A Message from Alison Morton, Executive Director, iHV

The iHV’s 6th Evidence-based practice conference, “Looking ahead to a fairer future” - 2-day virtual conference is being held on 21st and 22nd September 2021.

Our conference programme brings together local, national and international speakers focused on sharing best practice examples and research to improve health visiting practice. This conference will provide a much-needed time of reflection and learning from the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on babies, young children and their families, and the services that support them. In particular, the conference will focus on reducing inequalities and this will be explored through a variety of different practice-related topics. What have we learnt from the pandemic? And how can we focus our efforts as we look ahead to the future with a shared ambition to build a fairer society?  

Health visitors provide a vital safety-net for all families which is essential if we are serious about reducing inequalities. The presentations and workshops will reflect the breadth of health visiting practice, within a “whole system” public health approach, with the aim to equip health visitors to address key challenges in prevention and earliest intervention work with babies, children and families.  

This conference invites all partners interested in evidence-based infant and family public health and health visiting to come together to hear the latest guidance and recommendations. This will include, but is not limited to, health visitors and members of health visiting teams, practitioners working in the early years, commissioners, managers, government officials, third sector organisations, researchers, parents with lived experience and those practising public health nursing in the UK or further afield.