Putting the 'public' back into public health

The event, entitled 'Putting the 'public' back into public health' was organised by Health Together, part of the University's Institute for Health and Wellbeing, and brought together public health commissioners, councillors, academics and volunteers to debate how the experience of the public can be built into the evidence needed for commissioning public health activities.

Speaking at the conference, Mike Kelly, Director of the Centre for Public Health Excellence at NICE, said: "We should stop looking for big predictive models of behaviour change and focus on the minutiae of behaviour change and understand them better in order to intervene from a public health point of view.

"There is a very dynamic local authority here in Leeds: you've got councillors who are forging ahead with some great work but there are big differences between wards in Leeds and big differences between Leeds and Bradford so problems occur within equalities; all of which have an impact on public health and on the rich fabric that is any city. Today I will be talking about how to understand that rich fabric better and turn it to your advantage in public health."

Olivia Butterworth, Head of Public Voice for NHS England, added: "We want to talk about how citizens really do get an active and a genuine voice that's listened to by decision-makers and clinicians in the NHS; so that they can take ownership and start shaping their services locally. We've got a big programme called NHS Citizen which is about just that.

"If a local church reading group feels better for being out of the house and socialising with other people; they've kept active because they've supported each other going out for walks, and they're mentally active because they're reading together: how do we place a value on the evidence of their own reported outcomes that gives it as much weight as a randomised control sample of people? Local community groups are not going to fill in forms and report so we've got to understand how to hear people's anecdotal stories and translate those into what we call evidence."

Jane South, Professor of Public Health at Leeds Met, said: "We need a broader view of evidence so we can include people's experiences. When we know people's priorities and the issues that they want to work on, and what works for them, this will help us to do public health better."

Councillor Lisa Mulherin, Chair of Leeds Health and Wellbeing Board, said: "Almost everything we do can have an impact on our health and wellbeing. This is why engaging with people to understand what their experiences, their priorities and their expectations for public health services is so crucial if we are to provide health and care effectively.

"With local authorities taking on responsibility for Public Health and with resources so stretched, we must do our best to work with communities to decide how best to use the available assets to deliver the best health and wellbeing possible. Leeds is already a pioneer in many areas of good practice, but there's always more we can learn."

Speakers at the conference, held at the Rose Bowl, also included Dr Pritti Mehta from NHS England, Alyson McGregor, Director of Altogether Better, Hanif Malik, Chief Executive of the Hamara Centre, plus academics from Leeds Metropolitan University, Durham University and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical- Medicine.

Questions tackled included: what 'evidence' do local authorities, clinical commissioning groups and health and wellbeing boards actually need? How can the experience of citizens be included? What are the challenges of doing this? Is a new model of evidence needed that puts the experience of citizens at its heart?

The core team of Health Together are all part of the Institute for Health and Wellbeing at Leeds Metropolitan University and believes in the power of active citizens to improve health and wellbeing and help tackle inequalities. The team has developed successful programmes and policies, conducted numerous research and evaluation projects and conducted large-scale reviews of evidence and knowledge on what really is effective.