UKPHR Public Health Practitioner Registration by ... · Solutions for Public Health Verification...

UKPHR Public Health Practitioner Registration by Retrospective Portfolio Assessment

Tools and tips on preparing a portfolio

August 2012

© Solutions for Public Health 2012

Subject to any other agreement, Solutions for Public Health will own, on creation, the copyright and all other intellectual property rights in all working papers produced and all deliverables under this agreement. Any material produced, published or presented by Solutions for Public Health is subject to copyright protection unless otherwise indicated. The copyright protected material may be reproduced free of charge in any format or medium provided it is reproduced accurately and not used in a misleading context and that permission is sought from Solutions for Public Health. If any of the copyright items produced within the agreement are being copied to others, the source of the material must be identified and the copyright status acknowledged. This document has been compiled by

• Lyn Stone, Solutions for Public Health • Patricia Christmas, Independent Public Health Consultant

With acknowledgements

• Public Health Wales for the ‘standards grid’ template

UKPHR public health practitioner registration by retrospective portfolio assessment – tools and tips on preparing a portfolio | 1

Solutions for Public Health www.sph.nhs.uk

Contents Page 1. Public health practitioner registration - an introduction 2 2. Preparing a portfolio for practitioner registration - tools and tips 3 3. What is a portfolio? - getting started 4 4. Practitioner registration - the process and individual roles 6 5. Working with an assessor and/or mentor 10 6. Project planning your portfolio development 12 7. Mapping your pieces of work against the standards 14 8. Public health practitioner ‘standards grid’ 15 9. Writing a commentary 16 10. Writing a reflective learning piece 20 11. Developing powerful sentence beginnings 22 12. Curriculum vitae template 24 13. References / Testimonials 27 14. Glossary of terms used in the standards 30

2 | UKPHR public health practitioner registration by retrospective portfolio assessment – tools and tips on preparing a portfolio


Public health practitioner registration – an introduction Background Since 2003, the UK Public Health Register (UKPHR) has provided public protection by ensuring that only competent public health professionals, at specialist level, are registered and that high standards of practice are maintained. In April 2011, the register opened for practitioners.

Public health practitioners are key members of the professional public health workforce and can have a huge influence on the health and wellbeing of individuals, groups, communities and populations. Practitioners work across the full breadth of public health from health improvement and health protection, to health information, community development, and nutrition, in a wide range of settings from the NHS and local government to the voluntary, and private sectors. It is vital that these professionals are competent in, and accountable for, what they do. Although public health practitioners carry out key public health roles, many remain unregulated.

Standards for practitioner registration The standards for practitioner registration were developed using the Public Health Skills and Career Framework as the source document and also drawn from both the NHS Knowledge and Skills Framework and the National Occupational Standards for Public Health, and they are fully supported by the Faculty of Public Health. The standards are intended for individuals who are already working as public health professionals at Public Health Skills and Career Framework level 5 or above. Assessment against the standards is the basis for local assessment schemes supported by the UKPHR. Currently there are seven such schemes across the UK and you need to work in the region the schemes cover in order to participate. The seven regions are Public Health Wales, West of Scotland, West Midlands, South Central, Kent and Medway, Surrey and Sussex, and West of England.

The UKPHR cannot accept direct applications from individuals wishing to apply for practitioner registration. Individuals wishing to apply for practitioner registration need to go through a quality assured local assessment scheme. After completion of assessment the application is referred to a regional verification panel who then make recommendations on eligibility for practitioner registration direct to the UKPHR Registration Panel.

Framework and Guidance The UKPHR Framework and Guidance for Applicants, Assessors and Verifiers provides an overview of the process for practitioner registration. The Framework and Guidance should be read in conjunction with the accompanying Supporting Information document (which also includes application forms for verification and registration, the assessment log and observation proformas).

http://www.publichealthregister.org.uk/�

http://www.publichealthregister.org.uk/sites/default/files/Practitioner_Standards_0.pdf�

http://www.phorcast.org.uk/page.php?page_id=278�



Preparing a portfolio for practitioner registration – tools and tips

This document contains a series of useful tools and tips

specific to portfolio development for practitioner registration.

These tools and tips have been compiled, primarily, to support those participating in local

assessment schemes. They may also serve to help practitioners generally.

They have been designed to help those on local assessment schemes:

• work more effectively in preparing a portfolio for practitioner registration

• not waste valuable time and effort

• focus on what needs to be done



Public Health Practitioner

What is a portfolio? – getting started

A celebration of your career, knowledge and skills Everyone working in public health should have a portfolio

Why?

