It is largely accepted that a healthy workforce in any industry is vital to the success of the company, providing benefits for financial returns, expenditure, and morale. In healthcare, this is even more true.

As healthcare professionals, the words health and care are in our job description. These two elements are the core of our roles, and also key to our success at these roles. This impacts on the success and sustainability of the services in which we work, the patients we see, as well as our own lives beyond practice. Despite us spending much time caring for others, we often find our own health and wellbeing can take the back seat.

This goes beyond physical health

Last year, we recognised this gap and challenged #WeAHPs to get active to help improve and promote health and wellbeing among allied health professionals by increasing physical activity and role modelling healthy behaviours. Although we’re extending the challenge this year with the rest of the WeCommunities, we recognise that our own health and wellbeing – just like with our patients – goes far beyond the physical activity we do.

Myers and Sweeney (2004), The Indivisible Self: An Evidence - Based Model of Wellness

Health and Wellbeing for You and Your Patients

Poor health and wellbeing are estimated to result in the loss of 500,000,000working days in the NHS, while many other health care professionals continue to struggle in work with poor health and wellbeing. This can have a significant impact on us, our patients and our services.

On an individual level, looking after our own health and wellbeing gives us a better quality of life, as well as a longer life and more enjoyment in doing what we do. Through being a healthy example we can also offer ourselves as an effective role model to our patients.

The idea of Making Every Contact Count is an established practice for many allied health professionals. This includes promoting lifestyle advice (whether that be diet, exercise, alcohol or smoking). To promote what we know is healthy, while we ourselves are not following the same advice, offers a poor example and makes the advice we offer less trustworthy same is said for having the confidence to raise such an issue, where the professional does not feel they are a role model for the behaviour.

Collectively, WHO identify that a healthy workforce is not only of benefit to the services in which they work, but also to the nation, as healthy habits feed into families and communities improving the national picture of health

It’s therefore clear to see that an allied health workforce that is fit and healthy would have a positive impact not just on us and the patients we see day to day, but also the services in which we work and the public’s health.

Let’s discuss

So, how is it we can look after our own health and wellbeing while working in services under immense pressures? And what does this mean for our patients,services, and the picture of national health? Join us on 30^th June to discuss A healthy Workforce: our own health and wellbeing at 8pm.

Questions to think about before the chat

• Why do we need a healthy workforce? What is the impact on individual practitioners? What is the impact on patients? What is the wider impact?
• What makes a workforce healthy? What can impact on health for allied health professionals?
• What can you do to keep healthy outside of work? What can you do to keep healthy at work?
  
• How can you support your colleagues or employees in health?