Keeping Us Well - Helping Us Get Better - Part Two
Introduction
In this information pack, various aspects of health promotion campaigns will be
explained, assessed and analysed. In early 2019, Mental Health Awareness week
included a campaign created by the Mental Health Foundation that was titled ‘Be
Body Kind’ (Mental Health Foundation, 2019); this focused on improving body image
across the nation in order to improve public mental health. It used various strategies
in order to promote the message of body positivity to its wide target audience,
involving multiple media resources that were shared during the week to ensure
various groups of individuals were aware of not only the campaign, but also
resources if they were struggling with their body image. Public health promotion
campaigns not only aim to improve the overall health of individuals and to reduce
health inequalities, but also to simultaneously meet the aims of public health policies
through the use of various strategies and approaches.
Health Promoters
In order to improve the health of the population, good health is promoted by various
services and organisations to ensure the message is shared appropriately.
Promotion campaigns often have two combined aims: to improve the overall health
of individuals and to reduce health inequalities. By targeting these two aims,
promotion campaigns can ensure that they are focused on the possible outcomes of
the campaign as they will have specific targets to meet that will demonstrate whether
or not the campaign has met the expected aims.
Globally, there is one main health promoter which is the World Health Organisation
who have the primary aim of coordinating public health promotion campaigns within
the United Nations framework (WHO, 2019). Countries around the globe provide the
WHO with statistics about their nations health which are then compiled into a report:
the information within the report can then be shared across the globe to alert
countries of inequalities in healthcare, this allows for more wealthy countries to
support those with a reduced income. Having an understanding of the evident
healthcare needs across the globe allows the WHO to understand how best to
enforce health promotion in certain areas and what the needs are within that region
to ensure promotion is effective. Since the WHO has vast amounts of data, it can
support countries to develop their healthcare systems and promotion campaigns as
they will be able to understand what has previously been effective in certain areas
and whether it will work in the areas that are in need.
In England, the Department of Health is the organisation responsible for the
promotion of health and wellbeing across the nation. They work using multi-agency
working as they work with various other departments in the Government, as well as
with agencies from the voluntary sector. In 2015, the Department of Health outlined
their shared delivery plan which highlights their aims which are: to improve out-of-
hospital care, create safe services, improve and maintain standards, improve service
efficiency and enable individuals to make choices about their own care (Department
of Health, 2015). Within England, the Department of Health works with 28 other
agencies (GOV.UK, 2019), each one providing specialist knowledge to ensure that
health promotion is effective as it is based on recent, accurate data that has been
1
,collected and analysed by specialists.
In 2013, NHS England took on full responsibility for the planning and delivery of all
health services in England and became directly accountable to the Department of
Health. NHS England helps to devise policies to put in place within NHS Trusts
across the country (Pearson, 2016) to ensure that current health issues are
promoted to the correct demographic and scale that is necessary. It is also in charge
of commissioning services that support the delivery of health promotions, it does this
with the support of Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) which plan and pay for
local services across the nation.
In April 2013, the NHS formed clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) in England that
have the main aim of taking on “greater delegated commissioning responsibilities for
GP services” (Pearson, 2016) and other healthcare professionals such as a practice
nurse. CCGs are also responsible for managing “approximately 2/3 of the total NHS
England budget” (NHSCC, 2019) and must therefore assess the health needs of
areas within England before deciding whether or not allow them funding. In local
areas, CCGs are led by local groups or clinicians with influence over commissioning
decisions which is beneficial as they have an awareness of how the services are run
first-hand so will be able to ensure that resources are allocated appropriately.
Within NHS England, there are various NHS Trusts with each one being made up of
a series of healthcare providing services from a local area. Trusts are accountable to
the local community and although are governed partially by NHS England, local
people can join the board of governors for the Trust and take responsibility for
decisions (Pearson, 2016). All decisions with regard to changes to the trust must be
presented to the board of governors who will then rule either in favour of the change
or against it; since the board is made up of local people, they will know best what is
needed to support the local area so will be able to ensure any decisions made are
appropriate. Since the public health needs of individuals vary across the nation,
having smaller trusts within the NHS helps to ensure that public health promotion is
targeted towards the specific needs of that local area.
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough CCG
In Cambridgeshire, the CCG in charge of organising care in the local area is called
the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Clinical Commissioning Group. It is one of the
largest CCG’s in all of England by patient population with over eighty GP practices
covered by the group (Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Clinical Commissioning
Group, 2018).