Portfolios are made up of items of work samples that demonstrate your knowledge, skills, abilities and standards of practice. A portfolio is a valuable visual tool that you can use throughout your career to assess your professional development, interview effectively, negotiate job offers, prepare for performance appraisals, manage career transitions and track accomplishments and successes. It also brings everything together in one place. Admittance to the UK Public Health Register(UKPHR) http://www.publichealthregister.org.uk/ as a public health practitioner is by assessment of a retrospective portfolio.

What is required?

Each portfolio will be unique but will have to provide evidence of: your skills and demonstration of the standards of practice (shows how) your knowledge and the source of that knowledge (knows) how you have applied that knowledge to your skills/standards (knows how) your reflective learning

e.g. for your selected pieces of work, show how your skills meet the required standards of practice, provide evidence of your underpinning knowledge and demonstrate how you have applied that knowledge to your skills and to the standards of practice. Plus you should include an up-to-date CV, a job description or work objectives, a reference and a testimonial. A copy of the practitioner standards can be downloaded at http://www.publichealthregister.org.uk/sites/default/files/Practitioner_Standards_0.pdf

http://www.publichealthregister.org.uk/�

http://www.publichealthregister.org.uk/sites/default/files/Practitioner_Standards_0.pdf�



What should a portfolio look like?

Different people will present in different ways but remember: the aim is to present evidence to demonstrate your competence to practice explicit and systematic presentation of evidence is the key think ‘presentation’ – make it easy for someone to judge the evidence make it easy to read and understand think ‘assessor’ – you are demonstrating competence to people who may have no

knowledge of your personality; your work; your job; your roles and responsibilities evidence must clearly relate to the standards claimed use the assessment log there are many acceptable ways to order and structure the portfolio and no single right

way

Where do I start? Read the UKPHR Public health practitioners assessment and registration Framework

and Guidance for Applicants, Assessors and Verifiers and Supporting Information (January 2012). These documents are available to download at http://www.phorcast.org.uk/page.php?page_id=278

Assess yourself against the required standards

Ask yourself: - am I working at the appropriate level? - do I have the appropriate knowledge? - do I have the appropriate experience?

- what pieces of work (at least 3 major pieces) can I use to demonstrate these?

Think about what evidence you have to prove you meet the standards; these could be, for example: - formal qualifications - job descriptions - paperwork linked to a particular piece of work (such as project plans, reports)

- testimonials or references Use the assessment log to judge what evidence you have. Identify any gaps in your skills/knowledge against the standards Identify any gaps in supporting evidence Develop plans to fill the gaps

TALK TO OTHERS WHO KNOW YOU, KNOW YOUR WORK TALK TO PEOPLE WHO HAVE SUBMITTED RETROSPECTIVE PORTFOLIOS FOR REGISTRATION DO NOT THROW ANYTHING AWAY UNTIL YOU HAVE COMPLETED YOUR PORTFOLIO




Apply to join a local support scheme

When all standards have been met the assessor will sign off your portfolio

ready for verification


Practitioner registration - the process and individual roles

There are several local support schemes currently operating across the UK supporting Public Health Practitioner Registration by retrospective portfolio assessment. You need to work in the areas these schemes cover in order to participate.

Individuals cannot apply directly to United Kingdom Public Health Register, (UKPHR). Entry onto a local support scheme is via an application process. The process in a nutshell . . .

Verification and Registration

Gain manager support

Self-assess against the practitioner standards

Sign a learning contract

Identify gaps and development opportunities for filling the gaps

Attend local portfolio development workshops / sessions

Write your first commentary ready for assessment (your local scheme co-ordinator will then allocate you an assessor)

Discuss a way of working with your assessor and agree timescales for submission for

assessment of each commentary with supporting completed assessment log

You may decide to work with a mentor (see top tip on “working with an assessor and/or mentor”)

Your assessor will assess the commentary with evidence and complete the assessment log

Practitioner passes complete portfolio to assessor (including Application for Verification form) for final sign off



Verification and Registration process

Assessment and verification take place at local level with training delivered by the UKPHR, ensuring nationally quality assured assessment schemes. Your local scheme co-ordinator will advise on timings for Assessment, Verification and Registration See the Framework & Guidance January 2012 document pp 22-28 for descriptions of Verification and Registration procedures. See the Supporting Information January 2012 document pp 36-39 for Application for Verification form and pp 41-52 for Application for Registration form. A copy of the UKPHR Public Health Practitioners Assessment and Registration Framework and Guidance for Applicants, Assessors and Verifiers and Supporting Information (January 2012) are available to download at http://www.phorcast.org.uk/page.php?page_id=278

Practitioner arranges delivery of signed off portfolio to an agreed

central office and also emails completed electronic Assessment Log plus Application for Verification form

Your local scheme co-ordinator allocates a verifier and informs the central office

who despatches your portfolio for early verification check.

