15th April 2024
We are delighted to share this Voices blog by Rachel Kissack, Health Visitor at Manx Care, Isle of Man, on adapting the iHV infographic ‘Who are health visitors and what do they do?’ to support Manx health visiting practice and enable Manx health visitors to articulate the complexity of their role to families and professionals.
Working within the health visiting profession, we often find that many people do not know who health visitors are, or what our role entails.
Our Health Visiting Service follows the national Public Health framework (The Healthy Child Programme), which offers families evidence-based intervention, and allows children and families to achieve their optimum health and wellbeing whilst reducing inequalities. All families on the Isle of Man should receive seven mandated universal health visiting contacts, from pregnancy to when their child starts school. Our service is universal in reach and personalised in response, meaning that the workforce can provide additional support and tailor-made interventions for families experiencing challenges.
Manx Care’s health visitors work in skill-mix teams, which include school nurses, community staff nurses, nursery nurses and other support staff. We improve Public Health outcomes by aiming to give every child the best start in life and beyond; addressing inequalities, building resilience, narrowing the gap in attainment, and working with our partners to improve outcomes for all babies, children (including vulnerable children), and families.
A unique aspect of the Health Visiting Service on the Isle of Man is that we are part of an Integrated Care Group, which allows for collaborative working across all specialisms and professional groups. These specialisms include Neonatal (inpatient and outreach services), Paediatrics (inpatient, outpatient and community services), Obstetrics and Midwifery, Cervical Screening, Gynaecology (inpatient and outpatient services) and Sexual Health Services.
The Isle of Man has collaborated with the Institute of Health Visiting to develop our infographic to make the work of the health visiting service more visible, as the team continues to provide valuable support to families across the Island.
Rachel Kissack, Health Visitor at Manx Care, Isle of Man
