Call for abstracts for iHV Evidence-based Practice conference 2022

Would you like to share your practice developments or research at our 2022 annual evidence-based practice (EBP) conference – “Together | Fairer | Stronger” on 15 September 2022 at King’s House Conference Centre in Manchester?

If so, we would love to hear from you! The EBP conference will be a fabulous event for you to showcase your work whilst sharing learning and innovations in practice.

We welcome submissions that support the overall theme of reducing health inequalities and strengthening integrated working from researchers, and educators. We know that many practitioners are also leading innovative improvement projects in practice, and we want to provide an opportunity for you to showcase and disseminate your findings to a wider audience.

We are keen to showcase best practice examples of effective integrated working and would also be especially delighted to receive applications from community nursery nurses and other health visiting associate practitioners. Non-UK applicants will also be considered if their work can demonstrate transferable learning.

Why should I submit an abstract?

To showcase your work, disseminate your findings to a national audience and raise the profile of your organisation
To enhance research in health visiting
To inform others about positive, innovative approaches to improve evidence-based practice in health visiting and preventative public health work focused on families with babies and young children
To raise the profile and benefits of an effective health visiting service focused on reducing health inequalities

Abstract/conference themes:

We are inviting abstracts that support the overall theme of the conference: Reducing health inequalities and strengthening integrated working:

Improving access/ reducing inequalities: We are particularly interested in submissions that improve the experience and outcomes of health visiting service users who encounter obstacles accessing health care, and/ or people with protected characteristics, for example: people from minoritised ethnic groups; people with disabilities; LGBTQI+ women and people; families experiencing homelessness; domestic abuse; substance misuse problems; mental illness and mental health problems; and safeguarding.
Integration: Innovations in health visiting practice or service delivery models from across the UK that can demonstrate impact within integrated/ ‘whole system’ public health approaches to addressing health inequalities.
Themes may also include, but are not limited to current priority public health topics:
- Transition to parenthood, including preconception care
- Breastfeeding
- Perinatal mental health (mothers, fathers, and partners)
- Infant and child mental health
- Healthy nutrition, physical activity, and healthy weight
- Managing minor illnesses, building health literacy and prevention of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)
- Reducing unintentional injuries
- The uptake of immunisations
- Primary prevention and health promotion in oral health
- Child development 0-5 years, including speech, language and communication and school readiness
- Sleep
- Children with developmental disorders, disabilities, and complex health needs
- Tobacco, alcohol, and substance misuse in the perinatal period
- Healthy couple relationships
- Teenage parenthood

Abstract Submissions

The abstract submission deadline is 4 April 2022.

Please see Abstract Submission Guidelines and Timeline for further details on format and how to submit.

We are very excited that our EBP conference will be face to face. It will provide a great opportunity to showcase local work and network with colleagues and national experts from across the country. It really is a conference that can’t be missed!

Our Booking system is due to go live on 11 March so, in the meantime, please hold the conference date in your diary – 15 September 2022 at King’s House Conference Centre in Manchester.

Call for abstracts for iHV Evidence-based Practice conference 2022

The iHV is delighted to offer you the opportunity to present your practice or research at our 2022 annual evidence-based practice (EBP) conference – “Together | Fairer | Stronger” on 15 September 2022 at King’s House Conference Centre in Manchester

We are pleased to announce that this will be our first face-to-face conference since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. We are all looking forward to being able to meet again, network and share ideas together.

Our conference programme brings together local, national, and international experts and speakers who are focused on strengthening health visiting practice through sharing the latest evidence, research, and practice examples.

The focus of this year’s conference is on reducing health inequalities and strengthening integrated working. We will explore the learning from the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as opportunities to promote health visiting and its role in tackling current public health priorities and improving outcomes for babies, children and families.

Alison Morton, Executive Director iHV, commented:

“We look forward to welcoming you to Manchester in September 2022 to explore the latest evidence-based practice and research on key public health priorities for health visiting. Everyone is welcome as we come together again, in person, to share best practice and research – let’s build on the present to help shape the future of health visiting and tackle inequalities. We look forward to welcoming as many of you as possible.”