Verifier attends Verification Panel and assessor makes him/herself available by

phone during the period of the Verification Panel meetings

Practitioner is informed of Verification Panel result within 48 hours

If practitioner is successful at verification phase, the practitioner submits

Application for Registration documents to the UK Public Health Register

If practitioner is unsuccessful at either Verification or Registration phase,

support will be provided by the local support scheme to re-submit following

modification.




Individual roles and responsibilities in the process

Individual role Responsibility

Applicant The applicant is in charge of and responsible for the application process overall

Gathers evidence against the standards using the framework and guidance provided by the UKPHR

Discuss and agree a way of working with an allocated assessor including agreeing a submission time line

Interactive process of clarification and resubmission until assessor is satisfied standards have been met

Takes responsibility for updating the assessment log and for ensuring that commentaries and linked evidence are also cross referenced in the assessment log

Line manager Support the application of individuals to locally-organised assessment schemes

Local scheme co-ordinator

Provides overall programme support to locally-organised assessment schemes

Provides formal support to applicants on locally-organised assessment schemes preparing their portfolios for practitioner registration

Assessor Skilled in assessing evidence submitted by applicants – successful completion of training is mandatory

To be thoroughly conversant with the public health practitioner standards

Meets the UKPHR assessor job description and person specification (see Annex 3 Framework & Guidance Jan 2012)

Assessor signs off all standards as being met and passes application for verification to appointed verifier

Mentor Facilitate/give advice on self-assessment against the practitioner standards

Identify gaps and development opportunities for filling the gaps

Informally review evidence and draft commentaries providing advice and guidance (this may include standards not claimed that could be claimed and strengthening those being claimed

A listening ear

Verifier Must be a registered public health specialist for at least 3 years and complete the UKPHR training

Makes recommendation to the appropriate verification panel

Retains a copy of the completed application for registration with the UKPHR within 3 months

Verification panel Agrees that the process has been followed and the standards have been met



UKPHR Offers guidance on the standards for public health practitioners

Provides guidance and role specification for assessors

Provides training and on-going support for assessors and the assessment process

Provides guidance and role specification for verifiers

Provides training and on-going support for verifiers and the verification process

Sample of applicants (up to 100%) moderated

Retrospective audit of process and applications




Working with an assessor and/or mentor Once you have completed your first commentary, found your evidence and completed the applicant evidence column on your assessment log, you will need to be allocated your assessor. Your local scheme coordinator will identify a UKPHR trained assessor for you. Local schemes may find that practitioners going through the assessment process benefit from linking with a mentor. The role of an assessor is separate and different to that of a mentor. An assessor cannot act as a mentor to the same individual. MENTOR ROLE

• Facilitate/give advice on self-assessment against the practitioner standards

• Identify gaps and development opportunities for filling the gaps

• Informally review evidence and draft commentaries providing advice and guidance (this may include standards not claimed that could be claimed and strengthening those being claimed

• A listening ear

ASSESSOR You should discuss and agree a way of working with your assessor including agreeing a submission time line. You are not expected to submit all your commentaries with supporting evidence for all the standards at the same time. The whole process should be completed within a reasonable time and that may be stipulated by your local scheme. Your local scheme may require you to complete and sign a Learning Contract committing you to deadlines for completing commentaries with supporting evidence and a submission date. The assessment process is intended to be supportive to applicants. ASSESSOR ROLE Agree with practitioner dates for submission of each of the three commentaries with evidence and a completed applicant evidence column on the assessment log and the turn- around time for assessment feedback. Assessor will impartially assess the evidence submitted by the practitioner to determine if the standards have been met. The assessor will feedback the outcome: A – accept the evidence C – clarification – more information is required R – resubmission is required through the completion of the assessment log



(The assessor will briefly explain how they have made their decision in the assessor comments column on the assessment log) It is not the assessor’s role to provide support and input to draft commentaries – that is the role of the mentor. The assessment log is a ‘live’ document that moves between the applicant and assessor until all 12 standards has been assessed as met (A). Once your assessor is satisfied that all standards have been met and the applicant fully understands the ethical framework has been met, your assessor will signed off your portfolio ready for verification. The applicant should contact their local scheme coordinator to arrange for their portfolio to be passed to a verifier. We strongly recommend that the final sign off by your assessor of your portfolio, that it contains all the elements of a portfolio including: CV Current job description or work objectives Testimonial Reference You may wish to include an index with a list of contents. See top tip on ‘Practitioner registration - the process and individual roles’ for more information.



YOUR LOCAL SCHEME MAY HAVE SET DATES FOR SUBMISSION HAVE WE CONVINCED YOU TO HAVE A PROJECT PLAN?

