Strand 6 - Healthcare

Aim

To raise awareness of and widen access to diagnostic and therapy health professions, including:

• Radiography
• Biomedical science
• Occupational therapy
• Physiotherapy
• Dietetics
• Speech and language therapy
• Podiatry
• Operating Department Practice

Description

The Peninsula area is unique in its geography, and also has a distinctive population, with a rapidly growing number of older people and fewer young people than other areas of the country. The need for a growing number of healthcare professionals is therefore important and challenging. Research has shown that young people who move out of the area to study rarely return, therefore recruiting, training and retaining people into the healthcare professions locally is a priority. For some of the diagnostic healthcare professions, science qualifications are needed, therefore aspirational work needs to start at an early stage and awareness of, interest in and access to the professions need to be improved. Many of the therapy health profession courses are greatly oversubscribed, and therefore access needs to be widened rather than increased, so that non-traditional applicants are not disadvantaged. In order to provide a wide range of experience and a diverse workforce population, it is important to attract both young school leavers to the healthcare professions as well as mature entrants, especially those not in employment or education. The Healthcare Strand therefore attempts to raise awareness of the target professions, and the routes into them (both traditional and non-traditional), and encourage people to aspire to those professions. It also works on attainment, in schools, to help those aspiring to the target professions achieve the grades they need in the relevant subjects, to gain a place on a suitable HE course.

Sample Activities

• Taster sessions at HE institutions
• Classroom sessions in schools, linking curriculum with health careers
• Careers fairs
• Funding for visits to HealthTec
• Sessions for training providers and teachers on careers in health and social care
• Summer schools

Audience

• Young people in schools and colleges, years 9-13
• Adults not currently in employment, education or training
• Work-based and vocational learners
• Teachers and training providers