1. Paul Casey Assistant Project Manger - Speakeasy Expert hearing: Involving lay people in public health roles Friday 13 th June 2008

2. Questions I will address today What are the challenges in involving lay people in developing/delivering public health/health promotion activities and how do these impact upon sustainability and practice? Why should we bother involving lay people in public health roles? Why should lay people bother getting involved?

3. To enable parents to talk positively and confidently with their children about sex, relationships and growing up To increase parents’ factual knowledge about sex and relationships To increase parents’ confidence and communication skills about sex, relationships and growing up To provide a step towards further learning/personal development for parents in priority groups To support parenting practitioners using the Speakeasy model and delivering Speakeasy as part of their work Speakeasy

4. Speakeasy Facilitator Training Programme Who are the participants? Professionals who work with parents and carers in the community Professionals with group work experience who want to work with parents Parents or carers who have been through Speakeasy themselves Some participants have sexual health knowledge and/or training but most do not

5. What are the challenges? – fpa’s point of view Do the lay people who come have a complete understanding about what they are signing up to? Do the lay people (and their managers) have total commitment because they are not generally paying for the course out of their own budgets? Do the lay people have support from their managers, in terms of time and funding, to complete their own portfolios and deliver Speakeasy?

6. What are the challenges? – fpa’s point of view Lay people change jobs between the beginning of the course and the end which means they cannot complete their training. fpa has runs networks across the country to help trained lay people keep up-to-date. What about those who do not attend? fpa does not have a central register of all the courses that people are delivering

7. What are the challenges? – the lay person’s view “Time constraints. It would only be possible to run one course at a time, although ideally it would be excellent to make the course more widely available.” “Problems getting interpreters to ensure sufficient understanding for one parent…” “It is difficult to engage the community in any kind of training and learners are slow to come forward.” “Costs of OCN accreditation also present concern for us and other community organisations.”

8. Why involve lay people? They have direct access to parents and carers through their day-to-day roles They are often known and trusted in the community and therefore better placed to deal sensitive issues of sex and sexuality Their approach to the issues of sex and sexuality may be more informal and ‘down to earth’

9. Why would lay people want to be involved? To enhance their own personal and professional development To add a new dimension to the work that they do which enhances the work they are doing already with parents and carers They have the attitude that good sexual health is the entitlement of everyone and they are keen to play their part in promoting good health

10. Speakeasy in progress…