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Supporting nurse health champions: developing a 'new generation' of health improvement facilitators

Blake, Holly; Chambers, D.

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Authors

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HOLLY BLAKE holly.blake@nottingham.ac.uk
Professor of Behavioural Medicine

D. Chambers



Abstract

In efforts to respond to key government public health initiatives for settings-based health promotion, the ‘Workplace Health Champion’ role has emerged as a method of promoting health within the UK healthcare setting. Health promotion techniques used by these individuals are based on psychological theories that are known to motivate people to change behaviours associated with ill-health. Health Champions, like NHS Health Trainers, assist individuals in setting personal goals to change behaviours thus encouraging empowerment and individual sense of control over personal health and wellbeing. This article describes the developing role of NHS Health Champions in the public health agenda. Nurses are well placed to promote healthy lifestyles to their patients and clients although evidence suggests that healthcare staff do not always heed their own advice, despite being viewed as role models for health amongst the general public. Nurses are proposed here as both targets and facilitators of health promotion and are advocated as ideal workplace health champions within the NHS. This might be achieved through structured educational training in health improvement for nurses and other healthcare professionals. We propose that health service managers consider supporting healthcare professionals to become workplace health champions.

Citation

Blake, H., & Chambers, D. (in press). Supporting nurse health champions: developing a 'new generation' of health improvement facilitators. Health Education Journal, 71(2), https://doi.org/10.1177/0017896910396767

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Nov 24, 2009
Online Publication Date Apr 1, 2011
Deposit Date Dec 20, 2016
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Health Education Journal
Print ISSN 0017-8969
Electronic ISSN 1748-8176
Publisher SAGE Publications
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 71
Issue 2
DOI https://doi.org/10.1177/0017896910396767
Keywords behaviour change, Health Champions, health improvement, Health Trainers, nursing
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/707269
Publisher URL http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0017896910396767

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