Scotland's Prevention Approach from the Ground Up

Really insightful report on Scotland's social policy implementation gap in addressing health inequalities in Scotland published today by SHERU (Scottish Health Equity Research Unit)

Delighted to see Prevention in Practice: Insights from Action Learning published. During my time at Community Renewal Trust, I had the opportunity to contribute to this work, commissioned by SHERU (Scottish Health Equity Research Unit) and funded by The Health Foundation. I facilitated the North Lanarkshire Action Learning Sets and contributed to the analysis and learning that informed the final report. It was also lovely to see that contribution recognised in the acknowledgements. What I find most compelling about this report is that it challenges a comfortable assumption: that the main barrier to prevention is a lack of commitment to it. The people involved in this work were deeply committed to prevention. The challenge was something else entirely: how to deliver ambitious preventative approaches within systems facing rising demand, constrained capacity and increasingly complex needs. One of the report's strongest messages is that prevention is often treated as a delivery issue when it's actually a design issue. If we're serious about reducing poverty, improving health and tackling inequality, we need to pay much closer attention to the realities of implementation and the insight held by the people trying every day to make prevention work. A special thank you to Katherine Smith, Fiona McHardy and the wider SHERU team. It was a privilege to contribute to a piece of work that asks difficult questions and takes implementation seriously. Well worth a read for anyone interested in prevention, public service reform, health inequalities and systems change. #Prevention #HealthInequalities #SystemsChange #PublicServices #Scotland #ActionLearning #SHERU

Our new SHERU report on social policy implementation in Scotland has been a huge amount of work for everyone involved, especially Fiona McHardy, who led it brilliantly. We’ve pulled together a thread of key findings below. There’s also a short executive summary at the start of the report if you’d like more detail. When SHERU was first funded by The Health Foundation, they charged us with examining Scotland's implementation gap. Some of those at our launch event queried whether this was the right focus and I was myself cautious and encouraged our shift towards focusing on strengthening policy implementation. Having completed this stage of the research, I think the focus on how best to address Scotland's implementation gap holds up and I hope the report offers some clear ideas here. The following three insights are the main take-aways for me: 1. People delivering Scotland's frontline services are often not just highly dedicated, they also have incredibly important insights about what is working, where people are falling through gaps, and where changes are needed; 2. Scotland is not currently drawing sufficiently on this implementation intelligence in designing major policies or delivery plans and this is a crucial part of explaining why we have such an implementation gap between policy ambitions in housing, employment and poverty, and people's lived realities; 3. If we continue with this approach to policymaking, implementation gaps will persist, contributing to burnout and cynicism within services designed to deliver policies, and distrust and disenfranchisement within communities who most need these services. We need to design social policies, delivery plans and ways of measuring progress with the people who deliver services and the communities who rely on them. Their knowledge needs to shape policy from the outset, rather than (too often) only being sought via stakeholder consultation and performance management.

Very excited that Cultivate Courage has been recommissioned to deliver the Foundation Programme in Public Health in conjunction with Barnsley Council and UK Faculty of Public Health. I trained over 1000 people on this programme last year and got some wonderful feedback (see original post). 100% of delegates agreed or strongly agreed that the facilitator was effective and engaging 😍. This year I am also supporting SME's using public health tools and techniques, to tackle some of their most pressing people and cultural challenges. If this sounds interesting to you or anyone you know, I'd appreciate you sharing or drop me a message and lets have a brew 😊. #publichealth #training #coaching #SME #workforcehealth #Yorkshire

We are delighted to have been recommissioned to deliver the Foundation Programme in Public Health, in conjunction with Barnsley Council and the UK Faculty of Public Health. This programme is aimed at health staff to prevent poor health outcomes before they start and to reduce health inequalities. It's so good to be back working with colleagues in Barnsley 😊. Last year we worked with over 1000 learners. 100% of participants agreed or strongly agreed with the statement “The facilitator was effective and engaging”. Have a look at some of the feedback below. Public health approaches don't just work for large organisations. They can also be useful for SME businesses to tackle some of their most pressing people and culture challenges, such as high turnover, staff disengagement and productivity gaps. If this sounds interesting to you, drop us a message and let's have a brew. #PublicHealth #WorkforceDevelopment #HealthInequalities #training #yorkshire

