Health promotion in Urgent and Emergency Care (UEC) settings

IHPE Masterclass Series 2025

Brought to you by the Institute of Health Promotion & Education (IHPE) in collaboration with the University of Nottingham, UK.

Join us for a series of 5 Masterclasses in 2025, providing continuing professional development in key topic areas outlined in the IHPE Manifesto.

The series is hosted by Professor Holly Blake, Trustee of IHPE, health psychologist, and professor of behavioural medicine in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at the University of Nottingham,UK.

Our sessions focus on advocating for positive health, preventing ill health, and reducing inequalities. This year, our topics include physical activity engagement, mental health promotion, obesity prevention, brief interventions for health promotion relating to alcohol misuse, and breast cancer prevention, treatment and care. We focus on ways in which we can promote health to people of all ages, through community initiatives, or by promoting health through ‘healthy settings’ such as workplaces and hospitals.

MASTERCLASS 4: Health promotion in Urgent and Emergency Care (UEC) settings and the implementation of Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) for alcohol misuse.

Speakers: Professor Holly Blake, Professor of Behavioural Medicine / chartered health psychologist, School of Health Sciences, University of Nottingham, UK. Dr Emma Adams, Assistant Professor in Health Promotion and Public Health, University of Nottingham, UK. Lucy Morris RN, Health Improvement Research and Education Lead in Urgent and Emergency Care, DREEAM, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, UK. Dr Frank Coffey, Emergency Medicine Consultant & Director of DREEAM Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust & Honorary Professor, Nottingham Trent University, UK.

In this session we will provide an overview of the unique role UEC settings can play in health promotion. We will demonstrate the importance of embedding this in a whole-system,integrated approach to population health. We will present findings from a national survey we undertook of healthcare workers’ attitudes towards promoting health in UEC settings and outline the barriers and enablers of health promotion practice as described by healthcare workers based in diverse UEC settings. SBIRT is an ideal, though underused, approach in UEC settings for identifying patients with risk factors impacting on their health, providing immediate input during a ‘teachable moment’ and referring, where appropriate, to specialist services.

Alcohol misuse is a risk factor to health and wellbeing, very prevalent in UEC settings. We developed and evaluated “Alcohol Prevention in Urgent and Emergency Care” (APUEC) online training for UEC healthcare workers. The aim was to increase positive attitudes, knowledge, confidence and skills related to SBIRT through the provision of (a) education on the impact of alcohol and the role of UEC staff in alcohol prevention, and (b) practical guidance on patient assessment, delivery of brief advice and referral decisions. We will discuss how this training was developed, how it was perceived by healthcare workers, and how skills learned can be applied in the clinical setting.

We hope that such training may facilitate the integration of SBIRT into routine care, helping to reduce health inequalities, and contribute to population health improvement.

The session will conclude with attendee comments and questions.

Speaker Biographies:

Professor Holly Blake is Professor of Behavioural Medicine and a health psychologist at the University of Nottingham, UK. She is listed in the Stanford Top 2% of cited scientists in the field of public health and health services. Her research focuses on work, health and wellbeing, self-management of chronic conditions and digital innovations for health and wellbeing. A winner of the UK ‘The Hidden REF 2024’, this national competition recognised the global impact of her work to support the psychological wellbeing of the healthcare workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic, which was included in the Chief Nursing Officer for England’s COVID-19 Research Portfolio. Over the years, her research has been cited as best practice in policy documents worldwide, including by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work. She has edited numerous books and digital artefacts, is guest editor of an international journal, and has published around 280 journal, conference and other articles. She has appeared in the Top 3 most read authors in The Conversation, been interviewed for podcasts, has published invited blogs and thought leader pieces. Her work is regularly cited in the media and publications such as AOL/Yahoo/Microsoft News, The Guardian, The Independent, National Geographic, Washington Post, and Smithsonian Magazine. She holds an honorary contract with Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust with positions on strategic boards for workforce wellbeing, and health improvement. She is affiliated to the NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre and is a Trustee of the Institute for Health Promotion and Education, contributing to an IHPE-recognised degree programme. She is Fellow of the Royal Society for Public Health, and Principal Fellow of AdvanceHE.

Dr Emma Adams is a mixed methods researcher, and her main research interests are in evaluating the implementation and impact of applied health promotion interventions and translating research evidence to inform and improve practice and policy. She recently worked as a research fellow on the SCALES (Structured Conversations About Lifestyle in Emergency Settings). She has many years of experience working on the development, implementation and evaluation of interventions to promote physical activity and health in workplace, community and healthcare settings. She has led the evaluation of several national physical activity promotion projects in the UK, working closely with external stakeholders from the physical activity, sport and health sectors. This included Well@Work: promoting active and healthy workplaces (2004-2008); Living Streets' Fitter for Walking, Step Up and Walking Works projects (2009-2011); the Workplace Challenge project (2013-2019); and the Clinical Champion's Physical Activity Training programme (part of the Moving Healthcare Professionals Programme) (2018-2019). She is a member of the Institute for Health Promotion and Education, contributing to an IHPE-recognised degree programme.

Lucy Morris is a registered nurse with a clinical background in the Emergency Department and a strong passion for bridging the gap between emergency medicine and public health. Her career began in the fast-paced environment of the Emergency Department, where she developed a deeper understanding of acute care and its intersection with broader health determinants. After joining the DREEAM Research Team, Lucy managed a diverse portfolio of trials spanning the Emergency Department and Critical Care, strengthening her expertise in evidence-based practice. In 2021, she became the Project Lead for SCALES (Structured Conversations About Lifestyle in Emergency Settings), where she led the design, implementation, and evaluation of an innovative health improvement model tailored to emergency care environments. Currently, Lucy works as the Health Improvement Research and Education Lead in Urgent and Emergency Care at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, UK. In this role, she drives initiatives to address the complex needs of vulnerable patients through innovative research, education, and service improvement.

Honorary Professor Dr Frank Coffey is a Consultant in Emergency Medicine at Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) Trust, UK, and Director of DREEAM, an NHS Academic Unit in Urgent and Emergency Care, which he founded in 2015. DREEAM has been recognized as an area of 'outstanding practice' in CQC reviews. Frank was instated as the inaugural ‘Educator in Residence’ at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland in 2015 and following his tenure, a visiting Professor there. He was appointed Honorary Professor in Urgent and Emergency Care at Nottingham Trent University in 2020, with an international reputation in health education. In the UK, the NHS Long Term Plan has a strong emphasis on health promotion and prevention in areas such as cigarette smoking, problem drinking, obesity and mental health. Between 2000-2018, Frank led IMPS (Injury Minimization Project for Schools) which was one of the largest health promotion programmes in Nottingham. A collaboration with the City Council, over 40,000 Year 6 school children visited the ED for a tour and educational sessions, as part of this injury prevention programme. In 2019, he received funding from Public Health England to establish an innovative 'Prevention Hub' in DREEAM / ED at NUH, where practitioners working in different fields of health promotion / prevention co-ordinated their expertise and activities in a cohesive and synergistic fashion. Frank is passionate about addressing the wider determinants of health and health inequities, and champions interdisciplinary and cross boundary working. He is a Member of the Institute for Health Promotion and Education, contributing to an IHPE-recognised degree programme.