You can choose your project planning tool BUT

A simple calendar will do, allocating time to tasks with completion dates for each (see sample on next page)


Project planning your portfolio development

Your project plan needs to include:

1. Gaining manager support and continuing commitment

2. Self-assessment against the practitioner standards

3. Selecting three major pieces of work

4. Completing your standards grid

5. One to one guidance from a mentor/support facilitator

6. Finding evidence

7. Filling ‘’knows how’ (knowledge) gaps

8. Filling ‘shows how’ (skills) gaps

9. Portfolio writing workshops (1-4)

10. Commentary writing (Nos. 1, 2, 3 . . .)

11. Agreeing times to have your commentaries assessed

12. Writing or updating your CV (Nos. 1, 2, 3…)

13. Find job description or work objectives

14. Getting a testimonial and a reference

15. Putting it all together

16. Completed portfolio signed off by assessor

17. Verification panel

18. GOAL – Submission to UK Public Health Registration Board for entry to registration

. . . Plus any other tasks you may wish to add to your project plan.

Have you set a goal date for completion of your portfolio? No! Then set it. Do not underestimate the time and commitment needed to complete a retrospective portfolio, particularly putting it all together at the end.



SAMPLE: Project planning calendar for portfolio development

TASK Month Month Month Month Month Month Month Month Month Month Month Month

Gain manager support

Self-assessment against standards

Select three major pieces of work

Complete standards grid / identify gaps

One to one with facilitator

Find evidence

Fill knowledge gaps

Fill gaps in practice

Identify mentor (optional)

Writing workshops

Commentary writing

Have commentaries assessed

Update CV

Job description

Obtain testimonial and reference

Putting it all together

Assessor sign off

Submit portfolio and apply for verification of assessment

Verification panel

UKPHR Board submission for entry to registration

Goal

You may also want to use a separate Outlook calendar on your computer throughout the year to record your ‘knows how’ development, e.g. attended Master class, reflection, shadowed, etc. This would provide a quick and easily accessed record. You could also record key events for ‘shows how’ – completed project, received award/letter of thanks, press release etc. etc.




Mapping your pieces of work against the standards

We suggest that the best way to start putting your portfolio together is to gather a collection of the major pieces of work that you have undertaken. Some of the pieces may be discrete projects whilst some will be elements of wide areas of work. You will select from this formidable pile at least three major pieces of work that best demonstrate you meet the standards. If you wish to make a case for only two commentaries/pieces of work to be assessed you must do so at an early stage (for more info see pg 12 of the UKPHR Framework & Guidance January 2012), but remember more pieces of work will demonstrate your breadth of experience. Scope the work you have gathered. Consider what standards each piece of work best demonstrates. Roughly complete your standards grid (see attached). This will help you see how you might focus each piece of work to emphasise particular standards and to identify any gaps. Try to balance your claims across all three commentaries if possible, again to show a well balanced portfolio. Once you have decided what three major pieces of work, you will write three (minimum) commentaries that will cover all the standards you will need to map the standards against your work. Use the attached ‘standards grid’ as a tool to balance out your work across the standards. Remember, to help your assessor to put the piece of work into context, understand why you are presenting it and what role you played, all pieces of work should be introduced by a short commentary that explains:

• which standards you are addressing through this piece of work • the context in which the work was done and why it was done • your role in the work and why you were involved

Why is the ‘standards grid’ a useful tool?

1. Helps you map the standards across your work.

2. Assists in completing your assessment log. (This must be sent to your assessor with each commentary with the evidence section completed)

3. Balances your portfolio.

4. Ensures there are no gaps and all standards are covered.

5. Ensures standards 5-8 are covered across two commentaries. This does not mean that each indicator has to be evidenced twice. At least three of the 12 indicators of standards 5-8 should be from a second commentary and evidence.

REMEMBER – how you have met each standard should be the focus of the commentary and not the story of the project. It is therefore essential that you understand fully each standard, what it means and how you have met it. You should read the standards carefully first then think through how you have met it and through which piece(s) of work.



Public Health Practitioner ‘Standards Grid’1

Use this tool to map pieces of work against the UKPHR Public Health Practitioner Standards. The standards can be downloaded from the UKPHR at

http://www.publichealthregister.org.uk/sites/default/files/Practitioner_Standards.pdf

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1b

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5c

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6c

7a

7b

8a

8b

9ai

9ai

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iii

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9av

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9d

9e

9f

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9h

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4

5

*Piece of work

Title

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3

1 With thanks to our colleagues at Public Health Wales

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http://www.publichealthregister.org.uk/sites/default/files/Practitioner_Standards.pdf�




Writing a commentary

You have to combine your ‘knows’ and ‘shows’ how, for example, in order to demonstrate you have the underpinning knowledge to undertake the work and make a knowledge claim, you need to say how you gained the knowledge and say how you applied the knowledge to the work. Portfolios will, and should, be different. Each will reflect an individual style, but the following headings may be useful to include in your commentary in order to guide assessors and to ensure clarity. The headings are not in any particular order but should be addressed somewhere in your commentary. You may also wish to add other headings of your own. Having said that, always start with:

TITLE (If main evidence is already titled, use that. If not, write a title that clearly indicates what the work is about.)

