First of its kind practical resource is launched to support the UK’s health and care sector

Health Innovation West Midlands (HIWM) has launched ‘Appreciating Health and Care’, a practical guide for the health and social care sector, enabling professionals from across the UK to adopt an appreciative inquiry approach in the workplace.

Working in partnership with fellow organisations, Appreciating People and Aqua, HIWM identified the need for better support for professionals with navigating the pressures and demands facing the sector. In response the world-first resource was created to build on the many great examples where appreciative inquiry is already supporting the industry.

‘Appreciating Health and Care’ provides teams and organisations with practical tools, guidance and case studies and highlights real world examples of appreciative inquiry being used to support overall quality and safety improvement of care.

First revealed at a virtual launch on the 30^th April, people from all over the country tuned in to learn more about the resource and hear from the team involved in its development.

The resource is available to purchase from the Appreciating People’s website or as a resource for participants in Health Innovation West Midlands’ and Aqua’s Appreciative Inquiry training programmes and courses.

Daniel Hodgkiss, Assistant Programme Manager at HIWM, commented: “It is really exciting to have finally launched the ‘Appreciating Health and Care’ resource. I believe there is a great opportunity for this information to support individuals, teams and organisations to create positive work cultures which enable practical improvements across health and care settings.

“The launch truly highlighted the interest from within the sector and need for a resource such as this with an immediate positive response from the audience attending on the day. Some attendees even stated that they were keen to take some of the learnings straight back to their places of work.

“Working in tandem with the other organisations including NHS England, NHS Impact and other international bodies, will enable us to roll out ‘Appreciating Health and Care’ far and wide, allowing more healthcare staff to support their local improvement projects.”

To encourage the uptake of the resource there are plans for the authors to disseminate the document with their colleagues around the world, through a series of presentations and webinars with key organisations such as the Cooperrider Centre at Champlain College and the Q Community at The Health Foundation.

If you would like to access a copy of Appreciating Health and Care – please email daniel.hodgkiss@healthinnovationwm.org