Integrated Health Awards 2007 - nominations now open

The Prince’s Foundation for Integrated Health is looking for ground-breaking, accessible integrated health initiatives. By shining a spotlight on projects and practitioners with an innovative and imaginative approach to health and wellbeing, the Integrated Health Awards aim to encourage the spread of integrated health. Any organisation - from GP practices and hospitals to schools, businesses and community groups - can apply if they take an integrated health approach. 

So what exactly is integrated health?  There’s a widespread belief that it means a health approach which brings together the best of mainstream medical science with complementary therapies and medicines, but there’s more to it than that.  Integrated health also emphasises a preventative approach, educating people about how they can make healthy choices and achieve the best possible state of health and wellbeing. It also treats people ‘holistically’ – so instead of seeing the body as a machine made up of components that sometimes break down, it sees the way that our emotional and mental wellbeing affect our health, and the influence on health of our lifestyle and environment.   

The Foundation’s Chief Executive Kim Lavely said: ‘The Integrated Health Awards shine a light on the pioneers and trailblazers of integrated health and set the pace for change in the way we see health. Through the awards we want to share success stories of how integrated health can make an enormous difference to individuals and communities. This will inspire others in turn to set up integrated health projects and give existing projects tips and ideas about what works and how to meet the challenges of this kind of innovative healthcare.’

Judges this year include Dr. Michael Dixon, Chair of NHS Alliance (which represents primary care) and Dr. John Briffa, the acclaimed holistic doctor, journalist and author.

This year the Foundation is looking for health initiatives which:

• Promote healthy living and incorporate a preventative approach - such as advocating a healthy diet and regular physical activity.
• Create supportive environments in, for example, the workplace, the community or schools, so that healthy choices are easy to make and accessible.
• Look at the whole person and take into account the effects of lifestyle, environment and emotional wellbeing on a person’s health.
• Have an emphasis on self-care. They should support and empower people to take an active role in their own care so they can exercise more control over their own health and their environments, and make choices conducive to health.
• Demonstrate involvement of users in the design and evaluation of the service or project.
• Bring together safe, effective and accessible approaches to integrated health and health promotion to enable people to lead healthier lives.

The awards have been run every two years since 1999, but will now be an annual event.  Past winners have included a hospital-based service in Merthyr Tydfil in Wales for older people with mental health problems, offering treatments that help to reduce anxiety and agitation in this especially vulnerable group, and provide a valuable aspect of their psychiatric care.  One of the 2005 winners was the Bristol-based Complementary Health in Partnerships (CHIPS) scheme which offers accessible and heavily subsidised health treatments and nutritional advice to people in an area of high socio-economic deprivation.

There are three awards on offer this year:

• the UK award (sponsored by Nelsons, the UK’s leading manufacturer of natural medicines) with prize money of £5000
• the Wales award (sponsored by the Welsh Assembly Government) with prize money of £2500
• the Northern Ireland award (sponsored by the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety, Northern Ireland), with prize money of £2500. 

Any organisation in the UK that meets the criteria can apply, and applicants from Wales or Northern Ireland will be eligible for their national award as well as the UK award. 

For details of how to enter the awards scheme, please go to www.fih.org.uk.  The closing date is Friday 1^st June. 

-ends-

Media contact

Natasha Finlayson at The Prince’s Foundation for Integrated Health

020 3119 3118 

natasha.finlayson@fih.org.uk

Notes to editors

1.         Pictures of previous award winners are available on request from The Prince’s Foundation for Integrated Health. Contact as above.

2.         Judging panel

Judges confirmed so far:

Dr. Michael Dixon, Chair of NHS Alliance and Visiting Professor of Integrated Health at the University of Westminster

Dr. John Briffa, holistic doctor, author and journalist 

Kim Lavely, Chief Executive of The Prince’s Foundation for Integrated Health

Anne Wadsworth, voluntary sector strategic development specialist

Barbara Lantin, health writer and former Chair of the Guild of Health Writers

3.         The Prince’s Foundation for Integrated Health

The Foundation is a UK charity championing an integrated approach to health.

It works towards a culture of health and wellbeing with people and communities taking more responsibility for their own health, and where health professionals collaborate and share learning in the best interests of their patients. The Foundation seeks to inspire, engage and support health practitioners to work together to provide the widest possible patient choice.  It also works with health policy makers to help create a health service where the best of all healthcare is the norm.

4.         Nelsons

Nelsons is the UK’s leading manufacturer of natural medicines, with a long-standing commitment to integrated health and helping to facilitate a wider range of patient choice, in this way enabling people to strive safely towards better healthcare. The company’s brands are recognised and sold all over the world. They include Rescue Remedy, Bach Original Flower Remedies, Nelsons Arnicare and Nelsons Homeopathy.