Better Health

The Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) Level 2 Award in Understanding Health Improvement has been developed with the support of the Department of Health.

The Government White Paper, Choosing Health: Making Healthy Choices Easier (2004), identified the need for a new role of NHS Health Trainer to be established to advise, motivate and support individuals to adopt healthier lifestyles.

This short Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) Award has been developed in support of the wider Health Trainer role identified in the White Paper, for which the City & Guilds level 3 Certificate for Health Trainers has been developed.

The Award provides an introduction to the fundamentals of health and well-being, of barriers to making a change of lifestyle and of how to help people to makes changes to improve their health. It is relevant to target groups across a range of community and organisational settings. Organizations with an interest in the health and well-being of their workforce and customer/client groups will find the RSPH Award valuable. It provides an ideal way of equipping key staff with basic health advice and methods of support which they can then use to inform and assist colleagues and/or customers. Employers may wish to use this Award as core modular training to which they could add further training specific to their workplace needs.

The Award is mapped to relevant elements of the National Occupational Standards for Health Trainers and is therefore also appropriate as a stand-alone stepping stone for those aspiring to become Health Trainers, as it provides consolidation of learning prior to attaining full Health Trainer competence.

The aim of this Award is to equip candidates with a knowledge and understanding of the principles of promoting health and well-being and of how to direct individuals towards further practical support in their efforts to attain a healthier lifestyle.

It provides individuals with the underpinning knowledge and understanding necessary to work effectively in helping people who need support and encouragement to make positive changes in their lives, including how to help them to access further assistance (in, for example, identifying barriers to change, and setting goals) towards the objective of adopting and maintaining a healthier lifestyle.

The Award counts as one credit in the Qualifications and Credit Framework. It is a single-unit qualification and all outcomes are assessed. Ten guided learning hours are normally appropriate for the achievement of this Award.

In order to achieve the Award, candidates will provide evidence of knowledge and understanding in five outcome areas:

  • Section 1
    The importance and benefits to public health of promoting health and well-being both in the workplace and in community settings.
  • Section 2
    Factors that support health improvement and factors that create barriers.
  • Section 3
    Principles used in health behaviour change and maintenance and how to apply them.
  • Section 4
    The responsibilities associated with handling confidential and sensitive information.
  • Section 5
    Methods that may be used to evaluate a programme to promote healthier lifestyles.

For complete details of the Award together with an illustration of the links to Health Trainer Competences click here.