Registered members of the Network receive up to date information on Public Health activity across Wales. This includes e-bulletins, access to members only features on the website, invitations to conferences and seminars run by Public Health Network Cymru, and the opportunity to inform future seminar and conferences. There are a large range of professionals registered with the network including Community Workers, Environment Professionals, Ward Managers, Project Managers, Directors, Occupational Therapists, Public Health Practitioners and Teachers from all sectors and parts of Wales and beyond.
Website The website www.publichealthnetwork.cymru has continued to evolve, with the addition of new topic pages, news and events added on a daily basis, an extensive service and resource directory and the following interactive functions: • A Good Practice toolkit and database which provides information and resources for practitioners • The addition of videos to most of the topic pages. Despite a few developmental hiccups the website successfully incorporated a number of ‘affiliate’ sites including the Wales Health Impact Assessment Support Unit; the International Health Co-ordination Centre; the Research & Development Community; and ‘Making Every Contact Count’. In addition there are areas of the website allocated to other associated ‘Communities of Interest’ including ‘Nutrition Skills for Life’, the ‘Well-being of Future Generations’, the ’Wales Environment & Health Network’ and ‘Brexit and Public Health’. Looking ahead our attempts to generate engagement through the website ‘forums’ has proven difficult for a variety of reasons and so there has been a greater emphasis on the use of social media, particularly Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. This has also allowed us to utilise the technology to ‘live stream’ our events. The latest development has seen the establishment of a Podcast series, which now includes podcasts on: • Predictors of Dementia – Reducing the risk by Professor Peter Ellwood • Learning Disabilities in Hospitals – Claire Jenkins & Joanne Edwards • Investment for Health & Wellbeing in Wales & Beyond – Dr Christoph Hamelmann (WHO) • Sexual Health – Dr Darren Cousins • Alcohol & Older People – Drink Wise, Age Well. – Richard Broadway • Healthy Ageing – Robert Saddler • Gambling – Wynford Ellis Owen (The Living Room ) • Drugs & Alcohol – Matthew Rafferty & Andrew Misell • The Well-being of Future Generations and Adverse Childhood Experiences – Prof Mark Bellis • Transgender and access to health care – Jenny-Ann Bishop • Sun safety and skin cancer – Maura Matthews & Dr Rachel Abbott • Mental Health: Communities First Interview – Ross Thomas & Ceri Smith. • Heart Health: British Heart Foundation Interview – Ruth Coombes
Ebulletins The team continue to provide monthly ebulletins to all members. These are also made available on the website. The ebulletins are provided in both a ‘High Quality’ and a downloadable pdf format. Each edition is themed (Spotlight’ feature), normally linked to a national or international health day with relevant articles and features supplied by members and stakeholders. However, it also contains a range of topical generic public health information including ‘The Grapevine’ that showcases local and national developments; a News roundup and upcoming ‘Events’.
June 2017
Good Practice Toolkit and Database In an effort to share practice and lessons learnt the network has established a ‘Shared Practice’ database on the website where registered members can upload projects, programmes and initiatives. To further increase awareness and profile for these an example is covered in each e.bulletin and the annual road show events will have time dedicated to local projects. To support practitioners and others, and to promote best practice, there are also downloadable resources including a ‘self-assessment toolkit’ available in the Shared Practice section. There are presently 26 projects highlighted.
Conferences, Seminars and Events An important principal established by the network has been to respond to members needs and optimise the opportunities for active member engagement. One way we have done that is by asking members to vote on their preferences for the annual seminar series where 3 seminars are facilitated each year. This process has proved very popular and we had in excess of 121 responses to the last vote that is informing the seminars for 2018/19. The most popular choices and ones that will become our seminars for next year are: Nutrition in Early Years, Mental Health in the Workplace and Older People and Social Isolation. There were 140 responses to the invitation to vote on the 2017/18 series, which delivered seminars on: 48 delegates attended the seminar Behaviour Change and Addictive Behaviours that took place at Bangor University on 4th May 2017. Chaired by Malcolm Ward from Public Health Wales the seminar was opened by Professor Rob Roger who is based within the School of Psychology at Bangor University. This was followed by two presentations which focused on alcohol. Marc Mordey from Alcohol Concern gave a presentation entitled ‘Poetry, football, ballroom dancing, and other ways to reduce alcohol harm’ to addressing alcohol related behaviour. Prof. Miles Cox from Bangor University presented on ‘Differential Effects and Temporal Course of Attentional and Motivational Training on Excessive Drinking.’ The next two presentations focused on gambling. Prof. Simon Dymond from Swansea University delivered a presentation entitled ‘Where in the world is gambling? A Wales perspective’ and Wynford Ellis Owen from the Living Room Cardiff spoke about ‘Beat the Odds – an initiative to help excessive gamblers.’ The final presentations focused on substance misuse with presentations from Dr Wolf Livingston from Glyndwr University on ‘Substance Misuse: Analysing the contribution of policy and provision to outcomes’ and also Dr Lee Hogan which was entitled ‘Facilitating recovery into treatment.’