Abstract Themes/Topics

We encourage submissions that support the overall theme of the conference to reduce inequalities.

We are interested to hear from researchers, educators and clinicians who have led work in the following areas from across all nations of the UK (non-UK applicants will also be considered and should demonstrate transferable learning):

Integration: Innovations in health visiting practice or service delivery models that can demonstrate impact within integrated/ ‘whole system’ public health approaches to addressing health inequalities. We are keen to showcase examples from across all nations of the UK.
Improving access/ reducing inequalities: We are particularly interested in submissions that improve the experience and outcomes of health visiting service users who encounter obstacles accessing health care, and/ or people with protected characteristics, for example: people from minoritised ethnic groups; people with disabilities; LGBTQI+ women and people; families experiencing homelessness; domestic abuse; substance misuse problems; mental illness and mental health problems; and safeguarding.
Conference themes may include, but are not limited to, the current priority public health topics for health visitors and health visiting skill-mix teams:

1. Transition to parenthood, including preconception care
2. Breastfeeding
3. Perinatal mental health (mothers, fathers and partners)
4. Infant and child mental health
5. Healthy nutrition, physical activity and healthy weight
6. Managing minor illnesses, building health literacy and prevention of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)
7. Reducing unintentional injuries
8. The uptake of immunisations
9. Primary prevention and health promotion in oral health
10. Child development 0-5 years, including speech, language and communication and school readiness
11. Sleep
12. Children with developmental disorders, disabilities and complex health needs
13. Tobacco, alcohol and substance misuse in the perinatal period
14. Healthy couple relationships
15. Teenage parenthood

We would be delighted to receive applications from community nursery nurses and all other health visiting practitioners who support babies and young children. We will be holding a special concurrent session for these valued roles.

Submissions: The abstract submission deadline is 4 April 2022.

See Abstract Submission Guidelines and Timeline for further details on format and how to submit

Extended early bird offer for our iHV Leadership Conference 2021

Don’t delay – buy your conference ticket today! Catch our early bird offer for our iHV Leadership Conference 2021 “Leadership for a fairer future”.

Our leadership conference sets out to equip health visitors and senior leaders to navigate new ways of working to address the nation’s pressing public health priorities. The conference will bring together leading experts from across the UK to help shape what ‘build back better’ can look like, whilst also learning from what is not working. We will explore the key ingredients of an effective infrastructure of support for families in the earliest years to make the UK a “happier and fairer place to live”.

Due to request, our early bird tickets have been extended until 5 November! In addition, if you join with colleagues you can get an even bigger discount with five tickets for the price of four (including early bird rates!)

Early bird tickets and are available for iHV members and non-members – iHV members will need their membership number to secure their member rate.
To book five tickets for the price of four, simply book 4 places and then use code 5for4Leadership2021 to get the fifth place for free – available against member and non-member rates including early bird.

Speakers

We are delighted that we will be joined this year by so many inspiring and prestigious speakers, including but not limited to:

Professor Toby Lowe – (Visiting Professor of Public Management – Centre for Public Impact). Toby’s presentation focuses on how we create positive outcomes for children with the assertion that “Outcome-based contracting turns everyone’s job into the production of good-looking data, not meeting client need”. Are you fed up with process KPI’s measuring the wrong things? How do we build infrastructures that deliver the outcomes that we want? Where does health visiting fit into new ways of working?

Professor Alison Leary – (Chair of Healthcare & Workforce Modelling, LSBU). How do we get our skill mix teams right? Alison is the leading national expert in healthcare workforce modelling and her presentation will demonstrate the value of specialist nurses and how “A safety-critical workforce is more than warm bodies and pairs of hands”.

Dame Andrea Leadsom MP – We are delighted to have Andrea join with us to share the latest update and take questions on the Government’s ‘Start for Life’ plans and vision for the 1001 Critical Days.