A REFERENCE NUMBER e.g. CI, C2 (Commentary No.1, No. 2) STANDARDS CLAIMED (these should be listed in full at the beginning) You may want to include a side column throughout, 1a EVI.1 or head up sections of the commentary with the 1b EVI.3 relevant standards written out in full

e.g. throughout the commentary:

Example 1 Example 2 1a EV1.1

1a EVI.1 3e EVI.3



Example 3 CONTEXT AND BACKGROUND

You need to quickly settle the assessor into the work. After reading a few sentences they should be able to say, ‘ah yes – I understand why this work was done. It is very important to set the context for the work early in the commentary. Add brief background information to support the context. This should include the bigger picture – i.e. the national and/or local public health policy/strategy to which the work relates, but it is also useful to give the smaller picture of why you were involved in this work e.g. ‘I was asked to lead this piece of work because of my experience or expertise in ...’

(You may find it useful to record yourself being asked these questions. We often verbalise things more clearly than we write them)

ASK YOURSELF Why was the work undertaken? Was it, for example, a major local public health issue that was causing concern or a

national ‘must do’? Was it in my job description/objectives, i.e. why was I the obvious person to lead

this?

Why did I undertake the work?

You do not usually make any standard claims within the context and background. However, you may claim knowledge of the main public health policies and strategy relevant to your own area of work (standard 10a). AIM AND OBJECTIVES

This may be restated from your supporting evidence (i.e. a report or project plan etc) but if it is not there to extract, you need to be clear regarding the purpose of this piece of work. You will find your objectives will match the ‘shows how’ standards because it is what you did.

ASK YOURSELF What were you trying to achieve? How were you going to, or did you, achieve it?

For example:

Aim: To improve the uptake of breast feeding.

Objectives: 1. Identify and interpret the uptake rates of breast feeding. 2. Contribute to a multi-agency/provider user group to design a programme to increase breast feeding.

Claim 1a

Evidence E1.1

Objective One



3. Present findings on uptake rates. 4. Identify evidence of effectiveness of interventions that increase uptake rates. 5. Prioritise and target interventions. 6. Implementation and monitoring uptake rates. 7. Present programme results. MY ROLE & RESPONSIBILITIES / APPROACH / METHODOLOGY

This needs to cover how you went about the work and knowledge that supports the work. The assessor will need to know what role you played in the work.

ASK YOURSELF What did I actually do? (undertaking the objectives) How did I acquire the knowledge to support the work?

How I applied that knowledge to the work?

Who did I supervise/manage whilst doing this work?

Reflect back the words of the standard you are claiming.

e.g. for 9b. “I presented the design of a programme of training for all front line NHS and local authority staff to the multi-agency group. In order for them to work with those people with whom they came into contact opportunistically, who are drinking at levels likely to cause themselves and others harm, I looked at evidence of effective interventions and applied principles of change management. I discovered that brief interventions were the most effective intervention and I used this model including the keeping of a diary to ascertain what triggered the drinking so that alternative strategies could be employed and short-term goals could be set. For example: I was able to appraise the evidence of effective interventions as I had undertaken a K311 promoting public health course assignment ‘assessing the evidence’ and this enabled me to understand the types, sources and levels of evidence. I utilised my knowledge of the levels to ascertain that brief interventions gave the best outcome. Claim 7a E7.2 (K1.1 Assessing Evidence, part of Cert in Promoting Public Health)

Remember to use the ‘I’ word - e.g. I led / I designed / I developed (for more, see top tip: ‘Developing powerful sentence beginnings’) KEY RESULTS / OUTCOMES / IMPACT

Here is your chance to promote your work

ASK YOURSELF Did I achieve all the objectives? What did they contribute to achieving our overall aim?

e.g. “As a direct result of this work 3 new food co-operatives were set up in the area with an average of 40 regular customers accessing a more affordable range of fruit, vegetables and whole foods.”

