Great specialist conferences – now open for bookings!

We are delighted to open the bookings for two new specialist conferences:

Breastfeeding: a public health priority
iHV National Multi-agency Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Conference: The Hidden challenges

Dr Cheryll Adams CBE, executive director iHV, commented:

“It is a privilege to able to offer these fabulous specialist conferences with such distinguished speakers to support the health visiting profession. Please do take advantage of an iHV accredited event with great CPD and the latest updates in these two extremely important areas of health visiting practice. Book your place soon as we expect there to be pressure on places!”

Breastfeeding: a public health priority

19 April 2018, in London
Accredited conference
This event is joint hosted by the iHV and the Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH), and is supported the World Breastfeeding Trends Initiative (WBTi).
The conference programme is designed to illustrate the need for support and show examples of what integrated services can achieve in the community.
The World’s Breastfeeding Trends initiative findings and recommendations which will be shared during the day can strengthen health visitor practice and improve public health if implemented.
Earlybird tickets (for iHV members and non-members) are available until 16 March 2018

Go to the RSPH event website for further details, programme and to book your place

iHV National Multi-agency Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Conference: The Hidden challenges

24 April 2018, in Manchester
Accredited conference
This multi-agency conference is a brilliant opportunity to get the latest updates and evidence in perinatal and infant mental health.
As well as stimulating learning through debate and discussion via presentations from internationally-acclaimed speakers, the day will offer focused opportunities to learn from each other through sharing best and promising practice in PIMH.
A call for abstracts is currently open – providing the opportunity to showcase your work in Perinatal and Infant Mental Health (PIMH). Abstracts are welcome in areas of new research and local innovations in the fields of perinatal and/or infant mental health.
Earlybird tickets (for iHV Champions, iHV members and non-members) are available until 29 March 2018, so don’t miss them! Limited student places also available.

Click here, for further details on abstract submissions, the conference programme and how to book

We always seek to ensure our activities comply with the UNICEF Baby Friendly Initiative – our events are not and never will be sponsored by the formula milk industry.

Call for PIMH poster abstracts

The iHV is delighted to offer you an opportunity to showcase your work in Perinatal and Infant Mental Health (PIMH) at the iHV National Multi-agency Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Conference: The hidden challenges, being held in Manchester on 24 April 2018. Please see programme.

As well as stimulating learning through debate and discussion via presentations from internationally-acclaimed speakers, the day will offer focused opportunities to learn from each other through sharing best and promising practice in PIMH.

Abstract Submission and Timeline

Abstracts are welcome in areas of new research and local innovations in the fields of perinatal and/or infant mental health. The abstract should be no more than 250 words and provide an overview clearly demonstrating excellence, innovation and novel approaches to improve outcomes in perinatal and/or infant mental health.

Please submit your abstract as a Microsoft Word document to [email protected].

Tue 13 March 2018 – Abstract submission deadline
14 – 26 March – iHV peer-review process on submissions
Tue 27 March 2018 – participants informed of acceptance of abstracts for a poster. Full guidance on the poster format will be provided if your abstract is successful.
Tue 10 April 2018 – Poster deadline for conference
Tue 24 April 2018 – Poster presentations at the iHV National Multi-agency Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Conference: The hidden challenges in Manchester

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

Early bird tickets (for iHV Champions, iHV members and non-members) are available until 29 March 2018, so don’t miss them!

For more conference details and to book your place

Launch of the “Eating Disorders in Pregnancy” animation

The iHV is delighted to be able to share the outputs from working with Greater Manchester and North West Coast iHV PIMH Champions Forum, the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London and others to develop the research base for eating disorders in the perinatal period. We are excited to be supporting the launch of the “Eating Disorders in Pregnancy” animation through a training event on 28 February 2018 (during Eating Disorders week).

Eating Disorders are a serious mental illness, characterised by disturbance of eating that significantly impairs health and psychosocial functioning.

They include:

Anorexia Nervosa
Bulimia Nervosa
Binge Eating Disorder
and Other Specified Feeding and Eating Disorders

They are often associated with depression and anxiety, and have a number of physical, health complications as well.