Dr Bola Owolabi (Director of Health Inequalities at NHS England and NHS Improvement and GP) – How can we be serious about inclusion and reducing health inequalities? Bola will explore opportunities for reducing health inequalities through Integrated Care Models, Service Transformation and using data & insights for Quality Improvement.

Leanne Howlett (parent expert by experience) Listening to parents to improve outcomes – Leanne will share her lived experience of perinatal mental illness and how she has used her own experience to drive positive change and influence national policymakers to invest in person-centred support for women and improve health visiting practice.

Please show your support for the iHV: The iHV is a small charity, established by health visitors for health visitors. We rely on your support through our conferences to sustain our work to influence national policy and improve health visiting practice – our ultimate goal is to improve outcomes and reduce inequalities for all babies, children, and families.

To find out more about our iHV Leadership Conference 2021, click here

To book your ticket, click here

If you are an iHV member, ensure you have your membership number ready to use as a discount code to secure your member discount. If you are an iHV member but you do not know your membership number, please email [email protected]

For any other details on how to purchase a ticket individually or for a group booking, please email [email protected].

Thank you for your continued support, we look forward to welcoming you on Wednesday 1 December.

Find your inner warrior and join this campaign. Together we are stronger!

Wow, what an amazing couple of days at the #iHVEBP2021 conference, “Looking ahead to a fairer future” held on 21^st & 22^nd September!

Over the last two days almost 400 delegates from across the UK joined together to reflect, recharge and look ahead to a fairer future at the 6^th iHV Evidence Based Practice Conference which was held virtually.

The virtual world quickly became filled with a shared passion and energy to make a difference and improve outcomes for babies, young children and families. We heard from local, national, and international expert speakers, including parents, who shared best practice examples, brought constructive challenge and shared innovative solutions. We were also the first to hear some of the latest research into health visiting that is driving change in policy and practice. The conference was themed around reducing inequalities and sharing learning from the pandemic. We also took some time to reflect and think about how we can look ahead to the future with a shared ambition to build a fairer society.

Despite health visitors’ best efforts to reach as many families as possible, the conference also highlighted the challenges that the health visiting profession in England faces, following years of cuts and a postcode lottery of support. Our mission at the iHV is to drive positive change using the data – and from the data it is clear that health visitors in many areas are struggling with unmanageable caseloads, increasing complexity and need, and health visiting numbers at an all-time low. The iHV is working in collaboration with the Parent-Infant Foundation and the First 1001 Days Movement to set out a case for investment to deliver the Start for Life vision, including money for health visiting in the Spending Review.

Sally Hogg (Head of Policy and campaigning for the Parent-Infant Foundation and Co-ordinator and Chair of the First 1001 Days Movement) ended our conference with a call to find the inner warrior in all of us! Sally launched the #InvestInHealthVisiting #TurnOfftheTaps campaign which is calling for the Government to invest in health visiting.

Sally Hogg said:

“We are investing billions in overstretched health and social care services, which are flooded with growing need. It’s time for a different approach. It’s time to turn off the taps and stop mopping the floor and think about how health visitors can save the NHS.”

We have compiled some highlights from Sally’s speech, so if you missed it you can catch up and find your inner warrior and join us with this campaign. Together we are stronger!

Alison Morton, Executive Director iHV, commented:

“I am delighted that so many organisations and individuals have joined alongside the iHV, as part of the First 1001 Days Movement, calling for investment to deliver the Government’s Start for Life Vision and increase the number of health visitors. We hear daily how the NHS is flooded with growing need – now is the time to #TurnOffTheTaps . The evidence is clear that investing in the earliest years of a child’s life is the smartest of all investments – we don’t need any more evidence for this. It is time to stop admiring the problem and invest in the infrastructure of support that will actually make the difference. We urge all health visitors to join this campaign and speak out about the vital work that they are doing. We would also like to thank all of our partners for their unwavering support.”