The afternoon session provided 3 parallel sessions: • Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for substance misuse: Dr Lee Hogan, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board / Bangor University • Making Every Contact Count: Rhiannon Hobbs, Senior Public Health Practitioner, Public Health Wales • Motivational Interviewing & Counselling - ‘The Life Enhancement and Advancement Programme for reducing drinking.’: Dr Steven Hosier, Bangor University Videos of the presentations and a summary video of the day can be found at: https://www.publichealthnetwork.cymru/en/get-involved/sound-and-vision?topic-areas%5B%5D=2358&keywords= The second seminar in 2017 was Healthy Minds for Future Generations: Promoting Dementia Risk Reduction. Chaired by Daisy Cole, Director of Wellbeing and Empowerment at Older Peoples Commissioner for Wales, the event took place at the All Nation’s Centre in Cardiff on 14th December. 37 delegates attended with a further 50 following the live feed on Twitter. Professor Peter Elwood OBE, a Researcher at Cardiff University, delivered the first presentation. Peter’s presentation was entitled ‘Predictors of Dementia – Reducing the Risk’. The presentation focused on the work that he and the Division of Population Medicine at Cardiff University had undertaken on the Caerphilly Cohort Study. Following this, Phill Chick, Assistant Director of the Mental Health Delivery Unit within Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board (ABMUHB), presented ‘Making Dementia Risk Reduction A Priority for Wales’. Phill’s presentation included risk reduction and why it should be a priority, for whom and what had been done so far. The final presentation was a brief overview of the ‘In Your Shoes – We Get It’ volunteers programme delivered by Sue Phelps, Director at Alzheimer’s Society Wales with Nigel, a gentleman living with dementia. Nigel provided delegates with a personal insight into his experiences of living with dementia and the stigma that surrounds it. Individual presentations are available on Public Health Network Cymru’s website https:// www.publichealthnetwork.cymru/en/get-involved/past-event/healthy-minds-for-future-generations-promoting-dementia-risk-reduction/ After the lunch break delegates took part in 3 parallel workshops: • Being Active Through Life – A tool to help reduce the risk of and help those with dementia facilitated by Sport Wales • Dementia and the Role of Our Natural Resources facilitated by Natural Resources Wales • Dementia friendly museums facilitated by National Museums for Wales
The Role of Allied Health Professionals in Public Health was the focus of the final seminar. Taking place at Brangwyn Hall in Swansea on 14th March 2018 and chaired by Judi Rhys, Non-executive director at Public Health Wales, the seminar attracted 43 delegates with a further 84 following the live feed on Twitter. The day was opened by Dr Gill Richardson, Assistant Director of Policy, Research and International Development within Public Health Wales. Gill spoke about the role of Allied Health Professionals and how they are an important part of Public Health. This was followed by two presentations, Judith John – Welsh Therapy Advisory Committee and Linda Hindle – Allied Health Professions Lead, National Engagement Lead Police, Fire and Ambulance Services within Public Health England. Judith spoke about the recently published Strategic Framework for Allied Health Professions and how in Wales they are in a key position, to embed preventative health care principles across the range of their services and through their contacts with large numbers of the population, to make a valuable contribution to public health outcomes. Linda presented on the ‘Evidence and Impact of Allied Health Professions Contribution to Public Health’. Linda shared information on the role and successes of Allied Health Professions in England and what has contributed to those successes. Three workshops were held during the afternoon covering ‘Developing the Workforce’;
2017 Public Health Network Cymru Roadshow – ‘Promising Practice’ A regular and important feature of the network programme is the annual ‘roadshow’. This provides an opportunity to take the network out on the road across Wales to engage with members in their localities. The objectives include promoting the network, getting views from members and informing the continuing development of the network so that it meets the needs articulated by members. However, where the focus of previous roadshows was on promoting and raising awareness of the network it was felt that after 2 years of development the focus should move more to highlighting the work of the members.. The events in Cardiff (All Nations Centre), Rhayader (Elan Valley Hotel), Llandudno Junction (Conwy Business Centre) and Carmarthen (Halliwell Centre) took place throughout May 2017 The first part of the day focused on updating current members and introducing new members to the Network and its functions. Malcolm Ward, Principal Health Promotion Specialist and Network Manager provided an overview of the Network, how it has developed since 2015 and highlighted some of the key conferences and seminars, which the Network had been involved in organising during this time. A short ‘Powerpoint’ video was also shown which further highlighted some of the functions of the Network including the e-bulletins and updated forums. A major part of the morning session focused on show-casing local projects and their work. This was again in response to feedback from the 2016 events where attendees highlighted that they would like an opportunity to share their work and network with other projects from their area. Projects were given the chance to either present their work within an allocated 10 minute slot and / or provide a display stand which was available to view throughout the day. There was a good response to this section and the projects which showcased their work can be seen in the table below. This was also an opportunity to further promote the Shared Practice Toolkit and Directory, and a number of the projects have added their details to the Directory on the Public Health Network Cymru website since the events took place. Feedback from previous roadshow events suggested members wanted the Network to deliver more training. Therefore following lunch, attendees were invited to attend a Making Every Contact Count (MECC) awareness session led by Carol Waldron, Public Health Practitioner in Public Health Wales. This two hour session gave people the opportunity to find out more about MECC and what it involves, and an introduction to the new MECC website which includes functions such as e-learning. At each event a representative from one of the local Public Health Teams also attended to provide local details and information on how to access further training.