REFLECTION (see top tip on ‘Writing a reflective learning piece’)



EVIDENCE INCLUDED You should choose evidence that puts you at the scene either by your name being mentioned in the document or as an author. If your name doesn’t appear make sure that you explain how you were involved. List the supporting evidence you are including in your commentary at the end, e.g. EVI.1 Project Report (to which you contributed or that you wrote) EVI.2 Minutes of partnership meeting (that you attended) EVI.3 Presentation to City Council (that you gave) The first number refers to the commentary in which evidence for indicator is being described and the second number refers to the actual piece of evidence being used to clarify. Remember to put the evidence code on the piece of evidence or if electronic the file name. It is not appropriate to include as evidence or cite a single article or guidance document that you have read. What is wanted is your interpretation, not the source, of the method.

A L S O

♦ Be positive and confident throughout.

♦ Be so clear that the assessor wants to open the supporting evidence files just to confirm you have met the standards of which they are already pretty much convinced.

♦ Check grammar, spelling and punctuation.

♦ Use readable size print (e.g. Arial 12 pt).

B E W A R E

Remove any references to identify client/patients/users. Standard 3 concerns the importance of data confidentiality and disclosures and you will need to demonstrate this standard throughout your portfolio. The supporting evidence you use may be in the form of reports or minutes of meetings which will obviously contain names or disciplines (job titles) of colleagues. These documents are usually in the public domain and this is therefore acceptable. When writing your commentaries, however, try to avoid names although you may need to refer to disciplines (job titles) or organisations.

Do not use your commentaries or reflective piece as an opportunity to moan about individuals, organisations or professional groups. The assessors will not want to see you slagging off your boss or colleagues. It is you and your role they are interested in.

Be objective and state facts and, if possible, turn the issue into a positive learning point, e.g.

. . . there was some opposition to the new service which delayed the opening. In future I would engage stakeholders earlier in the design stage to ensure ownership of the project . . .

Finally . . . GET A BUDDY TO CHECK YOUR WORK.

Once you have developed your first commentary you can use the same framework for the rest. It will take less time to do the second and subsequent ones.




Writing a reflective learning piece

What is a reflective piece?

It involves looking at a piece of work you have done in a detached way. So stand back, keep an open mind, look critically at what you did in a detached way.

What should I reflect on? You should reflect on: how the work could be improved and why – and what would the improvement bring in retrospect what you would have done differently and why – and what difference might it

have made what you learned from doing the work and how you feel about the work.

What structure might I use?

A core ‘check list’ usually involves the following. Have I said how I feel about the piece of work – BE POSITIVE Have I said how others felt about it – WHAT FEEDBACK HAVE YOU HAD? Have I said what I have learned from doing it – RELATE TO STANDARDS CLAIMED Have I said what I could have done or could still do to improve the work and the outcome,

e.g. more depth in analysis, presentation to Board etc. Have I said how I could or would in hindsight resolve any problems? Have I said what could have been done (if anything) differently and how would that have

changed the outcome, e.g. involve more partners, communicate more – ASK YOURSELF, “WHAT IF?”

How long should it be?

For your portfolio we suggest that one side of A4 should be the maximum. REMEMBER you do not want a car full of portfolio or rather the assessor doesn’t!

A reflective piece should help you demonstrate your thoughts and feelings about your evidence. It should help to both bring your work alive for assessors and convince them of your role. It may not involve pages of text (indeed for this purpose it shouldn’t) but it does involve considerable thought – plan what you want to say and how you want to say it.



To start you off, try using the reflection wheel below to prompt your thoughts. Do not copy the questions/answers word for word in your final piece,

rather let the narrative flow

Ask yourself what if? For example, What if this work had not been undertaken?




Developing powerful sentence beginnings

Use a writing style that

Demonstrates your confidence in your own work

Ensures assessors understand your role

No doubt you will have been told to use the first person when writing evidence for your portfolio. It is vital that assessors are able to understand your role within the piece of work.

Don’t be modest.

The following action verb list will help you write powerful sentence beginnings.

Start each sentence with “I”

Accelerated Calculated Developed* Influenced* Achieved Changed Directed Initiated Acknowledged* Collaborated* Discovered Introduced Administered Commissioned Distributed Interpreted* Addressed* Communicated* Documented Investigated Advised* Compiled Established Issued Allocated Completed Evaluated Led Ameliorated* Conducted Examined Learnt Analysed* Consolidated Expanded Maintained Applied* Constructed Facilitated Marketed Appraised* Contracted Forecast Managed* Approved Contributed* Formulated Mapped Arranged Controlled Gathered Mentored Assessed Coordinated Guided Modified Assisted Created Identified* Monitored Assisted Delivered* Implemented* Negotiated Attained Demonstrated* Improved* Organised Audited Designed Increased Performed



Planned Prepared Presented Prevented* Promoted* Prioritised* Proposed Published Purchased Questioned Recognised* Reduced* Reflected* Regulated Researched Revised Reviewed* Scheduled Selected Served Serviced Strengthened Summarised Supervised Supported* Taught Trained Tracked Valued* Verified* Wrote

Some of the stronger impact verbs are highlighted in bold – use a highlighter to mark your favourites/ones that you would like to use. Make sure you don’t over use these!

