Public health
Public Health Lead
We also have a network of public health champions promoting the message in their workplaces, sharing good practice, and motivating and empowering colleagues to engage with the public health agenda. If you would like to get involved, please get in touch.
What is public health?
Public health is the promotion of health and well-being, prevention of ill-health and reduction of health inequalities.
The NHS Long Term Plan sets out the vision for a healthier nation with a focus on prevention and public health. To achieve this, there needs to be engagement of the wider health workforce, ensuring we take a holistic view of our patients to improve their health and wellbeing. As orthoptists, we are ideally placed to embrace this initiative and contribute to better health for all.
Four priority areas
With our AHP colleagues, four priority areas have been chosen where we can make a difference:
- giving children the best start in life
- making every contact count
- emotional health and wellbeing
- health wellbeing of older adults
An effective and quick way to make an impact is by having healthy conversations and recording these in the patient’s notes to measure impact.
Orthoptists in public health
Orthoptists play a crucial role in supporting the public’s health.
For example, they lead child vision screening programmes, address vision and eye movement disorders in stroke care, and pick up the early signs and symptoms of cancer or illness, enabling early detection so that people receive prompt treatment. Orthoptists also support people’s wider health through Make Every Contact Count (MECC) and by using social prescribing for non-clinical needs, such as social inclusion or welfare support.
We worked with the Royal College of Public Health to produce an infographic highlighting the public health role of orthoptists. An accompanying handbook is available on the RCPH website.
The Allied Health Professions Federation Scotland’s Compendium of case studies highlights the important contributions of AHPs in public health, and includes two case studies from orthoptists.
Healthy Conversations
You can find out how orthoptists can have healthy conversations in the context of their work in the following scenarios:
Double Vision and Diabetes
How do you have a healthy conversation about your patient’s lifestyle choices? Do those patients with diabetes know the risks the disease has on their eyes and vision? Can you measure the impact of that healthy conversation on the patient’s lifestyle? This scenario is an example of how you can support a patient with diabetes in making healthy life choices.
IIH in children
This scenario demonstrates how a student Orthoptist can be supported in having a healthy conversation about topics they might find more difficult to discuss with patients and parents
Smoking in Thyroid Eye Disease
How do you have a healthy conversation about your patient’s lifestyle choices? Do those patients who smoke know the risks that has on their eyes and vision? Can you measure the impact of that healthy conversation on the patient’s lifestyle? This scenario is an example of how you can support a smoker with thyroid eye disease in making healthy life choices.
Public Health
Public Health is everybody’s business, whether you’re a doctor, nurse, or allied health professional. So how can you implement it into every day clinical practice? Here’s a short video that will equip you with the skills you need to Make Every Contact Count with your patients.
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