Projects that show-cased their work A total of 80 members attended the 4 events including delegates from Health Boards, Public Health Wales, Local Authorities, the Academic and Third Sector.
Cardiff • • • • • • • • •
About Me Autism App Athletic Creations Cardiff Autism Soundwalk British Heart Foundation Derwen Housing Association Drink Wise, Age Well Ovarian Cancer Action Switched On (Cardiff and Vale PHT) YMCA Sexual Health Outreach Team and Cardiff C-CARD Scheme
Conwy • • • • • • • • • •
Arthritis Care in Wales British Heart Foundation C.A.L.L. helpline / Wales Dementia / DAN 247 Care and Repair CONTACT , Wrexham Info Shop Young Peoples Sexual Health Service DAISY (Digital Access Interpreting System) Nyth/Nest – The Welsh Government Fuel Poverty Scheme FPA Jiwsi Run Wales SEXtember Campaign
Rhayader • • • • • • •
British Heart Foundation Arts 4 Wellbeing Diet or Disorder? Arthritis Care in Wales Immunisations – Cradle to Grave Run Wales Smoking Cessation in Pregnancy
Carmarthen • • • • • • •
British Heart Foundation Healthy Lifestyle Advisors Home Fire Safety Checks / Safe, Well and Independent Living (SWAIL) Run Wales Ovarian Cancer Action Wellbeing Through Work University of Wales Trinity Saint David
National Conference – Sexual Health in Wales for Present and Future Generations The network conference this year took place on 22nd March at the All Nation’s Centre in Cardiff. With the title ‘Sexual Health in Wales for Present and Future Generations the conference explored issues identified in the recent Welsh Government Review of Sexual Health in Wales. The day was opened by Dr Frank Atherton, Chief Medical Officer, Welsh Government. Dr Atherton spoke about his past experiences as well as the challenges that we face across Wales and how services are under pressure with the increasing demand. He addressed prevention in the context of STIs, teenage pregnancies and early diagnosis for treatment, as well as thinking about how we can communicate better with the public to avoid stigma around diseases. This was followed by two presentations: Dr Giri Shankar, Lead Consultant for Health Protection, Public Health Wales presented information regarding the recent Sexual Health Review including the objectives, methodology used, key findings and the next steps following this. Adam Jones, Public Health Practitioner (Policy), Public Health Wales and Dr Rachel Drayton, Cardiff & Vale University Health Board presented on the Pre Exposure Prophelaxysis Review PrEP in Wales. There were then four workshops in a parallel session covering: • Dry Swab Chlamydia / Gonorrhoea Testing in the Community Setting • School Practices Important for Students’ Sexual Health: Analysis of the School Health Research Network Survey in Wales • Delivering sexual health education programmes to vulnerable young people in education and community settings. • Sex, Parenting and People with a Learning Disability The afternoon sessions commenced with a presentation on ‘Healthy Relationships in the Welsh Curriculum’ by Dr. Honor Young from DeCIPHER in Cardiff University. Dr Young was also a member of the Healthy Relationships Panel that helped inform the new Welsh curriculum. The final presentation of the day was by Dr. Laetitia Zeeman from University of Brighton. Dr. Zeeman presented the findings from the Health4LGBTI research which was commissioned by the European Commission. This was a pilot study that lasted 2 years and ended in March 2018. The aim was to reduce the health inequalities in LGBTI people. Individual presentations and videos from the day are available by contacting publichealth.network@wales.nhs.uk or can be accessed on the Public Health Network Cymru website.