Find out more about the #TurnOffTheTaps campaign

Book 5 conference places for the price of 4!

Our two-day, virtual Evidence-based Practice Conference – Looking ahead to a fairer future (#iHVEBP2021) takes place on 21 and 22 September, and we are delighted to offer a special rate for group bookings to enable as many of you to join us at the event.

Book 5 places for the price of 4* (available on the 2-day rate only and not applicable to students or retired members)!

This special group offer also applies to the earlybird prices (both member and non-member rates), so why not take advantage of our earlybird rates before they disappear! Get together with 4 of your colleagues and book your 5 places for the special price of 4 – a great saving of 20% per ticket!

* This discount cannot be used in conjunction with any other discount offer. This discount is not available on Retired or Student member tickets.

How to book this special group offer

If you are members, please have your individual membership numbers available to use for the first 4 places as the code to get your member delegate rates or the non-member rate will apply, and then enter the code 5for4EBP2021 to get the 5th place for free! Book today!
If you are non-members, please book your first 4 places, and then enter the same code as above 5for4EBP2021 to get the 5th place for free! Book today!

If you have any queries, please contact [email protected]

Don’t forget – our earlybird offer ends at 5pm on Friday 27 August

Go to our conference website to book your places today!

About our two-day, virtual Evidence-based Practice Conference – Looking ahead to a fairer future

21 and 22 September 2021 | Online

Our programme focuses on sharing best practice examples and research to improve health visiting practice. This conference will provide a much-needed time of reflection and learning from the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on babies, young children and their families, and the services that support them.

We have a fabulous line up of speakers, including

Representative from The Royal Foundation
Professor Gabriella Conti
Professor Jane Barlow
Dr Ruth Oshikanlu
And many more!

Check out the Evidence-based Practice Conference website to find out more including all our fabulous speakers, programmes and how to book your place.

Go to the EBP Conference website

Bookings now open for virtual iHV Evidence-based Practice Conference 2021!

We are really excited to be delivering iHV’s 6th Evidence-based practice conference, “Looking ahead to a fairer future”, a 2-day virtual conference being held on 21 and 22 September 2021.

Our conference programme brings together local, national and international speakers focused on sharing best practice examples and research to improve health visiting practice. This conference will provide a much-needed time of reflection and learning from the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on babies, young children and their families, and the services that support them. In particular, the conference will focus on reducing inequalities and this will be explored through a variety of different practice-related topics. What have we learnt from the pandemic? And how can we focus our efforts as we look ahead to the future with a shared ambition to build a fairer society?

Health visitors provide a vital safety-net for all families which is essential if we are serious about reducing inequalities.

Programme & Speakers

Our programme brings you local, national and international speakers. The presentations and workshops will reflect the breadth of health visiting practice, within a “whole system” public health approach, with the aim to equip health visitors to address key challenges in prevention and earliest intervention work with babies, children and families.

Featured speakers include:

Representative from The Royal Foundation
Professor Gabriella Conti, University College London
Professor Jane Barlow, University of Oxford
Dr Ruth Oshikanlu MBE, Independent Health Visitor and Executive Director, Goal Mind
Sally Hogg, Head of Policy and Campaigning, Parent-Infant Foundation

See all our fabulous expert speakers

Peruse our conference programme

Tickets

Book with our special Earlybird rates for members and non-members

Available until 27 August 2021

How to book

If you are an iHV Associate member, SCPHN Student member or a Retired member ensure you have your membership number ready to use as a discount code to secure your iHV member discount rate and go to the online booking link below.

If you are an iHV member but you do not know your membership number, please email [email protected]

If you are not a member, but would like to take advantage of our member rates, please join us today!

Go to our online booking system to book your earlybird ticket

iHV PIMH conference – an inspiring success

Wow, what an inspiring and amazing day we had at #iHVPIMH2021!

Our third annual Perinatal and Infant Mental Health (PIMH) conference, Systems for Success, held on Wednesday 5 May 2021, was a virtual conference.

