Professor Sir Mansel Aylward CB is Director of the Centre for Psychosocial and Disability Research at Cardiff University which offers a unique opportunity to extend knowledge and understanding of the psychosocial, economic and cultural factors that influence health, illness, recovery, rehabilitation and reintegration. Sir Mansel is also Professor of Public Health Education at Cardiff University. He is also Chair of Public Health Wales � a new unified NHS Trust responsible for the delivery of public health services at national, local and community level in Wales. Until 2008 he was Chair of the Wales Centre for Health, an Assembly Government Sponsored Body established to be the �hub of connected organisations� and to communicate better health messages to the people of Wales. In the 2010 Queen�s New Year�s Honours List he received a knighthood for services to health and healthcare. Previously he was made a Companion of the Bath in 2002. In December 2008, during the 60th year of the NHS, the Minister for Health and Social Services asked him to chair the Bevan Commission, an independent expert group to oversee NHS reforms and, to help ensure that these reforms set Wales on the path to achieve a world-class health care system. In 2005 he was made a member of the Health Honours Committee; in September 2008 he was re-appointed for a further 4 years. He is Patron of The Shaw Trust, the Vocational Rehabilitation Association and Wellbeing Wales and Vice President of the College of Occupational Therapy. From 1996 to April 2005 he was Chief Medical Adviser, Medical Director and Chief Scientist to the UK�s Department for Work and Pensions and Chief Medical Adviser and Head of Profession at the Veterans' Agency, Ministry of Defence. In 2001 he was appointed as The Royal Society of Medicine's Academic Sub Dean for Wales. In 2012, he was appointed to be the first Ko Awatea Stephenson Visiting Chair at Counties Manukau District Health Board, New Zealand and Honorary Professor at Auckland University. In 2012, he was asked by the Chief Scientific Adviser to the Prime Minister, New Zealand, to chair an international expert panel to undertake a review of the Growing Up in New Zealand Longitudinal Study. He lives in Merthyr Tydfil, his home town, where, in 2013, he was made a Freeman of Merthyr Tydfil County Borough.
| Health Beyond Health: Another Cardinal
Role for General Practice
The holistic approach embracing the social determinants of health and the importance of work Main Session |
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| Friday, 21 June 2013 | Start 09:25am | Duration: 25mins | Baytrust |
Professor Sir Mansel Aylward CB MD DSc FFPM FFOM FFPH FRCP
Chair: Public Health Wales and Director of the Centre for Psychosocial and Disability Research, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Wales.
The main determinants of health and illness depend more upon lifestyle, socio-cultural environment and psychological (personal) factors than they do on biological status and the provision of healthcare. Housing, transport, education, social support, etc, are keys to health and wellbeing which can be more important than the quality of delivery of healthcare in a person�s life. Furthermore, economic, social and moral arguments support that a life in work is generally the most effective means to improve wellbeing of people, their families and their communities. Unemployment can be destructive of self respect, brings risks of poor physical and mental health and handicaps the achievement of wellbeing. Ill health and disability do not exclusively result from demonstrable pathology but may be meaningfully explained in terms of socio-cultural and personal factors. Much sickness and ill health should be preventable but better management is an immense challenge. It can be achieved, but only by fundamental change in approach whereby all healthcare professionals, policy makers and other principal stakeholders work together towards common goals. The role of the general practitioner is pivotal in securing this fundamental change in thinking, in practice and in recognising and addressing barriers to the achievement of optimum health, social inclusion, a life in work, and the transition of disadvantaged communities to more advantaged trajectories. The holistic approach involving the adoption of the bio-psycho-social model which crystallizes thinking, improves understanding and facilitates the development of successful interventions provides the framework for this endeavour. This has major implications for healthcare, workplace management and social policy and introduces a more balanced and more human model of illness and disability. The application of this approach in the context of general practice will be discussed together with examples of management of illness, work-related consultations, and support for general practitioners which have proved successful in the United Kingdom.