Partners and stakeholders In addition to the network’s own events we have contributed to a range of other events including: • Once again the network supported colleagues from the Research Division in staging their annual Research Showcase Event. The 2018 event entitled ‘Public Health Research, Policy and Practice: Research with Impact’ took place at the Hadyn Ellis Building at Cardiff University on 8th March 2018. The event attracted 110 delegates with a further 290 following the live streaming on Twitter. • The network worked with colleagues from the Policy Division and from the Wales Institute of Social & Economic Research at Cardiff University to stage the 11th annual Julian Tudor Hart lecture. The lecture took place at the Julian Hodge building in Cardiff University on 16th November 2017 and featured Professor Sir Michael Marmot who presented ‘The health gap: the challenge of an unequal world’. There were approximately 300 delegates in attendance with a further 74 who watched the live stream or its subsequent recording. The video of the lecture can be found at https://www.publichealthnetwork.cymru/en/get-involved/past-event/julian-tudor-hart-lecture-2017/
• The network team worked with colleagues from across the directorate to help facilitate a study visit for European colleagues as part of the EU funded VulnerABLE project. 20 participants from 5 European countries took part in the 2 day visit that was focusing on ‘Co-production and vulnerable groups’ on 6th & 7th July 2017. As well as sessions in Public Health Wales and the Life Sciences Hub, there was also a visit to the Action in Caerau & Ely (ACE) project in Cardiff. • The team helped facilitate a Foresight workshop at Public Health Wales on 20th October 2017. 32 participants took part in the workshop that was delivered by Dr Henk Hilderink from RIVM (The Dutch National Institute for Public and Environmental Health). • Public Health Network Cymru were also represented at a number of events run by stakeholders and partners including the Public Health Wales Welcome, Engage, Network and Develop days and the national Public Health Conference where we provided a stand and recruited new network members.
Reports Public Health Network Cymru Evaluation Report The network undertook an extensive evaluation to ensure it was both meeting its objectives and that it was meeting the needs of its members and stakeholders. The evaluation took place throughout the summer and consisted of an online questionnaire, a series of semi-structured telephone interviews and a focus group with members of the advisory group. Feedback gathered from 139 members using a mixture of an online survey, telephone interviews and a focus group concluded that “Overall, the work of the Network is positively received by both the members and the stakeholders. Most of the aims and objectives of the Network are being met to some extent although there is some room for improvement in areas such as facilitating debates and discussions which are actively engaged with by members, helping to provide future collaborations and if possible, raising awareness of the work of Public Health Wales to ‘non-traditional’ partners. Webinars As we continue to develop to meet the needs of our members, we continue to look for new ways of encouraging active engagement. Whilst webinars are not a new concept, they have not previously featured amongst the services we provide and so the network content producer investigated the potential for this medium. He has compiled a useful ‘how to’ guide as a result of these investigations.
Future Plans It is evident that social media has provided an opportunity to enhance engagement with our members and this is something we will be continuing to exploit as we go forward. Members have previously asked for more training and professional development opportunities and we will continue to explore the potential for these both through our events and by utilising the technology at our disposal. We hope to be able to provide Webinar facilities to members and tie these into some of our events. We continually look to develop our website and our social media strategy appears to be helping by providing an increased profile with many external stakeholders and other like-minded organisations, as well as increasing our accessibility to new and existing members. We will continue to provide our seminar series informed by the members as well as a national conference. And we will seek to engage appropriate partners in the development and delivery of these events. The seminar topics chosen by members for the next year include: Nutrition in Early Years; Mental Health in the Workplace & Older People and Social Isolation. We will also continue to provide a local opportunity for members to share and promote their work through our annual themed roadshows which for 2018 will be on Showcasing Sustainability in partnership with our colleagues from the Health & Sustainability Hub.
Further Information Further information on all aspects of the network including a simple free online registration process can be found at the network website at: http://www.publichealthnetwork.cymru/en/ (English) or http://www.publichealthnetwork.cymru/cy/ (Welsh) Or by emailing publichealth.network@wales.nhs.uk In addition there are Facebook, Twitter & YouTube accounts.
Meet the team Malcolm Ward Malcolm.Ward2@wales.nhs.uk
Marie Griffiths Marie.Griffiths2@wales.nhs.uk
Catherine Evans Catherine.Evans10@wales.nhs.uk
Sarah James Sarah.James10@wales.nhs.uk
Jamie Lee-Wyatt Jamie-Lee.Wyatt@wales.nhs.uk
Rebecca Winslade Rebecca.Winslade@wales.nhs.uk Sorin Annuar Sorin.Annuar@wales.nhs.uk