With 300 delegates, this was our largest PIMH conference ever and we were delighted that it also celebrated World Maternal Mental Health Day.

This year’s conference placed the family firmly at the centre of a whole systems approach to family mental health and wellbeing.

When thinking about systems, Aristotle said the whole is greater besides the sum of its parts – and it’s certainly true of mental health. Family mental health is complex, and whilst individuals, different professions and services can, and do, make a huge difference- we know that by joining the junctions and pulling together we can achieve so much more.

Melita Walker, Mental Health Lead at iHV, commented:

“Achieving good family mental health requires effective, strategic, integrated, inter-agency system-wide approaches, and that is exactly what the iHV Champions programmes deliver. I was delighted to celebrate that, as of World Maternal Mental Health Day, we have trained 2622 PIMH Champions, from across the very broadest range of professional backgrounds and it’s wonderful to know that many of our Champions were able to attend.

“Aristotle also said: “Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.” I would like to thank all our wonderful speakers who certainly put their hearts and minds into #iHVPIMH2021! The conference was a great opportunity for connecting, reflecting and co-directing the future of PIMH care. We had learning from across the globe, across the UK, from professional, parental and organisational perspectives, and, as ever, our conference was grounded in evidence and the wisdom of families and practitioners throughout.

“I would like to thank our many partners within the PIMH systems who have contributed to the success of the Institute’s Work in Mental Health. We could not have done it without you. We can’t do it without you! A special thank you to our Champions and Parent colleagues, and also to the AIM Foundation for their encouragement, belief and continued support of the Institute’s Work in Mental Health.”

Take a look at our iHV Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Champions Forums Report

We are receiving some amazing feedback from the conference:

It was a fantastic conference with amazing speakers such powerful presentations well done team iHV

#iHVPIMH2021 what a fantastic and inspiring day. Having speakers from the devolved nations really added to the programme for me

Thank you @iHealthVisiting for a great #iHVPIMH2021 conference! Thanks to the fabulous speakers who presented. May we all continue to ensure we build a fair system that leaves no one behind!

#iHVPIMH2021 #WorldMaternalMentalHealthDay wow my first iHVPIMH Conference and what an inspiring day it has been. Thank you @iHealthVisiting

Thank you @IHV @Alison_Morton2 @melita_walker for an incredibly action packed conference. #iHVPIMH2021

Speakers included:

Luciana Berger Chair, Maternal Mental Health Alliance
Sally Hogg Head of Policy and Campaigning , Parent-Infant Foundation
Dr Ruth Oshikanlu MBE, Independent Health Visitor and Executive Director , Goal Mind
Dr Billie Lever Taylor, Senior Research Fellow and Clinical Psychologist, University College London and the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families
Roch Cantwell Lead Clinician, Vice-Chair and Perinatal Psychiatrist, Perinatal Mental Health Network Scotland, Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Programme Board
Dr Vicky Fallon, Lecturer in Health Psychology, Institute of Population Health, University of Liverpool
Professor Louise Howard, President, MARCE International Society
Dr Alain Gregoire, Founder, Former Chair, and now Honorary President, Maternal Mental Health Alliance

Conference recordings and presentations

Recordings from the day’s proceedings and presentation pdfs are available for conference delegates – via our conference website – you will need your conference registration number to access.

If you were not able to join us on the day, you can still purchase access to view our conference recordings. Click here to find out more and, if you are an iHV member, use your membership number as your discount code too!

Social media

Have a quick spin through all the tweets collated from day in the Wakelet link below – so much to see! So, don’t miss out

Call for abstracts

Call for abstracts for iHV Evidence-based Practice Conference “Looking ahead to a fairer future” – 21-22 September 2021

The iHV is delighted to offer you the opportunity to present your practice development or research at our 5th evidence-based practice conference – “Looking ahead to a fairer future”. This 2-day virtual conference is being held on 21 and 22 September 2021.

