Community-based health champions and trainers, including those working at community pharmacies, have huge potential to improve public health and boost their own wellbeing at the same time, claims a new report by the Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH).

The report found that health trainers and health champions were highly successful at motivating and supporting sustained lifestyle changes, and highlighted the success of the Healthy Living Pharmacy (HLP) model. It also revealed that becoming a health champion or trainer had positive effects on the individual, including enhanced career prospects, improved wellbeing and increased confidence. The RSPH also argued that extending public health training to the ‘wider public health workforce’ including those working in housing, education and the police could ease the burden of health inequalities.

Shirley Cramer, RSPH chief executive, said: “Given the rising burden placed on the NHS and elsewhere as a result of smoking, lack of exercise and poor diets, it is critical that we move with urgency towards public health being a community-wide shared responsibility.”