The Kings Fund define population health as “an approach aimed at improving the health of an entire population. It is about improving physical and mental health outcomes and wellbeing of people across a defined local, regional or national population, while reducing health inequalities.” Understanding what affects the health of the populations we look after is essential if we are to provide responsive medical care.
Health is influenced by a multitude of things outside of access to doctors and hospitals. The WHO estimate that the social determinants of health (issues such as working conditions, housing, food security, discrimination, education) are responsible for up to 55% of health outcomes.
As healthcare professionals, we often meet patients who are affected by these issues. This means we are uniquely placed to advocate for our patients and contribute to work that improves their lives.
Depending on where you work in the region, our patients will face their own unique population health challenges. This module is designed to help you understand how to find out about these issues and ensure your practice is responsive to them.
We will ask you to look at potential strategies for improving population health. This includes public health measures and preventative medicine. This module will introduce some of these concepts and ask you to think about them in your region too.
This module has been designed to be completed in FY2, as it covers lots of the themes already touched upon in the complex multimorbidity and person-centred care domains. If you have already done these, you may want to make some links with the work you have already done. However, this is not essential and you are welcome to tackle this module at any point of your training. This module should take at least six hours to complete.
Resources
This a is a list of resources, divided by the main outcomes of the module. We have tried to keep them as varied as possible, and you will find articles, eLearning, videos and podcasts that are relevant to the domain. The health inequality area of this module has a lot of cross over with the 3-in-1 module. You will find an overlap with the resources listed. It may be that you decide to focus on different areas if you complete both.
You can pick the resources that interest you most, and you are more than welcome to find your own too! If you find something that you think would be helpful to share, feel free to let us know here.
Module Basics
– The Enhance Guide for Foundation Doctors (15 minute read) gives an excellent overview of the Enhance programme with links to other useful resources
– The Enhance Handbook (12 minute read for introductory section) is an in-depth document that gives an overview of the whole programme, along with describing the six enhance domains in detail. You can access individual sections or a PDF of the whole handbook via this page
– The module workbook (9 minute read)
– The pre- and post- module self assessment matrix (2 minute read)
– The evidencing engagement form (2 minute read)
– The REAL form is now on the Horus ePortfolio, accessed here
Health Inequalities
– Health inequalities in a nutshell (3 minute read) is a visual document from the King’s Fund that outlines health inequalities in the UK
– What is health inequality (36 minute read) is an article from the Kings Fund that gives some clear definitions and UK differences in health outcomes for all sorts of groups
– Health disparities and inequalities (40 minute read) is a UK government document that explains healthcare inequality and talks about how we can improve services. It is a really good introduction to some of these concepts
– Behind the Headlines: the unequal impact of the cost of living crisis (15 minute read)- This National Voices report collates patient experiences of the cost of living crisis and how this has affected their health
– The relationship between poverty and NHS services (35 minute read) is an article from the Kings Fund which talks about the link between poverty, ill health and access to healthcare
– MBRRACE-UK maternal mortality report (5 minute read) gives clear data about maternal mortality being worse for black and asian women compared to their white counterparts. This Lancet opinion piece discusses racism and maternal health too
– Black maternal healthcare (50 minute podcast) which discusses how to bridge the gaps between black mothers and healthcare services. This is also available on Spotify here and Apple here
– Anti-racism, leadership and the courage to speak out (30 minute podcast) is also available on Spotify and Apple podcasts
– BMJ racism in medicine issue (various) is a special issue that discusses a broad range of issues, from discriminatory AI to issues in medical training. It also has several interviews with experts
– Sickle cell (30 minute eLearning) is a module from ELFH about the equality gaps in care for sickle cell disease
– Kings Fund work on LGBTQAI+ healthcare (various articles) summarises the main data from the group on sexuality and gender
– What can be done to tackle LGBTQAI+ health inequalities (34 minute podcast) can also be found on Spotify and Apple
– What women want (40 minute podcast) is a podcast from the Kings Fund about women’s health inequalities. This is also available on Spotify and Apple
– Core20plus5 (30 minute eLearning) is an eLearning for life module that focuses on the main areas that contribute to health inequality
– Food for thought; how diet culture is damaging our bodies (14 minute watch) is a TEDx talk about our attitudes to weight and size
Health promotion and public health
– Making every contact count (1 hour elearning)- This ELFH module talks through the concept of making every contact count (MECC.) They discuss how to promote good health and being proactive around preventative health measures
– An introduction to social prescribing (1 hour 45 minute video)- Not sure what social prescribing is? This webinar from the personalised care institute will tell you everything you need to know
– Understanding and responding to gambling harms (1 hour eLearning) is a free online course from the Royal Society of Public Health on recognising and responding to gambling addiction in our patients
– All Our Health stop smoking (10 minute eLearning) gives a quick rundown of smoking cessation. You can find the link at the bottom of the page
– All Our Health alcohol (15 minute eLearning) talks about alcohol use and misuse
– All our Health substance misuse (15 minute eLearning) this gives a brief overview of substance misuse
Understanding public health data
– How can we tackle healthcare inequalities (20 minute read) is an article that discusses what the UK government has done previously to tackle healthcare inequality, and what we need to do now
– Fundamentals of Population Health Management (18 hours eLearning) is a course from the University of Leiden covers epidemiology and the contribution of health behaviours to population health
– Understanding data (various) is eLearning that outlines all the basics you need to know