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How to Manage: Childhood Poverty (online)

Poverty has a significant impact on communities across the country, with over 14 million people affected by poverty including 71% of working households and 42% of families with three or more children particularly affected. With increasing healthcare inequalities experienced by those living in poverty, it is imperative that as healthcare providers we can ensure that our services meet everyone’s needs.

This one-day course looks at the causes and consequences of child poverty as well as the link between poverty and health inequalities. You will hear from clinicians whose service has been ‘poverty proofed’ and the impact it has had.
Date: -
Time: -
Spaces available

The RCPCH is pleased to offer this course at a reduced rate. Please note the fees may be subject to change.

  • RCPCH member - Trainee as well as SAS Doctor, Nurses, AHPs: £110
  • RCPCH member - Consultant: £140
  • Non-RCPCH member: £200

Course aim

To help clinicians understand and have empathy for young people and their families suffering the effects of poverty, enabling them to start unpicking the impact poverty may have on the accessibility of their work and the work of their team. There will be the opportunity during the day for reflective practice and considering what can be done immediately in healthcare settings to implement change.

Course description

This one-day online course is delivered by Children North East (CNE), a large regional children’s charity with work extending across England, Wales and Scotland. CNE deliver services, support and initiatives that provide a platform for children, young people and families to work through issues, take action and provide them with the tools to reach their full potential. This includes their UK wide Poverty Proofing© initiative. During the course, you will focus on the causes and consequences of child poverty, the link between poverty and health inequalities, the principles of Poverty Proofing© and how it works in practice, common themes and impact as well as hearing from clinicians who have ‘poverty proofed’ their service.

This course supports the NHSE focus on the Core20+5 framework, specifically supporting individuals and families living in the most deprived circumstances. Poverty Proofing© Healthcare has already proven to have impact within different departments across the NHS, and we are building on this work developed in the North East of England by developing a delivery partner model so local people can inform and influence service delivery in the years to come.

Poverty Proofing© Principles

The Poverty Proofing© delivery model is founded on three core principles that underpin all Poverty Proofing interventions:

  1. VOICE – To see real social change it is imperative that the voice of those affected by poverty are central to understanding and overcoming the barriers that they face.
  2. PLACE – We need to understand the context of the community and place which we seek to Poverty Proof. We recognise that poverty impacts places differently, and so understanding place is vital in our response. Organisationally we also need to be clear about why and how decisions are made. This understanding of context is essential.
  3. STRUCTURAL INEQUALITIES – While tackling poverty can feel like an impossible and unachievable goal, the knowledge that the root causes of poverty are structural give us reason for hope. If poverty can be addressed or at least alleviated by making structural changes within society, then what structural changes can we make at an organisational level to eliminate the barriers that those in poverty may face.

Learning outcomes

  • To have an overview of who CNE are and why this work matters
  • To understand definitions of poverty
  • To have an awareness of the extent of poverty and how that plays out nationally and regionally and look at some of the drivers behind this
  • To understand and identify what the consequences of poverty are
  • To have explored the root causes of poverty
  • To understand the impact of poverty on health
  • To gain insights into the development of Poverty Proofing© and where is sits within a health context and see a case study from Poverty Proofing Paediatric Diabetes
  • There will be a chance for reflective practice and for clinicians to explore their current role and identify some of the barriers they identify for individuals living in poverty within their own practice and that of their healthcare setting.

Target audience

Paediatric trainees, SAS doctors, Consultant paediatricians, GPs and Allied health professionals.

Course requirements

To participate in this online course, you will need access to:

  • Windows or Mac Computer (laptop/desktop or tablet) with full access to the Zoom platform
  • An internet connection 
  • Microphone and speaker - either using the built-in microphone/speaker or a headset connected to your laptop/desktop or tablet
  • Webcam - either using a built-in webcam or a separate webcam connected to your laptop/desktop or tablet.

Course leads

Emma Leggott, Poverty Proofing Healthcare Team Manager at Children North East

15 years working in the social housing sector in community development and tenant engagement roles. Emma has recently moved to the charity sector and has a vast experience working in communities and using lived experience to inform policy, practice and decision making.

Ailbhe Cashman – Poverty Proofing Healthcare Team Coordinator at Children North East

Ailbhe has gained extensive experience providing advice, advocacy and support to vulnerable adults and families during roles at the Citizen’s Advice Bureau and in the mental health sector. She recently completed a masters degree focussing on the links between inequalities experienced in early years and wellbeing throughout later life.

Clinical course lead

Dr Ian Sinha, Consultant Respiratory Paediatrician, Alder Hey Children's Hospital

Ian is a Consultant Respiratory Paediatrician at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital as well as a Professor within the Division of Child Health at the University of Liverpool, where he researches paediatric asthma and neonatal lung disease. He is particularly interested in the impact of social and health inequalities on children.