One of the plans created by the CCG is to improve and transform maternity care in
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough to ensure that women feel supported and
informed throughout their pregnancy (Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Clinical
Commissioning Group, 2019). Part of this plan involves helping to empower women
to make more informed decisions relating to their care through providing them with
greater information about their treatment and care options during their pregnancy. In
2019, they published a booklet titled Your Choices that walks a women through the
options for where they can choose to give birth within the area as there are three
different hospitals covered by the group, and although one may be closer to an
individual, they may prefer to have their child at a certain hospital. Additionally,
expectant mothers are able to decide if they would like support during labour from a
2
, midwife led team, a consultant led team,
or a team of various health professionals.
Within the booklet, there is information
relating to the benefits and possible
disadvantages of certain choices a
women might make however it helps to
guide a women to make the correct
decision as they will have access to vital
information.
Measles Outbreak
As
England were in the middle of World War 2 at the time of the measles outbreak
(Telegraph, 2019), they suffered great losses as many individuals died from disease
at home, preventing them from going out to fight in the World War and replace the
soldiers that were killed in action. Due to the War, England suffered great financial
losses which left individuals without the money to afford better housing and therefore
left in constant close proximity. If one individual in the family had measles, then they
would likely spread the disease to all others in the household due to it being an
airborne disease and individuals living in very close proximity to each other.
Additionally, any soldiers that came back from the War may have had measles due
to being in close proximity with others, meaning that when they came back home,
they may have been carrying the disease which would have spread it to any
individual who they came into contact with.
In 1961, another measles outbreak occurred in which the notifiable cases of measles
rose to 693,803 (Public Health England, 2019). Despite there being more cases of
measles in 1961 compared to 1940, there were significantly less deaths, with only
152 individuals dying during that year from measles. Since the NHS was fully
established by this point in time, they were able to offer their health services and
assistance to those with measles, meaning that individuals with the disease were
more likely to survive. Those who had little finances were still able to utilise health
services and treatments as the NHS was free at the point of delivery, meaning that
they could get fluids and medications for no additional cost (British Medical
Association, 2019). It is possible that this outbreak was due to high migration rates to
England during the 1960s (Telegraph, 2019), meaning that individuals carrying
measles were able to bring it over and infect those that they were migrating with.
After the War, England became more financially secure and the economy boomed
which drew migrants from other countries due to the greater prospects in England.
3
Introduction
In this information pack, various aspects of health promotion campaigns will be
explained, assessed and analysed. In early 2019, Mental Health Awareness week
included a campaign created by the Mental Health Foundation that was titled ‘Be
Body Kind’ (Mental Health Foundation, 2019); this focused on improving body image
across the nation in order to improve public mental health. It used various strategies
in order to promote the message of body positivity to its wide target audience,
involving multiple media resources that were shared during the week to ensure
various groups of individuals were aware of not only the campaign, but also
resources if they were struggling with their body image. Public health promotion
campaigns not only aim to improve the overall health of individuals and to reduce
health inequalities, but also to simultaneously meet the aims of public health policies
through the use of various strategies and approaches.
Health Promoters
In order to improve the health of the population, good health is promoted by various
services and organisations to ensure the message is shared appropriately.
Promotion campaigns often have two combined aims: to improve the overall health
of individuals and to reduce health inequalities. By targeting these two aims,
promotion campaigns can ensure that they are focused on the possible outcomes of
the campaign as they will have specific targets to meet that will demonstrate whether
or not the campaign has met the expected aims.
Globally, there is one main health promoter which is the World Health Organisation
who have the primary aim of coordinating public health promotion campaigns within
the United Nations framework (WHO, 2019). Countries around the globe provide the
WHO with statistics about their nations health which are then compiled into a report:
the information within the report can then be shared across the globe to alert
countries of inequalities in healthcare, this allows for more wealthy countries to
support those with a reduced income. Having an understanding of the evident
healthcare needs across the globe allows the WHO to understand how best to
enforce health promotion in certain areas and what the needs are within that region
to ensure promotion is effective. Since the WHO has vast amounts of data, it can
support countries to develop their healthcare systems and promotion campaigns as
they will be able to understand what has previously been effective in certain areas
and whether it will work in the areas that are in need.
In England, the Department of Health is the organisation responsible for the
promotion of health and wellbeing across the nation. They work using multi-agency
working as they work with various other departments in the Government, as well as
with agencies from the voluntary sector. In 2015, the Department of Health outlined
their shared delivery plan which highlights their aims which are: to improve out-of-
hospital care, create safe services, improve and maintain standards, improve service
efficiency and enable individuals to make choices about their own care (Department
of Health, 2015). Within England, the Department of Health works with 28 other
agencies (GOV.UK, 2019), each one providing specialist knowledge to ensure that
health promotion is effective as it is based on recent, accurate data that has been
1
,collected and analysed by specialists.
