Health & Employability A Training Pack for Health Professionals

Employment & Health Employment could arguably be the most important public health issue in the UK and the largest determinant of ill health in the workless population.

Policy Context Healthy Working Lives a plan for action Scottish Government 2004 Workforce Plus Scottish Government 2006 Better Health Better Care Scottish Government 2007 Health works Scottish Government 2009

Background Scottish Government Lifelong Learning Directorate Employability Team Identified need for training for health staff Existing resources - varying contents approaches & materials Duplication of effort Non-standardised

Development Expert group formed Wide representation Drawing from good practice –cross sector approaches Focus on health staff Employability for Health Professionals…... or ……Health & Employability

Health & Employability AIM To raise awareness of the links between health and employability and explore with healthcare staff ways to consider incorporating this into practice for the benefit of their patients / clients –Promotes concept –Half day –Participatory learning –KSF

Employability Employability encompasses all the things that enable people to increase their chances of getting a job, staying in, and progressing further, in work.... for each individual, there will be different reasons why they are not achieving what they would like in employment – perhaps their confidence and motivation, their skills, their health, or where they live compared to where the jobs are available. (Workforce Plus: Scottish Government Employability Framework 2006)... for each individual, there will be different reasons why they are not achieving good health – perhaps their confidence and motivation, their skills, their job, or where they live compared to where healthcare is available.

Fit for Work? Consider your overall health today on a scale of 1-10, with 10 the absolute best and 1 the worst it could be

The Evidence Is work good for your health and well- being? (Waddell G, Burton AK.2006) In a nutshell: –work is good for health –long-term unemployment is bad for health But…. What does this mean (real world)

Barriers & Support Barriers –impact on health NHS Role –positive & negative Employability Pathway –insight not experts Health Improvement –change perspective

Role of Health Professionals When and how should health staff discuss employability with their patients? Addressing similar barriers Not fixing everything Influencing perception Skills and rapport

….. What Next? Pack with NES Flying start programme Online resource Train the trainers Roll out……