Help our Communities to Thrive #PsychologicalProfessionsWeek #PPsIntoAction

Building Healthy Communities

"Help our Communities to Thrive"

Day Five of #PsychologicalProfessionsWeek was chaired by Phil Self, Co-chair of the PPN South West, and the talks by Prof Jo Hart and Dr Atiya Kamal provided an opportunities to hear how psychological professions are working across communities and local authorities to support public health. Here’s what Hannah Denton, author of our recent discussion paper, Psychological Professionals and Community Wellbeing had to say…

The Psychological Professions Network has made a commitment to supporting the development of healthy, thriving communities and a more psychologically informed public.  Although psychological professionals are more often associated with working with individuals, the need for a community approach was identified as a priority through the psychological professions into action project.  A focus on communities is now an integral part of the Psychological Professions vision.   To showcase the contribution that psychological professionals are already making towards building healthier communities, Prof Jo Hart, Professor of Health Professional Education and Health Psychologist, University of Manchester, and Dr. Atiya Kamal, Senior Lecturer in Health Psychology, Birmingham City University, presented their work at the PPN Conference.  They explained how behavioural science can be used to encourage healthy behaviours, and highlighted the model of behavioural change proposed by Susan Michie (2011) that suggests people need the capability, motivation and opportunity to take action.  To further promote and explore wellbeing, prevention and community approaches the PPN SE recently published 'Psychological professionals and community wellbeing: A discussion paper'.  This paper introduces a number of psychological approaches that are particularly relevant for wellbeing and describes some examples identified through a survey in the South East region.  It is hoped that this discussion paper will be a catalyst for an ongoing conversation that explores how psychological professions are already working with communities, sharing examples of good practice and determining further steps needed to fulfil this vital commitment.

What are you doing to "Help our Communities to Thrive"? 

We want to invite you to take part too! Please let the world know what the psychological professions are doing - linked to the commitments in our collective vision.

Simply tweet #PsychologicalProfessionsIntoAction with a picture or a tweet showing what the psychological professions are doing where you are, to live up to these commitments.