Understand the care workforce’s contribution to public health

In this section we’ll take a look at the many ways in which the care workforce are contributing to the health and wellbeing of others, not just individuals but the Scottish population as a whole. This is also known as Public Health.

The aim of public health is to create the conditions for people to live healthy lives, and by ‘healthy’ we mean all aspects of physical and mental health. This involves improving and protecting the health and wellbeing of people in our society. 

Many professions are involved in creating or improving the conditions in which people live, and the care workforce are central to this. We can work together to give everyone the best chance to live long, healthy and fulfilling lives.

In our day to day lives we face risks which are harmful to our health such as infectious diseases and chemical hazards (in our places of work and our own homes). Health protection measures aim to keep people safe from these risks, or reduce the risk of harm as much as practically possible.  These risks are present in our day to day lives as well as in an emergency such as the COVID-19 global pandemic. 

The way we do our job and things we do at home can play a big part in protecting the health of those we care for, ourselves, our colleagues and our communities.

Through basic actions, known as preventative measures, we can contribute to reducing the transmission of diseases and illnesses, such as stomach bugs, coughs, colds, flu, corona virus, HIV, tuberculosis and measles.  

Preventative measures like washing hands (hand hygiene), cleaning protocols and the safe disposal of waste are essential parts of protecting ourselves and those we care for. 

The most effective way to reduce infectious disease is considered to be through immunisation, where people receive a vaccine which stimulates an immune response to the disease. When vaccine coverage is high enough the disease can potentially be eliminated, such as with Smallpox which was eradicated by 1980.

There is an extensive vaccine programme in the UK. Different vaccines are given at different ages to protect adults and children. 

As a care worker, getting vaccinated against infectious diseases will protect yourself and those you care for. 

The SSSC and Public Health Scotland were among a range of public sector organisations to promote the COVID-19 vaccine. Here’s a helpful article which contains our advice to care workers, including what people should do if concerned about taking the vaccine. 

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A complex mix of things influence our health and wellbeing. Factors such as our genetic make-up and our individual behaviour choices can have an impact on how healthy we are and how long we can expect to live.  

However, by far the biggest influences on our health and wellbeing and life expectancy are the conditions in which we live and work. Care professionals have a significant opportunity to improve the health and wellbeing of individuals they care for and the wider communities in which their employer is providing services. There is an opportunity to improve or create the conditions for people to thrive. 

Social contact and our relationships with others have a positive impact on wellbeing.  Isolation has been a big problem for many vulnerable groups during COVID-19 restrictions, particularly so for those in residential care services like care homes. Care workers can help people to maintain their social connections, which can include using technology to help people stay in touch when they can’t meet in person.

Stress and uncertainty can also influence our wellbeing. Working together to maintain a happy, relaxed care setting can be beneficial to all.

It is said that being physically active is the single best thing you can do to improve health and wellbeing. In fact, it’s so important that in 2017 the Care Inspectorate (the organisation which helps care services to improve) designed the Care About Physical Activity (CAPA) programme which reached 430 care services and over 2,500 social care professionals. Play this short video below to learn about CAPA.

If you can, try to also make time to play this video about the benefits of being active, even for 30 minutes a day.  Active does not mean sport or going to a gym, it might be armchair exercise, dancing or walking. Despite the title of ‘23 and ½ hours’, don’t worry it’s only 9 minutes long.

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Not everyone in Scotland enjoys the same health outcomes. The most vulnerable groups in our society have the worst health outcomes.

The short video below describes health inequalities in Scotland, using an example from Glasgow. The video shows there is a difference in how long someone can expect to live depending on where they are born, study, work and live.  This unfair difference in people’s health is referred to as a health inequality.

Health inequalities are due to factors such as access to and quality of care and the availability of treatments, how much money you have and the circumstances in which you live (for example, quality of housing or where you live). In short, they are avoidable, but rarely are they due to personal choices. People in difficult circumstances often have few choices available to them.  

Health inequalities not only affect how long you can expect to live. Here are some other examples.

• Homeless people are 14 times more likely than those in the general population to die by suicide. (Source: King’s Fund) 
• The life expectancy of people with learning disabilities is a lot shorter than the Scottish average. (Source: Public Health Scotland) 
• People in the most affluent areas of Scotland experience around 24 more years of ‘good health’ (before ill health or long term conditions) compared to those living in the most deprived areas. (Source: National Records of Scotland) 
• People are 2.3 times more likely to die from COVID-19 if they live in the most deprived areas in Scotland. (Source: Scottish Government) 
• Some ethnic minority groups face up to five times greater rates of death from COVID-19 compared with people of White British background. This is not related to genetic factors but due to the conditions people live and work in. (Source: National Records of Scotland) 

Many of these health inequalities cannot be fixed by you alone. There needs to be changes to government policy and improvements to the communities we live and work in. A recent example of a policy which aims to reduce a known health inequality is funding for annual health checks for people with learning disabilities.  

Being aware of health inequalities like this and what causes them, and understanding the unfair nature of them is really important. It will help you ensure that when you are caring for people you are doing so free from judgement, while also helping them to make healthy choices.  

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