Health and Wellbeing Training and Resources

Below there are a range of free health and wellbeing training sessions and resources that health professionals, community groups and individuals can access.

We have printable presentations, information about booking onto different training sessions, as well as some self help resources.

If training dates have passed, some sessions will be available to view under videos of previous training sessions.

Health and Wellbeing Training

Making Every Contact Count (MECC) Training

Making Every Contact Count (MECC) is about using our everyday conversations to help people make positive changes to their physical and mental health and wellbeing. The free training will help you to encourage people to think about change and offer help such as signposting to local services and groups or by providing further information.

The 3 hour online MECC training covers:

How you can support someone to explore their own health and wellbeing
How using more effective responses can help people to find their own solutions
How you can support someone to think about their own behaviour change plan

The MECC training is delivered for free by Everyone Health Staffordshire. It is suitable for any workforce that interacts with the public and has the opportunity to support health and wellbeing. To book a place, visit the Bookwhen website.

Alternatively, if you would like to discuss arranging an in-house session for your team (minimum 6 participants), please email: zoewilliams@everyonehealth.co.uk

Supportive Communities Training Back to top

Gain new knowledge and skills to support people in your community to stay healthy and independent for longer.

The training sessions are delivered online by Support Staffordshire. Each session lasts for 1 hour (apart from the new 'Signposting and Supporting Mental Health Training' which is 2 hours). All sessions are free to attend.

There are a range of different training sessions:

Signposting and Supporting Mental Health

This is a 2 hour online session, delivered by Burton Mind in partnership with Staffordshire County Council and Support Staffordshire.

This session builds upon the learning from the Mental Health Awareness Training that has been previously delivered (view video of this training session). It is designed to give you additional practical advice and help to support someone with their mental health.

This session will cover:

Mental Health literacy
Supporting friends and colleagues with mental health/self-help
5 ways to wellbeing
Scenarios to work through as a group
Barriers to disclosure
Signposting into the voluntary sector

Training dates

Mental Health Awareness Back to top

This session covers common mental health problems and symptoms, how to support someone who is struggling and where to look for professional support.

Do you know what mental ill health means?
Would you know how to communicate with someone who's struggling?
Would you like to know how to improve mental wellbeing?

View video of previous training session.

Signposting and Resources Back to top

In this session you’ll explore Staffordshire County Council’s website, which contains lots of information, advice and guidance to help older people stay healthy and independent. You’ll get a tour of Staffordshire’s amazing online directory called ‘Staffordshire Connects’. You’ll also receive information on how to signpost to further support. This session will cover:

Information, advice and guidance for older people on Staffordshire County Council's website
Using Staffordshire Connects effectively
Signposting to further support

View video of previous training session.

Communication and Safeguarding Back to top

In this session you’ll learn ‘active listening’ techniques and you’ll explore the importance of body language. There will be information on how to engage effectively with people, for example, you’ll learn techniques on how to build confidence levels. The session will also cover how to deal with safeguarding concerns – what to say, how to respond and who to report them to. This session will cover:

Communicating effectively
Dealing with a safeguarding concern

View video of previous training session.

Assistive Technology and Digital Skills Back to top

This session will help you to remove the barriers to enable others to stay connected. You’ll also explore a range of simple, affordable, but extremely useful items of daily living equipment and technology that can help older people to stay independent in their own homes. These can range from big button telephones that can help people to stay in touch with others, grabbers that can help people with mobility issues, and items that can help people with preparing meals, eating and drinking. There are so many useful items to discover! This session will cover:

Daily living equipment and technology
Digital skills

View video of previous training session.

Videos of previous training sessions Back to top

If you would prefer to watch a recorded video of the training sessions at a more convenient time, the training sessions below are available to view on YouTube.

Once you’ve watched a session, you can email training@supportstaffordshire.org.uk to obtain a course evaluation, and once completed a certificate will then be emailed to you.

Let's work together training - spotting the risks in vulnerable people Back to top

This is a 90 minute online session delivered by Support Staffordshire, funded by Health Education England.

The training is for anyone who has contact with those most in need in our communities.

The course aims to equip you with knowledge and skills to spot risks and refer to other services in the following topics:

Cold / fuel poverty
Debt
Carer stress
Loneliness
Medication use
Mental health issues
Dementia

To book a place on this training, visit Support Staffordshire's training and events page, call 01785 413162 or email training@supportstaffordshire.org.uk

Suicide Awareness and Prevention Training Back to top

#TalkSuicide is a suicide prevention campaign that aims to bring individuals, organisations and businesses together to help prevent suicide in Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent.

Suicide prevention training is available for free. Watch the interactive online training from the Zero Suicide Alliance, and in 20 minutes you can gain the skills to save a life.