* Words from the practitioner standards that you need to explicitly reflect in your writing.




Curriculum vitae template

When submitting your portfolio for verification purposes you need to include an up-to-date curriculum vitae (CV). You may find it useful to present a concise current picture (written – forget the photo) of yourself on one side of A4 at the beginning of your CV. This might include your name, your current role with a couple of explanatory lines, your key qualifications, professional membership. This tells assessor/verifiers in about three minutes: the level at which you are working and type of work you do; the qualifications on which your performance is based. In this way in minutes the assessor can say – “Ah yes. So this person is a director of an agency providing overseas aid, managing a team of 10 people and a budget of £2 million. They have an MPH and a MBA; before their current role they worked in a Health Authority as a health promotion manager, and before that they managed an Oxfam funded community development project in Somalia. I look forward to reading about the work they have done”. The detail of your CV comes in subsequent pages. There are no rules on how to present a CV but the following suggestions may be useful.



Curriculum Vitae

Summary front page Should be first, before going on to the full supporting CV.

This should include: your name; current role with a few explanatory sentences; key qualifications and professional membership; and roles (in reverse order) over past 5-10 years.

Full supporting CV Opening statement e.g. “A results oriented public health practitioner who is highly skilled in . . .”

Personal Information

Name:

Date of Birth:

Contact address:

Contact Tel:

Work address:

Work tel:

E-mail: Mobile: (optional)

Membership of professional organisations: (e.g. SCN)

Registration details:

Current employment • Current post / title

• Employer’s name

• Principle responsibilities

• Key achievements in post so far

• Other National/Regional/Network functions and roles



Previous employment (set out in reverse chronological order)

Date Position Employer’s name and location

Reason for leaving

Key achievements in post

Key achievements in post

Additional current and previous roles relevant to public health You may do / have done, voluntary work or carry out roles within a community that demonstrate your public health competence. Such roles are as relevant to your CV as paid work, so if you have an OBE for community work – flash it now.

Education/ Qualifications – starting with the most current (reverse chronological order)

Include all qualifications and training attended

Training/Qualifications Year Institution

Publications and presentations (brief summary)

• Publications – if you are an avid author you may want to put these into an appendix

• Contributed to (e.g. section of report or chapter in book etc.)

• Conference presentations

Subject Audience/Conference Year




References / Testimonials

You will require a reference and a separate testimonial to submit with your portfolio for assessment. This tool supports/supplements the information contained in the UKPHR Public health practitioners assessment and registration Supporting information for Applicants, Assessors, Verifiers which is available to download at http://www.phorcast.org.uk/page.php?page_id=278 The reference author and the testimonial author must be two separate people. If you are employed, either the testimonial or reference should normally be from a person who supervises your daily work. The reference may come from someone outside your own organisation or team. The submission of a reference and a testimonial is part of the assessment process and may be followed up (though this would be very unusual). You are required to give details of the people providing your reference and your testimonal on the application form and submit both with the rest of your application. You must not name anyone for whom you yourself are providing a reference or testimonial.

The Reference

This is a general reference and concerns the applicant’s fitness to practice as a public health practitioner. It should cover:

• How the referee knows you professionally and for how long

• Your personal qualities

• Your ability to practice as a public health practitioner (knows of your work)

• Your understanding of the standards of professional conduct (as summarised in “Good Public Health Practice”) – HAVE YOU READ THEM?

• Your ability to abide by these standards – YOU REALLY DO NEED TO READ THEM!

• Your awareness of your limitations and ability to stay within them (in other words, you know what you don’t know)

• Additional comments in support of your inclusion on the Register

Reference




What assessors should be looking for in a reference [use the following checklist as a guide]

Does the reference:

give you confidence that the referee is backing the application / is in support of their application

acknowledge that this person applying is committed to public health

confirm that this person is who they say they are

confirm that this person has done what they say they have done

show that this person is an asset to public health

show that there are no concerns over this person’s fitness to practice

Testimoninals

The overall testimonial This should focus on the quality of the evidence submitted in support of the portfolio (therefore they need to have seen it and read the commentaries!). The testimonial should confirm that you are working at public health practitioner level (Public Health Skills and Career Framework level 5 or above) and have met all the practitioner standards. The person supplying your testimonial may be more senior than you, or a professional colleague, but not junior to you. What assessors should be looking for in a testimonial [use the following checklist as a guide]

Does the testimonial:

indicate the testimonial author is familiar with the applicant’s work

acknowledge that the portfolio is the applicant’s work

indicate the testimonial author has reviewed the portfolio Individual testimonials Testimonials can also be used in support of claims where evidence is absent or needs substantiating in your commentaries. As you can go back several years to demonstrate that you have the standards claimed at practitioner level you may find it difficult to find your evidence. You may also find that if your evidence includes documents for the public domain, that your name may not be included. In these cases you may need to ask someone to verify your role for your evidence. This would normally take the form of a standard statement and should include:

• that you carried out the work as described

• your role at the time in relation to the work (i.e. how they know it was your work). This type of testimonial should be included as evidence and should be coded and referenced in your commentary.