As more healthcare moves online, digital exclusion is becoming a public health issue, not just an IT problem. Public Health Wales has published a new practical guide on working with digitally excluded communities, drawing on evidence and practitioners across local authorities, community organisations, housing associations, academia and NHS partners. A few things stand out. 1. Digital transformation and health inequalities are connected More health services are accessed digitally, but access to a device doesn't mean someone can use those services. The guide highlights barriers including affordability, unreliable internet access, digital skills, confidence, accessibility, language and online safety. Digital transformation can't be separated from health inequalities. 2. This work sits across several public health specialisms Digital inclusion isn't one profession's job. It touches health improvement, inequalities, community engagement, behavioural science, service design, evaluation and policy, and the organisations behind the guide are just as varied. Public health problems rarely fit neatly inside organisational boundaries. 3. Implementation skills matter as much as identifying the problem Knowing digital exclusion exists is the starting point. The guide focuses on identifying barriers, tailoring interventions and measuring whether they work, core public health capabilities. Understanding a need is one thing; designing and evaluating a response is what turns evidence into practice. 4. Digital literacy matters beyond dedicated digital roles You don't need to become a digital-health specialist, but understanding how digital systems can widen inequalities is increasingly part of the job. Ask: who might struggle to access this? What are we assuming about digital confidence? How will we know if it's reaching those most at risk? What this means for your career: If you're building a career in health improvement, inequalities, population health or community engagement, digital inclusion is worth understanding, not because you need to become a technologist, but because understanding who's excluded and why is becoming part of effective public health practice. Source: Public Health Wales, Working with Digitally Excluded Communities: Practical Pathways to Action and Impact, September 2026. https://lnkd.in/ekDpBVuw Follow Public Health Careers Hub for UK public health career intelligence, opportunities and practical guidance. #publichealth #publichealthcareers #healthinequalities #digitalhealth #populationhealth #workforcedevelopment #careerintelligence

🐨Australia launches its first National Health Literacy Framework🐨 #HLCO Editors-in-Chief A/Prof Carissa Bonner and A/Prof Danielle Muscat attended the launch of Australia's National #HealthLiteracy Framework. ⭐Across 6 principles and 4 aims, the Framework's vision is that all people and communities in Australia are empowered and supported to access, understand and use health information and services to make informed decisions about their health and wellbeing. ⭐The Framework was developed by the Sydney Health Literacy Lab in partnership with the Sax Institute for the Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing. 👀Access the Framework here https://lnkd.in/e2dPkgtw

I’m excited to share that I’ll be presenting at the American Public Health Association (APHA) 2026 Annual Meeting & Expo this November in San Antonio, Texas! My work, “A Community Health Worker Led Community Clinical Integration Model to Address Loneliness and Mental Health Disparities Across the Lifespan: The Neighbor Connection Initiative (NCI),” will be presented as part of the Community Health Workers Section Poster Session – CHW Integration and Workforce Development. The Neighbor Connection Initiative is a proposed community health worker–led model designed to strengthen community-clinical integration and address loneliness, mental health disparities, and gaps in social connection and access to care. What makes this moment especially meaningful is where the work began. NCI was originally developed during my time as a graduate student at the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, where an idea that began in the classroom grew into an approach for addressing an increasingly important public health challenge. I’m grateful for the opportunity to now bring this work to a national public health audience and contribute to conversations around community health, health equity, workforce development, mental health, and more connected systems of care. I’m looking forward to sharing the work, learning from public health professionals and colleagues from across the country and around the world, and connecting with others working to strengthen the relationship between communities and healthcare systems. If you’ll be attending APHA 2026, I’d be glad to connect in San Antonio and learn more about the work you’re doing. 📍 San Antonio, Texas Tuesday, November 3, 2026 APHA 2026 Annual Meeting & Expo #APHA2026 #PublicHealth #HealthEquity #MentalHealth #PopulationHealth #CommunityHealthWorkers #CommunityClinicalIntegration #HealthServicesResearch

What if the problem with most health interventions isn't the science, but the execution? I was reading about exercise form and technique recently, and it struck me how much of what we know about effectiveness comes down to the basics being done correctly. The research shows that isolation exercises work. The evidence is solid. But in real practice, people are swinging weights, using too much load, rushing through reps, and wondering why they're not seeing results. It's the same pattern I see in public health programming and community health initiatives. We have the evidence. We know what works. But implementation quality varies dramatically, and that gap between efficacy in studies and effectiveness in actual communities is where outcomes fall apart. The difference between a well executed intervention and a poorly executed one isn't marginal. It's the difference between moving the needle on health outcomes and spinning wheels. That's why outcomes research matters so much. It forces us to look at what actually happens when evidence meets real world conditions, real populations, real constraints. Not just whether something works in theory, but whether it works when a community health worker with limited resources tries to implement it on a Tuesday afternoon. If we're serious about early detection, community empowerment, and health equity, we need to get just as rigorous about implementation as we are about the science itself. https://lnkd.in/e-skm_HC

How do we make sure scientific knowledge doesn’t stop at insight, but actually contributes to change? At the Human Health Transitions Day, Victor Sannes from the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS) will take us to the heart of the science–policy interface. In his keynote “Translating Science to Policy”, he will explore what it takes to turn scientific evidence into meaningful action for public health. What opportunities arise when science and policy come together? Where do we encounter barriers? And what is needed for knowledge to truly inform decisions and create societal impact? An important conversation for anyone working on health transitions: generating knowledge is one thing, creating the conditions for that knowledge to make a difference is another. 📅 13 October 2026 📍 Human Health Transitions Day, Wageningen The Human Health Transitions Day brings together researchers, policymakers and societal partners to explore how science can contribute to lasting change in health and society. 👉 Join us and explore the full programme: https://lnkd.in/ectqTzKw #HumanHealth #PreventiveHealth #ScienceToPolicy #PublicHealth #HealthTransitions #EWUU #WUR