In particular, the conference will focus on reducing inequalities and this will be explored through a variety of different practice-related topics. What have we learnt from the pandemic? And how can we focus our efforts as we look ahead to the future with a shared ambition to build a fairer society?

The presentations and workshops will reflect the breadth of health visiting practice, within a “whole system” public health approach, with the aim to equip health visitors to address key challenges in prevention and earliest intervention work with babies, children and families.

Abstract Topics

Health visitors provide a vital safety-net for all families, which is essential if we are serious about reducing inequalities.

We are open to abstracts which cover at least one of the following priority areas within the breadth of early years public health and health visiting practice, with a focus on reducing inequalities:

Transition to parenthood, including preconception care
Breastfeeding
Perinatal mental health (mothers, fathers and partners)
Infant and child mental health
Healthy nutrition, physical activity and healthy weight
Managing minor illnesses, building health literacy and prevention of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)
Reducing unintentional injuries
The uptake of immunisations
Primary prevention and health promotion in oral health
Child development 0-5 years, including speech, language and communication and school readiness
Sleep
Children with developmental disorders, disabilities and complex health needs
Tobacco, alcohol and substance misuse in the perinatal period
Healthy couple relationships
Teenage parenthood

Abstract Submission and Timeline

Abstract format:

The abstract should be no more than 350 words and provide an overview of your practice development or research, clearly indicating the impact on health visiting practice.
Please structure your abstract as follows:
- aim
- objectives
- method
- results/ outcomes
- conclusion
- recommendations.
Please submit your abstract as a Microsoft Word document to [email protected].

Abstract Timeline:

The abstract submission deadline is 10 May 2021.
After an iHV peer-review process, participants will be informed of acceptance of abstracts for either oral presentation or an e-poster by the end of May.
Full guidance on the e-poster and oral presentation delivery format will be provided if your abstract is successful.

It is important that you book to secure your conference place on or before the final registration deadline for accepting your offer to present.

Please note that our booking system is not yet live – so in the meantime, please hold the conference dates in your diary: 21 and 22 September 2021.

Bookings now open for virtual iHV PIMH Conference 2021!

Bookings are now open, with member discounts and earlybird rates, for the iHV PIMH ‘Systems for Success’ Conference, being held virtually on Wednesday, 5 May 2021.

Don’t miss out on this fantastic opportunity to attend the iHV’s annual Perinatal & Infant Mental conference which we are bringing to you virtually. Originally planned for March 2020 in Manchester, which was postponed due to the current pandemic, we are delighted to be able to confirm our fabulous programme and booking details for our virtual event in May.

We have a fabulous line up of speakers from a diverse range of backgrounds so we can really come together to connect across boundaries and reflect on the latest evidence, research and experiences of PIMH care.

Event Details

Time: 09:30 – 16:35
Date: Tuesday, 5 May 2021
Venue: Online via Zoom

Find out more

Delegate fees:

We are delighted to offer earlybird rates, with further special rates for our members and PIMH Champion members.

Earlybird ends 5pm Friday 26 March

iHV Members, iHV Champion Members and non-members can take advantage of our earlybird delegate rate until 26 March.

For iHV Members, just ensure that you have your membership number ready to use as your member discount code to secure your reduced delegate rate.
If you are an iHV Champion Member (PIMH, IMH, PMH), SCPHN Student Member or a Retired Health Visitor Member please email [email protected] for details on how to purchase your discounted tickets.
If you are not an iHV Member and want to access the special earlybird rate for our members, please join us today to receive your membership number to secure your reduced delegate rate.

Should you need any help at all, please email us on [email protected] for assistance.

Don't delay - book your place today!

Dates for your 2021 diary!

We have planned our iHV conference schedule for 2021 and do hope that you can join us!

So please put the dates below in your diary and keep an eye out for further details…coming soon!

Wednesday 5 May 2021
- iHV PIMH conference
- Will be held virtually

Tuesday 21 and Wednesday 22 September 2021
- iHV Evidence-based Practice conference
- We are hoping to hold this as a face-to-face conference in Manchester