Information for those providing a reference or testimonial You may find it helpful to highlight the following information to those providing a reference or testimonial: The UK Public Health Register as part of the assessment process requires a reference concerning the applicant’s fitness to practice as a public health practitioner and a testimonial in support of the evidence contained in the portfolio and. Your reference or testimonial will be ‘open’: the applicant may see it if they wish.

• Reference: please give a general reference regarding the applicant’s competence and fitness to practice as a public health practitioner.

• Testimonial: please comment generally on the quality of the evidence in the portfolio

and, if you are able, state that to the best of your knowledge, the applicant is working at public health practitioner level 5 or above, or has the competence to do so.

Please ask the applicant for a copy of their evidence for your consideration before you write the testimonial.

Please provide your reference or testimonial directly to the applicant as soon as you can, to enable the applicant to include it with the rest of their application to the Register. You should include the following basic information: 1. Name of applicant 2. How you know the applicant’s work (e.g. manager, professional colleague etc.) and for

how long 3. Your name and position




Glossary of terms used in the standards

The terms and descriptions are illustrative only. Term

Description

Health and wellbeing A state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.

Health inequalities

Variation between groups in physical and mental health, health risks, health-related behaviour. Groups may be based on socio-economic conditions, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation or geography.

Determinants of health

Personal, social, economic and environmental factors – including health behaviour and lifestyle, income, education, employment, access to health services, housing, and the natural environment – which determine the health status of a person or community.

Promoting health and wellbeing - main terms and concepts:

• behaviour change

Using a range of theoretically-based tools and techniques to help people to make healthier lifestyle and personal health choices

• community engagement

Utilising the assets of communities; helping communities to have control over their health, through working in partnership with them or delegating power to them, in order to improve health outcomes

• empowerment

Promoting the participation of individuals, organisations and communities in processes that enable them to have more control over their health

• health promotion/ improvement

Helping people and communities to gain control over the influences on their health, making the healthier choices the easier choices

• hierarchy of prevention

Primary, secondary and tertiary prevention

• social capital

Investment in the social fabric of society; effective community networks, relationships and structures which help to promote health

• social marketing

The systematic application of marketing, alongside other concepts and techniques, to achieve specific behavioural goals for a social good.

Basic sources of public health data

Includes data from ONS and the census, Hospital episode statistics, locally collected survey data



Data analysis and interpretation.

Systematic approach to data allowing reliable inferences to be made.

• basic statistical terms

for example median, mean, mode, range, variance, graphical presentation, simple tests of differences between groups or populations;

• data anomalies where data does not fit the known picture – how to detect, describe and rectify;

• routine data analysis

calculation of population rates (viz: mortality/ morbidity rates), confidence intervals

• quantitative data analysis

the process of presenting and interpreting numerical data, using basic statistics

• qualitative data analysis

the process of analysing data collected in a non-numeric form, such as documentary, visual, observational or interactive (focus groups, interviews) information

• data presentation using tabular and graphical presentation, understanding of the use of mapped data and basic geographical information systems (GIS).

Epidemiology

use of routine vital and health statistics to describe and study the distribution of disease and determinants of health in time and place and by person or group, and the application of this study to control health problems.

Epidemiology - main terms and concepts:

• incidence the number of new cases of a disease or condition in the population at risk in a specified period of time (e.g. a year)

• prevalence the proportion of the population at risk who are cases of a disease or condition

• health status Numerator, denominator, population at risk. Concepts of measures of risk (odds ratio). Calculation of mortality/ morbidity rates.

Sources of evidence Research evidence, evidence of effectiveness, outcome measures, evaluation and audit.

Evaluation A process that attempts to determine systematically and objectively the relevance, effectiveness and impact of activities in the light of their objectives.

Risks to health, wellbeing and safety. Involves:

Including threats from communicable disease and environmental determinants.

• assessment of risk identification of risk and evaluation of impact of adverse events to a given group or population;

• management of risk

evaluation of risk management options, implementation, monitoring and review;

• communicating risk

informing other professionals, or the public, about actual or potential risk openly and appropriately.

UKPHR Public Health Practitioner Registration by ... · Solutions for Public Health Verification...

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