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Optical Leads Become ‘Health Champions’ After Passing Exam With Flying Colours

3 July 2023

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LOCSU optical leads Bobby Fida and Fionnuala Kidd are now nationally recognised ‘Health Champions’.

It’s after they completed and passed, the Royal Society Public Health Level 2 Understanding Health Improvement (UHI) training delivered by LOCSU.

Bobby and Fionnuala decided to pursue the UHI assessment as part of their commitment to understanding more about health inequalities.

The aim of the UHI award is to cover examples of health inequalities within the UK, their possible causes and current approaches to tackling these inequalities.

Bobby and Fionnuala also learnt how effective communication can play an important role in delivering public health messages and they considered the impact of behaviour change on improving an individual’s health and wellbeing.

The Health Champion’s role is to proactively engage with patients, and the community at large as well as work alongside the rest of the practice team to support people in adopting healthier lifestyles.

Bobby said:

“Whilst increasingly thinking about making healthier choices, I welcome the opportunity to understand more. In addition, if I can make even a small difference to improve the health and wellbeing of my family, friends, colleagues, and patients then I genuinely feel like I’ve done a great job!”

Fionnuala added:

“Healthy lifestyles are good for eye health, and good eye health supports general health and wellbeing. We are perfectly positioned as optometrists, opticians and front of house staff working in optical practice to have a BIG impact on the health and wellbeing of our patient community, and with every contact we have with a patient, we can offer tailored advice about lifestyle change, signpost and offer support.”

The training was conducted in two parts – firstly, an online training programme with 24/7 access to LOCSU’s online learning platform, and secondly, a webinar delivered by LOCSU’s Digital Learning Support Officer (DLSO) Simone Mason.

Simone said:

“LOCSU are here to support LOCs and deliver the training for those members who wish to become a Health Champion. Health Champions are at the heart of offering advice to patients in adopting healthier lifestyles.”

LOCSU can support eye care professionals providing FREE access to HLOP Leadership training and to undertake the Level 2 UHI to become a ‘Health Champion.’

If you’d like more details, please email simonemason@locsu.co.uk providing your name, LOC and your role within the LOC (please copy in your Chair to the email for transparency).

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