Topic > Wider public health workforce

Improving public health will be key to reducing these costs and the importance of this is rightly recognized in the National Health Service (NHS) Five Year Vision. A key part of how we will achieve this goal is to embed healthy lifestyles in all communities, making public health “everyone's business.” At the Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH), our aim is to develop the skills and knowledge of the 'public health workforce as a whole'. RSPH and PHE have recognized the importance of engaging this workforce to support a “radical upgrade in prevention” enabling far more people to access vital health support and advice, including those from “hard to reach” groups. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The broader workforce is defined as “any individual who is not a public health specialist or professional, but has the opportunity or capacity to positively impact” health and well-being through their work (paid or unpaid). (CfWI and RSPH)[U1] (CfWI, 2014) The estimated headcount for the wider workforce is 20.2 million people (including those providing unpaid care and support). There are 57 occupational groups that reflect the broader workforce. Within these groups there are 185 job occupations. The broader workforce was classified by level of engagement in public health: active, engaged, and disengaged[U2]. The categorization of occupations was determined by the experience, knowledge and informed opinions of the workshop participants. Using national data from the Office for National Statistics' Labor Force Survey (ONS, 2014a), the CfWI estimates that there are around 15 million people in England employed in occupations that have the opportunity or capacity to impact on health and well-being through their work. The occupations included in this estimate of the broader public health workforce were confirmed through workshops. Furthermore, the UK Census (ONS, 2011) suggests that there are around 5 million people providing unpaid care and support to family or friends due to disability, illness or poor mental health. This gives us an approximate range of 15 to 20 million people in the broader public health workforce. Stakeholder workshops classified occupations as: active, concerned, or not engaged with public health. There is now a wealth of evidence to suggest that early adopters into the wider workforce providing public health services are indeed firefighters, health trainers, pharmacists, allied health professions and parts of the social housing sector. While these are certainly not the only groups that make significant contributions to health and well-being, these diverse groups can be a good starting point for developing a broader workforce on a larger scale. Many of the occupations identified as part of the broader workforce are those that have direct and regular contact with the public. Our initial estimate indicates that nearly half (48%) of the workforce as a whole may have the opportunity to build trusting relationships through repeated interactions with the public. This could be through an established client list (e.g. hairdressers, midwives, teaching assistants) or close ties to a local community (e.g. elected officials, librarians, police officers). What is clear is that they are there..