Eating Disorders can affect people of all ages, gender and cultural background. It is thought that around 7% of women are thought to have an eating disorder in pregnancy and they can have serious consequences for the mother and her baby.

Health visitors are ideally placed to identify and support pregnant women and new mothers who have eating disorders. Involvement with families, right from the antenatal period through until children reach school age, enables a unique opportunity to build strong therapeutic relationships offering the continuity of care that mothers say they want from their healthcare professionals.

The “Eating Disorders in Pregnancy” training event, including the animation launch, is free to attend and we very much look forward to seeing you there!

Event details

Date: 28 February 2018

Time: 4pm – 6pm

NEW VENUE: the event has been moved to a larger venue so that more people can attend

Wolfson Lecture Theatre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London,
16 De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AF

Download Eating Disorders in Pregnancy event flyer

To book your free place

Go to online booking system

Get your week off to a Best Beginnings

iHV invites you to watch a short maternal mental health film and make a REAL difference to people’s lives all in less than 5 minutes …..

Best Beginnings’ powerful film “My Mental Health Matters” has been nominated for a Charity Film Award. The winner is chosen by PUBLIC VOTE and voting closes on Wednesday 30 November. We would like to help Best Beginnings to win – and invite you to help too!

In 3 simple steps, you can help encourage THOUSANDS of people to watch this important film and increase Best Beginnings’ chances of winning.

Here’s what we’d love you to do:

Watch the film
VOTE
Forward the link to your friends and family and ask them to vote too!

Please watch the film, and then VOTE!

Whether you are young or old, have kids or not, have experienced mental health challenges or not, you can be part of the incredible group of people who are showing the world that maternal mental health matters.

Together we ARE making a difference for future generations.

Institute’s Champions training receives national recognition in mental health awards

The Institute of Health Visiting (iHV) is delighted to receive national recognition for its Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Champions Training Programme in the first ever perinatal mental health awards, organised by the Maternal Mental Health Alliance (MMHA) and Mums and Babies in Mind (MABIM).

The iHV’s Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Champions Training Programme was highly commended in the Emma Cadywould Award for Perinatal Mental Health Education and Training 2017. The awards, which were announced on Wednesday 13 September at the first Annual UK Maternal Mental Health Alliance Conference at Imperial College, London, recognised best practice and achievement in the categories of perinatal mental health education and training, perinatal mental health awareness raising, peer support and transgenerational service.

Dr Cheryll Adams CBE, executive director of the Institute of Health Visiting, said:

“The Institute of Health Visiting is proud to receive this prestigious training award which was set up in the name of Emma Cadywould, who tragically lost her life whilst suffering severe postnatal depression.

“Our comprehensive, accredited training, which now reflects the national competencies for perinatal and infant mental health, has been developed over the past five years and consistently attracts wonderful evaluations.

“We have recently extended our training offers to be suitable for all professionals working with women with perinatal mental illness. This has been in response to many requests for multi-professional training from the health, local authority and voluntary sectors. Our current Champions Training ensures that all practitioners working alongside women and their families perinatally are equipped to provide evidence-based and confident support – as of June 2017, we have created over 140 Multi-agency Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Champions, as well as almost 900 health visitor Infant and Perinatal Mental Health Champions whose originally training we know has been cascaded to upwards of 10,000 others.

“This award is a massive credit to the Institute’s team who have worked so hard to develop, refine, deliver and quality assure, and most recently to benchmark our training to the new national standards.”

The winners were presented with their awards by acclaimed author, journalist and psychotherapist Susie Orbach.

Find out more about the iHV’s Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Champions Training Programme

Read the full press release

New report – The performance of the NHS in England in transforming children’s mental health services

The Education Policy Institute has published a new report, The performance of the NHS in England in transforming children’s mental health services, which examines the progress made by the Government in improving children and young people’s mental health services (CAMHS).

The report analyses NHS England’s new ‘Mental Health Five Year Forward View Dashboard’, which tracks the performance of local Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs).

