Our evidence-based approach underpins our work to advocate for babies, children and families, to reduce inequalities in outcomes and healthcare provision in the earliest years of life. Our strength lies in our approach:

1)    Understanding

Listening to, collating and sharing practitioner intelligence and evidence on the current state of health visiting and child/ family health – we shine a light on the problem and speak truth to power.

2)    Collaborating

Forming strong alliances with partners, key stakeholders and families with lived-experience to raise awareness on the importance of investing in the health and wellbeing of babies, children and families, at the earliest stages of life - and build support for health visiting as an important part of the solution. 

3)    Providing Solutions

Increasing decision-makers' understanding of the value of a well-resourced health visiting service, as a vital infrastructure of support for babies, children, families and communities – encouraging long-term thinking and influencing policies across health, education and social care.

4)    Energising

Bringing energy, ideas, leadership and ‘hope’ to our profession. As the greatest threats to global health are due to conditions that are largely preventable, health visitors, as Specialist Community Public Health Nurses, are needed more than ever. And at the iHV, we aim to equip them to lead our profession into the future, with the right conditions to flourish.  

Evidence

We regularly provide written and oral evidence for national inquiries and consultations linked to the scope of health visiting practice and policy.

View our most recent publicly available evidence (note: we have responded to many more consultations including the 10-Year Health Plan; 10-Year Workforce Plan; and CNO Professional Strategy  – as well as topic-specific requests for evidence to support the development of government policy across the UK - which are not in the public domain):