The Princess of Wales today praised the ‘amazing’ efforts of health visitors – after her Royal Foundation Center for Early Childhood found that more than half of the UK understand little or nothing about the role they play.
In a sleek new jacket video released as part of her Shaping Us campaign, Kate, 41, highlighted the vital role of the medical professionals.
Throughout the four-minute clip, viewers watch the mother-of-three shadow health visitors — to gain “a deeper understanding of their essential” job — during assignments over the past few months.
One such outing was to the Homerton Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust in March, where Kate met with members of the health visitation team to discuss the scope and scope of their work, before observing clinical appointments and making a home visit to a local family.
“So much of it is behind closed doors, you know you’re in people’s homes and you know that, it’s not a very visible service,” Kate said.
The clip has been launched to coincide with the release of the second in a series of reports from The Royal Foundation Center for Early Childhood’s 2023 Public Perceptions Survey, which looks at public understanding of the role of the early childhood sector in shaping of our earliest years and, in particular, the role of health visitors.
The new data shows a lack of public understanding about what health visitors do, or the breadth of work they perform.
Findings from the Public Perception Survey show that more than half (56%) of the UK public understand little or nothing about the role health visitors play.
Of those with knowledge of the role, they most strongly associate the profession with providing feeding support and completing health assessments.
Only about 40 percent of people who knew about the work of health visitors associated the role with supporting maternal, child and family mental health, parent-child relationships and a child’s social and emotional development – all key elements of its role and essential in supporting children’s long-term development.
Based in local communities, health visitors are specialist nurses who work with families throughout pregnancy and the first five years of a child’s life to identify their specific health and wellness needs and provide tailored support.
They support the health and development of babies and children, as well as the health and well-being of parents and carers to ensure that every child has the best possible start in life.
“The birth of a newborn, especially the first one, your first child, you are the vital link between health and hospitals, right through to the education system, it’s the role you play, it’s really crucial,” Kate told health visitors .
The Princess of Wales (pictured left) has appeared in a slick new video for her Shaping Us campaign, in which she shadows health visitors to ‘gain a deeper understanding of their vital role’
Images show Kate’s work with the professionals over the past few months, including a day shadowing at Homerton Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust in March
The mother of three (pictured centre), 41, met with members of the health visitation team to discuss the scope and scope of their work, before attending clinical appointments and making a home visit to a local family
“You’re in people’s homes, you build these relationships with these families, and you see the real challenges they all face.”
She added: “More than ever, families need support like the one we’ve seen today and it’s so important that we recognize and celebrate this amazing role that health visitors play across the country.”
Elsewhere, the film features interviews and footage of health visitors and some of the parents they support from the South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust.
The Trust is one of two areas taking part in a £50,000 NHS project, funded by The Royal Foundation Center for Early Childhood, which will help equip health visitors with further skills to help parents and carers understand their child’s emotions .
Yesterday, Kate visited the Riversley Children’s Center in Nuneaton to meet health visitors participating in the study.
The princess’s work with health visitors is part of the Shaping Us campaign, a long-term public awareness initiative spearheaded by Kate, which aims to increase understanding of the vital importance of the early years of our lives and the part we all must play in transforming the issue of early childhood into one of the most strategically important issues of our time.
Elsewhere, the film features interviews and footage of health visitors and some of the parents they support from the South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust
During early childhood, from pregnancy to age five, our brains develop faster than at any other time in our lives, and our experiences, relationships, and environment at these ages shape the rest of our lives.
Professionals such as midwives, health visitors and primary care physicians, along with wider community members who create supportive environments, play a hugely important role in caring for babies and young children and in supporting their parents and carers through this crucial stage .
By working closely with people from the private, public and voluntary sectors, including early childhood staff, The Princess of Wales and The Royal Foundation Center for Early Childhood hope to create a network of shared knowledge and best practice that can be used to identify and collaborate on new solutions and inspire action to drive real, positive change in the early years.
Kate has previously spent time gaining a practical understanding and working knowledge of the support Midwives provide to families across the country.
In November 2019, she visited Kingston Hospital Maternity Unit for a period of two days, accompanying community midwives on their daily rounds and spending time in hospital clinics and postnatal wards.