Funding to retain nurses in care of older people

The Public Health Agency (PHA) is delighted to have been successful in securing a significant grant for ‘Project RETAIN’ from the prestigious Burdett Trust for Nursing. The funding will support a regional initiative in partnership with local Health and Social Care Trusts, the Department of Health, Age NI and nurse education providers, which will aim to improve nurse retention and recruitment in care of older people’s settings in Northern Ireland.

Adverse weather

During adverse weather many people can experience a range of situations associated with the extreme weather such as cold and freezing temperatures, no electricity or mains water and flooding. The Public Health Agency (PHA) has compiled public health information to assist the public in these situations.

One Stop Shop evaluations

The Public Health Agency commissioned Social MarketResearch (www.socialmarketresearch.co.uk) to undertake an evaluation of the ‘One StopShop’ (OSS) Programme. These reports present the outcomes from this evaluations as well as points for consideration to support the further development of the programme.

Stop smoking in Stoptober!

During Stoptober the Public Health Agency (PHA) is urging all smokers in Northern Ireland to use this time as an opportunity to quit for good by availing of one of the free stop smoking services that are available here. Colette Rogers, Strategic Lead for Tobacco Control with the PHA, said: “Stopping smoking is the single most important thing you can do for your health. While we know that stopping smoking isn’t easy the good news is that help is at hand.

Icelandic expert shares experience of tackling youth substance misuse

Teenage smoking, drinking and drug use has radically reduced in Iceland over the past 20 years, so the Public Health Agency (PHA) and the South Eastern Drug and Alcohol Coordination Team (DACT) Connections Service* are hosting a seminar tomorrow [Wednesday 27 September] to review the Icelandic Prevention Model on tackling drug and alcohol misuse in young people to see how it, or elements of it, could potentially be rolled out here.

Flu season is coming – help protect your family

The seasonal flu vaccination programme for 2017/18 is getting under way, so the Public Health Agency (PHA) is urging people to ‘Stay Well This Winter’ by ensuring that all eligible family members get the free flu vaccine when offered it. The vaccine changes each year to cover the strains which are likely to be prevalent over the course of the flu season, so it is important to get immunised annually.

Take the stairs toolkit

Physical activity is a public health priority, but it's hard to fit it into a busy working day. Taking the stairs is a simple, easy an effective way to incorporate physical activity into your working day and is associated with many health benefits.

The PHA's Staff Health and Wellbeing Working Group developed a multicomponent intervention package, including Point of Decision (POD) prompts and signposting with 'footprints', to encourage its staff to use the stairs rather than the lift. Evaluation found stair use increased by 82% after the intervention.

Change in PHA advertising grant funding/procured services

From 1 October 2017, the PHA will no longer advertise funding opportunities in regional or local newspapers. From this date, the PHA will advertise social care tender opportunities and grant funding awards on its website www.publichealth.hscni.net. Above threshold tenders (above £589,147) will also be advertised directly on the procurement web portal eTendersNI. Accessing Application Documentation
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