Half-day suicide awareness and prevention training sessions are also available, delivered online by North Staffs Mind. These fully funded sessions will help you to:

Tackle misconceptions and stigma regarding suicide
Recognise the signs that someone may be at risk
Have an open and honest dialogue about suicide
Use a simple 4 step suicide intervention
Signpost to local support services

To book a place on this training, please email: suicideprevention@staffordshire.gov.uk

Health Literacy Training

Health Education England (Midlands) are delivering a series of online health literacy training sessions and workshops. These are for people working in the field of health and care and/or involved in improving people’s health and wellbeing.

Health literacy is about people being able to understand and use information to make their own, informed decisions about their health. But 43% of adults do not have adequate literacy skills to understand health information.

Providing easy-to-understand information in accessible formats can help people to make better decisions about their health and care. At the same time, using straightforward language can give people the confidence to ask questions without feeling uncomfortable or foolish.

This training will increase your awareness of Health Literacy. It will also give you practical tools and techniques to make the information you provide easier to understand.

For any booking queries please contact: peter.swan@hee.nhs.uk

Health Literacy Awareness Training

This is a 2-hour training session, covering:

What health literacy is
What it might feel like to have low levels of health literacy
Why it is important for people and for healthcare organisations
What other organisations have achieved, and find out more about the Health Literate Organisation (HLO) process
Where to go for further information

Training Dates

Health Literate Organisation Workshop

This is a 3 hour workshop. Attendees receive advice with practical tools and examples, to help their team/ department/ organisation:

Improve written communication
Improve verbal communication
Increase staff health literacy knowledge and capability
Re-evaluate the physical layout and signage within your organisation
Establish your HLO goals and establish a baseline
Develop a health literacy policy

Please note: You must have first completed the Health Literacy Awareness Training before attending this workshop.

Workshop dates

Health Literacy Community of Practice Workshop

These 1 hour workshops provide further development for Health Literacy Champions. They will focus on different aspects of Health Literacy.

Please note: you must have first attended a Health Literate Organisation Workshop before attending these sessions.

Workshop dates

Health Literacy E-Learning

Health Education England and NHS Education for Scotland have also developed a 30 minute Health Literacy E-Learning module, which is available from the E-Learning For Healthcare website.

Health and Wellbeing Resources Back to top

There are a range of tools and resources that health professionals, community groups and individuals can access, to help support people’s health and wellbeing:

Health and Wellbeing Services in Staffordshire

Healthy lifestyle support

Everyone Health Staffordshire offer a free healthy lifestyle service to Staffordshire residents to help them lose weight, get more active, stop smoking and get an NHS Health Check. For more information, visit their website, call 0333 005 0095, or email eh.staffs@nhs.net.

Drug and alcohol support

Human Kind provide a specialist alcohol and substance misuse treatment and recovery service called STARS (Staffordshire Treatment and Recovery Service) for adults aged 18 years and over. For more information, visit their website.

Human Kind also provide T3 STARS (Staffordshire Treatment and Recovery Service for Young People) for young people up to 20 years old. For more information, visit their website.

Sexual health support

There are a number of sexual health centres across Staffordshire, where people can get advice about and receive a variety of different types of contraception. They can also get tested for sexually transmitted infections and receive treatments.

Diabetes support

Staffordshire residents can use the ‘know your risk of Type 2 diabetes tool’ to find out if they are at risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. This only takes a few minutes to complete.

If they are at high risk, they may be eligible for free support from the Healthier You: NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme in Staffordshire.

Mental health support

There are a range of mental health support services across Staffordshire that Staffordshire residents can access.

Self Help and Signposting Back to top

Staffordshire Connects

Staffordshire Connects is our easy to use online directory. It provides details about hundreds of different care, support and wellbeing organisations, local activities, clubs and community groups taking place across Staffordshire.

Health and wellbeing app finder tool

Health and wellbeing apps can help people to manage their own health, but there are thousands to choose from and not all apps can be trusted to offer clinically proven and up to date advice.

To help Staffordshire residents to manage their health digitally, they can now use the Health and Wellbeing App Finder tool. It features apps covering a range of health and wellbeing topics, including stopping smoking, mental wellbeing, keeping active and weight loss.

Entitled To – Benefit Calculator

Staffordshire’s 'entitled to' benefits calculator is a free online calculator that enables people to find out what benefits they may be entitled to. It takes around 10 minutes to complete and all details provided are anonymous.

Cannock Chase Can

Cannock Chase Can is a local programme to help residents improve their health and wellbeing. For further information, updates and developments visit their website or their Facebook page ‘Cannock Chase Can’. A new mobile app is available to download for free from Google Play and the App store. The app will provide local residents with the tools to improve their own health and wellbeing.

Staffordshire Warmer Homes

Staffordshire Warmer Homes is a scheme run by Staffordshire County Council, in partnership with district and borough councils. Their goal is to combat fuel poverty across the county and help residents to heat their home. For more information, visit their website.