iHV Insights: Invisible: Exploring Fathers’ Mental Health

This webinar is on Thursday 17 July 2025 (join from 3:15pm to allow a prompt start) 3:30pm to 4:30pm.

This is open to all members.

More details coming soon.

How to book

Please note: when you log in you’ll be redirected to the iHV homepage. Simply return to the iHV events webpage to find and book your event.

Once you are viewing this page logged in, the “Register now” button will appear when you click on “Booking Link (click to reveal)“

Research Networking Event

Join us at our next iHV Research Networking Event on 3 September 2025.

Join us for an event featuring insightful presentations and valuable networking opportunities. Christopher Sweeney, Health Visitor and Clinical Academic Fellow at Edinburgh University, will share his PhD research on how health visitors foster social support in parental networks. Additionally, Anulika Ifezue will discuss her role as a Senior Research Leader with the NIHR.

This event is hosted by our Research Network, which is open to all iHV members interested in health visiting research. Whether you’re looking to connect with fellow health visitors, share learning, or explore opportunities to get involved in research this network provides a supportive space to:

Meet regularly with colleagues across the UK
Stay updated on national developments
Learn about funding opportunities
Share research ideas and collaborate
Build a thriving community of health visitor researchers

How to book

Please note: when you log in you’ll be redirected to the iHV homepage. Simply return to the iHV events webpage to find and book your event.

Once you are viewing this page logged in, the “Register now” button will appear when you click on “Booking Link (click to reveal)“

iHV Evidence-based Practice Conference 2026 – call for abstracts now open!

Our call for iHV Evidence-based Practice (EBP) Conference 2026 abstracts is now open!

Submit your abstract for our iHV Evidence-based Practice 2026 Conference “From Evidence to Action: Getting it right from the start” which will be held at Bournemouth International Conference Centre on 6 May 2026.

Babies and children’s health and wellbeing has seen a concerning decline in recent years, with children in the UK having some of the worst health outcomes compared to other similar nations. Health inequalities are widening, especially for those living in more deprived neighbourhoods where the poorest babies and children have the worst outcomes.

Early childhood is important as it lays the foundation for lifelong health and without meaningful intervention now, we are on course for a generation of adults facing serious health challenges. Improving our babies and children’s health will take comprehensive effort across all of society.

Innovation, research and new ideas will be critical to driving the change that is needed. And we know that health visiting teams and researchers across the UK are leading the way with so much great work taking place to improve outcomes for babies, children and families.

Join us to celebrate and spread excellence in practice:

Help spread your learning with others facing similar challenges.
Maximise the impact of your work on a bigger scale. Submit an abstract to present at our EBP conference in 2026.

Connect with other local, national, and international experts, who will be sharing their latest developments in practice, innovation, and research to improve the health and wellbeing of babies, children, families and communities.

What are the benefits of presenting at the iHV conference?

It’s an excellent opportunity for you to:

Raise your own profile as a speaker at a UK-wide conference
Raise the profile of your organisation and showcase your work
Connect, collaborate and learn from other practitioners working in the field of health visiting and family public health
Add your experience of presenting to your CV and boost your career

What are the presentation opportunities for accepted abstracts?

A plenary keynote presentation – oral presentation in the main hall (and live-streamed to online delegates), followed by involvement in Q&A panel.
An oral concurrent presentation – oral presentation in one of our concurrent streams, followed by involvement in Q&A panel (note: selected concurrent sessions in the main hall will be live-streamed).
A breakout oral presentation (a 4-minute speed talk) – strictly time-limited presentation delivered in one of our breakout sessions – provides an opportunity to extend the reach of your work, but in a concise form (note: selected breakout oral presentation session in the main hall will be live-streamed).
A poster presentation (for display in the exhibition hall) – posters are a visual display of material and are particularly suited to the presentation of data, project design and findings. Presenters are on hand to facilitate discussion with delegates during the break times.

iHV Insights: Improving the lives of babies and children with SEND

This webinar is on Thursday 19 June 2025 (join from 3:15pm to allow a prompt start) 3:30pm to 4:30pm.

This is open to all members.

Solving the SEND crisis is a priority for the government and will require a whole system response, starting in the critical earliest years of life. What role does health visiting have to play in this? Join our next iHV Insights event as we explore this question.

In December 2024, the cross-party Committee launched a call for evidence to find solutions to the growing crisis in Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). In response, the Institute of Health Visiting (iHV) placed babies, children, and families at the heart of its submission – advocating for a collaborative, effective approach to improve outcomes and reduce inequalities. As the SEND crisis continues to place increasing strain on families and services, there has never been a more crucial time to come together to be innovative and share best practice and research to improve support for babies and children with SEND.

Join us for our next Insights event ‘Improving the lives of babies and children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities’ where we will focus on solutions together, including early identification, timely intervention, and integrated support – laying the foundations for a brighter, more inclusive future for every baby and child with SEND.

Our session includes:

The Health Visitor’s role in SEND across the pathway, including supporting parents and the Institute of Health Visiting response to the SEND inquiry – Maddie Rew, Programme Manager (Health Visiting Professional Services), iHV
‘A good level of development and SEND’ Alice Jones Bartoli, Deputy Director, National Children’s Bureau
‘Toilet Training in 4 Steps – A Toilet Skill Development Programme’, June Rogers MBE, Paediatric Continence Specialist. This session will aim to debunk myths about waiting for ‘readiness’ before starting toilet training and provide an overview of the Down Syndrome UK, ‘Step by Step’ Toilet Skill Development Programme.

The session will be chaired by Dr Karen Whittaker, Education & Workforce Lead with Kirsty Jacques, our iHV Expert Advisor for SEND, as co-chair.

How to book

Please note: when you log in you’ll be redirected to the iHV homepage. Simply return to the iHV events webpage to find and book your event.

Once you are viewing this page logged in, the “Register now” button will appear when you click on “Booking Link (click to reveal)“

Practice Education Networking Event

Advanced Level Practice and Health Visitors

Join us at our next iHV Practice Education Networking event on 25 June, 09:30-11:30.

The session will focus on the new NMC principles for advanced level practice and what they mean for health visitor education.

This session specifically links to NMC Standards of proficiency for SCPHN spheres A, B, E and F:

A: Autonomous specialist community public health nursing practice.

B: Transforming specialist community public health nursing practice: evidence, research, evaluation and translation

E: Advancing public health services and promoting healthy places, environments and cultures

F: Leading and collaborating: from investment to action and dissemination

These member networking events are an opportunity to share good practice and learn together to shape leadership in practice education. We very much see this as a two-way process and the Networking Events also provide an opportunity for us to update you on our workstreams and the national direction. We look forward to working closely with you so that, collectively, we “get it right” for families and the health visiting workforce.

iHV Leadership Conference 2025

This year’s annual iHV Leadership Conference will be held on Wednesday 3 December 2025 at The King’s Fund at No.11 Cavendish Square, London.

The vibrant iHV Leadership Conference has become the highlight of the year for many – bringing together health visitors, health visiting leaders, policymakers, academics and partners from all four nations of the UK, all united in a shared vision to drive meaningful change for babies, children, families and communities through excellence in health visiting.

Save the date! More details coming soon.