In 2013, NHS England took on full responsibility for the planning and delivery of all
health services in England and became directly accountable to the Department of
Health. NHS England helps to devise policies to put in place within NHS Trusts
across the country (Pearson, 2016) to ensure that current health issues are
promoted to the correct demographic and scale that is necessary. It is also in charge
of commissioning services that support the delivery of health promotions, it does this
with the support of Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) which plan and pay for
local services across the nation.
In April 2013, the NHS formed clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) in England that
have the main aim of taking on “greater delegated commissioning responsibilities for
GP services” (Pearson, 2016) and other healthcare professionals such as a practice
nurse. CCGs are also responsible for managing “approximately 2/3 of the total NHS
England budget” (NHSCC, 2019) and must therefore assess the health needs of
areas within England before deciding whether or not allow them funding. In local
areas, CCGs are led by local groups or clinicians with influence over commissioning
decisions which is beneficial as they have an awareness of how the services are run
first-hand so will be able to ensure that resources are allocated appropriately.
Within NHS England, there are various NHS Trusts with each one being made up of
a series of healthcare providing services from a local area. Trusts are accountable to
the local community and although are governed partially by NHS England, local
people can join the board of governors for the Trust and take responsibility for
decisions (Pearson, 2016). All decisions with regard to changes to the trust must be
presented to the board of governors who will then rule either in favour of the change
or against it; since the board is made up of local people, they will know best what is
needed to support the local area so will be able to ensure any decisions made are
appropriate. Since the public health needs of individuals vary across the nation,
having smaller trusts within the NHS helps to ensure that public health promotion is
targeted towards the specific needs of that local area.
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough CCG
In Cambridgeshire, the CCG in charge of organising care in the local area is called
the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Clinical Commissioning Group. It is one of the
largest CCG’s in all of England by patient population with over eighty GP practices
covered by the group (Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Clinical Commissioning
Group, 2018).
One of the plans created by the CCG is to improve and transform maternity care in
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough to ensure that women feel supported and
informed throughout their pregnancy (Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Clinical
Commissioning Group, 2019). Part of this plan involves helping to empower women
to make more informed decisions relating to their care through providing them with
greater information about their treatment and care options during their pregnancy. In
2019, they published a booklet titled Your Choices that walks a women through the
options for where they can choose to give birth within the area as there are three
different hospitals covered by the group, and although one may be closer to an
individual, they may prefer to have their child at a certain hospital. Additionally,
expectant mothers are able to decide if they would like support during labour from a
2
, midwife led team, a consultant led team,
or a team of various health professionals.
Within the booklet, there is information
relating to the benefits and possible
disadvantages of certain choices a
women might make however it helps to
guide a women to make the correct
decision as they will have access to vital
information.
Measles Outbreak
As
England were in the middle of World War 2 at the time of the measles outbreak
(Telegraph, 2019), they suffered great losses as many individuals died from disease
at home, preventing them from going out to fight in the World War and replace the
soldiers that were killed in action. Due to the War, England suffered great financial
losses which left individuals without the money to afford better housing and therefore
left in constant close proximity. If one individual in the family had measles, then they
would likely spread the disease to all others in the household due to it being an
airborne disease and individuals living in very close proximity to each other.
Additionally, any soldiers that came back from the War may have had measles due
to being in close proximity with others, meaning that when they came back home,
they may have been carrying the disease which would have spread it to any
individual who they came into contact with.
In 1961, another measles outbreak occurred in which the notifiable cases of measles
rose to 693,803 (Public Health England, 2019). Despite there being more cases of
measles in 1961 compared to 1940, there were significantly less deaths, with only
152 individuals dying during that year from measles. Since the NHS was fully
established by this point in time, they were able to offer their health services and
assistance to those with measles, meaning that individuals with the disease were
more likely to survive. Those who had little finances were still able to utilise health
services and treatments as the NHS was free at the point of delivery, meaning that
they could get fluids and medications for no additional cost (British Medical
Association, 2019). It is possible that this outbreak was due to high migration rates to
England during the 1960s (Telegraph, 2019), meaning that individuals carrying
measles were able to bring it over and infect those that they were migrating with.
After the War, England became more financially secure and the economy boomed
which drew migrants from other countries due to the greater prospects in England.
3