Dr Cheryll Adams CBE, executive director, iHV, commented:

“Clearly there is much to be done to improve child mental health services. Investing upstream into more preventative capacity, such as in health visiting, would help stem the flow of young people requiring help from these services.”

Key findings

When assessing the overall performance of children and young people’s mental health services, we find almost three quarters (73.2 per cent) of CCGs failed to meet NHS England’s own benchmark for improving services.
In order to meet NHS England’s standard for crisis care performance CCGs must have an agreed plan to develop better local services. However, across England, less than a third of CCGs (31.6 per cent) had a fully funded plan to improve crisis care, with one in nine CCGs (10.5 per cent or 22 in total) having no agreed plan or funding set out.
Government policy states that no one under 18 should be treated on an adult ward – yet children spent a total of 2654 nights on an adult ward between July and September 2016. This increased by over a third compared to the last quarter (April to June 2016), although it is not yet possible to establish whether this is due to fluctuation or a longer trend.
There is wide variation between CCG’s planned spending per head – with those in the top quarter spending over £52 per capita, while those in the bottom quarter spend just £23, or less. This suggests that there is a postcode lottery in children and young people’s mental health care.

Read report - The performance of the NHS in England in transforming children’s mental health services

PHE Guidance: Improving the mental health of children and young people

Two new reports to support commissioners in improving the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people.

The mental health of children and young people in England

The mental health of children and young people in London

These reports describe the importance of mental health and wellbeing among children and young people and the case for investment in mental health. They also summarise the evidence of what works to improve mental health among children and young people in order to inform local transformation of services.

New PHE Guidance: Improving the mental health of children and young people

Reports to support commissioners in improving the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people.

Go to PHE Improving the mental health of children and young people

MindEd – educational resources on children and young people’s mental health

MindEd is a free educational resource on children and young people’s mental health for all adults.

MindEd is suitable for all adults working with, or caring for, infants, children or teenagers; all the information provided is quality assured by experts, useful, and easy to understand. We aim to give adults who care for, or work with, young people:

the knowledge to support their wellbeing
the understanding to identify a child at risk of a mental health condition
the confidence to act on their concern and, if needed, signpost to services that can help

MindEd for Professionals & Volunteers

This is for you if you volunteer, work or are studying to work with infants, children or teenagers. MindEd has e-learning applicable across the health, social care, education, criminal justice and community settings. It is aimed at anyone from beginner through to specialist.

MindEd for Families

Are you a parent or carer who is concerned about your child? Or perhaps you just want some hints and tips on parenting? MindEd for Families has online advice and information from trusted sources and will help you to understand and identify early issues and best support your child.

Go to MindEd for Families

New and Updated Good Practice Points

The iHV is delighted to share new Good Practice Points and updates to GPPs, providing up-to-date evidence and references for our Associate members:

NEW: GPP – Postnatal Psychosis

These Good Practice Points, authored by Dr Judy Shakespeare, retired GP, Royal College of General
Practitioners Clinical Champion in perinatal mental health, set out what health visitors need to know about Postnatal Psychosis. They provide up-to-date evidence and references.

GPP - Postnatal Psychosis

UPDATED: GPP – Understanding Mothers’ Mental Health & Wellbeing

UPDATED: GPP – Understanding Fathers’ Mental Health & Wellbeing

These Good Practice Points, authored by Sharin Baldwin, Health Visiting Clinical Academic Lead, London North West Healthcare NHS Trust, set out what health visitors need to know about Understanding both Mothers’ & Fathers’ Mental Health & Wellbeing during their transition to parenthood. They provide up-to-date evidence and references.

Updated October 2016.

Understanding Mothers’ & Fathers’ Mental Health & Wellbeing

Please note that these GPPs are available to iHV members only.

If you’re not a member, please join us to get access to all of our resources.

The iHV is a self-funding charity – we can only be successful in our mission to strengthen health visiting practice if the health visiting profession and its supporters join us on our journey. We rely on our membership to develop new resources for our members.

So do join us now!